Paying zakat al-fitr in cash

A question about paying zakat al-fitr in cash, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that the basic rule is to pay it from the land's staple food, and reported that Hanafi jurists permit paying its value in cash. ¹

The questioner asked about paying zakat al-fitr in cash. ¹

The Department answered that the basic rule is to pay zakat al-fitr from the land's staple food, which in Jordan is wheat or rice, set the amount at 2,500 grams per person, said it is easy to give this amount of rice to the poor and needy, and said this is correct in all the schools. ¹ It reported that Hanafi jurists permit paying the value in cash, because it is more useful to the poor and easier for the giver. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4209, dated 10 February 2026. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.