How Sadaqat al-Fitr Is Paid Where the Items Specified in the Texts Are Not Found

Question

What do you say, may Allah have mercy on you? Post office and police station: Busidang, district Akyab, country Burma. In our country none of the five things specified in the texts (ashya’ mansusa) for the fitra grows; they are not our food, nor are they available in kind. Although wheat flour can be obtained in the town of Akyab and in Busidang, compared with rice, which is our food, the price of flour is extremely high.

Answer

This argument is utterly wrong and baseless. The words of Hazrat Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri ﵁ are “a sa‘ of food” (صاعًا من طعام), and you, acting on them, wish to discharge your obligation with half a sa‘ of rice. The scholars differ over the meaning of the word “ta‘am” (food).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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