AI that answers
from a century of Islamic scholarship

Yes, zakat al-fitr (the obligatory charity at the end of Ramadan) may be paid in cash according to Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta ¹²³⁴.

The traditional requirement is one saa (a volumetric measure, approximately 2.04 kg) of staple grains such as wheat, barley, dates, raisins, or whatever constitutes the primary foodstuff of the country where the giver resides ^1[5]. However, Imam Abu Hanifa (peace be upon him), the founder of the Hanafi school, held that there is no legal objection to discharging zakat al-fitr in monetary form instead of grain, because doing so better serves the interests of the poor ¹².

Dar Al-Iftaa has adopted the Hanafi position as its preferred ruling for contemporary times. Mufti Ali Gomaa stated in 2012 that "what we select as the ruling for this era and deem most aligned with the purposes of Islamic law and most beneficial to the welfare of the people is the permissibility of discharging zakat al-fitr in cash absolutely. This is the doctrine of the Hanafis, and it is the established practice and ruling among them in all forms of zakat, expiation (kaffara), vows, and other obligations" ³.

Mufti Shawki Allam reinforced this position in 2017 and again in 2024, noting that paying in cash "is what we see as most aligned with the purposes of Islamic law and most beneficial to the welfare of the people, and it is the doctrine of the Hanafis. It was the position of many of the early generations from among the senior Companions, and the doctrine of a group of the Successors (tabi'in), including al-Hasan al-Basri, Abu Ishaq al-Sabi'i, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, and other scholars whose views carry weight" ²⁴.

Mufti Nasr Farid Wasel similarly affirmed in 2001 that Dar Al-Iftaa "inclines toward adopting Imam Abu Hanifa's view of discharging zakat al-fitr in cash instead of grain as a facilitation for the poor in meeting their needs and obligations, and it sets this monetary value each year for each individual at the appropriate time" ^[6].

The rationale is twofold: the obligation in zakat al-fitr is fundamentally a sum of wealth (mal mutaqawwam) rather than a specific physical commodity, and paying cash provides greater practical benefit to the poor, allowing them to purchase whatever they most urgently need ²³.