Chapter on Best Fitrah and the Amount of the Value

Sa’ad ibn Abdullah, from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, from Ali ibn al-Numan, from Mansur ibn Kharijah, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: I (narrator) asked Imam عليه السلام about ‘the charity of al-Fitrah.’ Imam عليه السلام said: “One sa’ of dates, or half a sa’ of wheat, or one sa’ of barley, and dates are more beloved to me.”

And from him, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from Ali ibn al-Hakam, from Sayf ibn Amirah, from Ishaq ibn Ammar, who said: I (narrator) asked Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام, peace be upon him, about ‘the charity of al-Fitrah.’ Imam عليه السلام said: “Dates are better.”

Muhammad ibn Yaqub, from Ali ibn Ibrahim, from his father, and Muhammad ibn Ismail, from al-Fadl ibn Shadhan, all of them from Ibn Abi Umayr, from Hisham ibn al-Hakam, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: Imam عليه السلام said: “Dates in the Fitrah are better than other than them, because they are quicker in benefit, and that is because when they fall into the hand of their owner, he eats from them.” And Imam عليه السلام said: “Zakat was revealed while the people did not have wealth, and it was only the Fitrah.”

Abu al-Qasim ibn Qulawayh, from his father, from Ahmad ibn Idris, who said: Muhammad ibn Hamdan al-Kufi narrated to me, who said: al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Samaah narrated to me, from Muhammad ibn Ziyad, from Umarah ibn Marwan, from Zayd al-Shahham, who said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, said: “For me to give one sa’ of dates is more beloved to me than to give one sa’ of gold in the Fitrah.”

Sa’ad, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from the one who narrated to him, from Abdullah ibn Sinan, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: I (narrator) asked Imam عليه السلام about ‘the charity of al-Fitrah.’ Imam عليه السلام said: “On behalf of every head from your family, the young among them and the old, the free and the owned slave, the rich and the poor, everyone whom you have joined to yourself; on behalf of every person is one sa’ of wheat, or one sa’ of barley, or dates, or raisins.” And Imam عليه السلام said: “Dates are more beloved to me, for indeed, for every date, you will have a palm tree in Paradise.”

Ibn Qulawayh, from his father, from Sa’ad ibn Abdullah, from Muhammad ibn Isa, from Yunus, from Ishaq ibn Ammar al-Sayrafi, who said: I (narrator) said to Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him: “May I be made your ransom, what do you say regarding the Fitrah? Is it permissible for me to pay it in silver, according to the value of these things which you have named?” Imam عليه السلام said: “Yes, indeed that is more beneficial for him; he buys with it whatever he wants.”

Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Faddal, from Thalabah ibn Maymun, from Ishaq ibn Ammar, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: Imam عليه السلام said: “There is no harm in paying the value for al-fitrah.”