When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was among us, we used to give out Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of every young and old person, free or slave, as one Sā‘ of food, or one Sā‘ of Aqit (dried yogurt), o...

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Hadith
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Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was among us, we used to give out Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of every young and old person, free or slave, as one Sā‘ of food, or one Sā‘ of Aqit (dried yogurt), or one Sā‘ of barley, or one Sā‘ of dates, or one Sā‘ of raisins. We continued giving it out until Mu‘āwiyah ibn Abi Sufyān (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us for Hajj or ‘Umrah. He addressed the people from the pulpit, and among the things he said to the people was: Verily, I see that two Mudds of the Syrian wheat are equivalent to one Sā‘ of dates. So, people started applying this. Abu Sa‘īd said: As for me, I will continue to give it as I used to give it for as long as I live.
Authentic hadith - Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim

Explanation

Muslims used to give out Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of every young and old person as one Sā‘ of food during the time of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and during the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs. Their food was barley, (raisins): dry grapes, (Aqit): dried yogurt, and dates. One Sā‘ is equivalent to four Mudds, and one Mudd is equal to two handfuls of an average person. When Mu‘āwiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Madīnah as a caliph and the Syrian wheat became abundant, he delivered a speech and said: I see that two Mudds of the Syrian wheat (half a Sā‘) is equivalent to one Sā‘ of dates, so the people adopted this opinion. Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: As for me, I will continue to give it as I used to give it during the Prophet's lifetime for as long as I live.

Benefits from the Hadith

  1. Clarifying the amount of Zakat al-Fitr during the time of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him); one Sā‘ of food, regardless of the type or value.
  2. All human food is valid to be given as Zakat al-Fitr; however, these four types were particularly mentioned because they were the staple foods during the time of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).
  3. It is not valid to give Zakat al-Fitr in the form of money instead of food.
  4. Commenting on "Sharh Muslim,"  An-Nawawi said: When the Companions differ, the opinion of some is not more valid than that of the others, so we must refer to other evidence. We found that the apparent meaning of the Hadīths and analogy both agree on the requirement of a full Sā‘ of wheat, like other types of food, and thus it must be adopted.
  5. Ibn Hajar said: In the Hadīth of Abu Sa‘īd, there is evidence of his strict adherence to and compliance with the prophetic traditions and avoidance of resorting to personal reasoning when there is textual proof. As for what Mu‘āwiyah did and the people's agreement with him, it indicates the permissibility of Ijtihād (independent reasoning), which is commendable. However, when a clear text exists, Ijtihād is considered invalid.

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