Jazzakallah!  May Allah shower you all with the richest of blessings.  It is indeed reassuring to know that there are others in my predicament when it comes to issues like this discussion thread and to think that we've been doing it wrongly all this time ....  Yes, Allah knows best and may Allah continue to guide our actions and intentions.  Saoud's argument does ease my mind.
 
Soffie Ceesay

-----Original Message-----
From: turay, sourie [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 5:55 AM
To: 'jsk'
Cc: samateh saikou; Amadu sallah; Alim sesay; murtada Sesay; Ansumana sillah; Karamba touray; Mam Touray; Jane Warner; [log in to unmask]; Sai Njie; [log in to unmask]; Ginny Quick; abdul razim rahim; toegondoe sagbah; Musa Gassama; Habib Ghanim; Bashirou Jahumpa; Ben Jalloh; mohammed jalloh; baba jallow; Fatou Jallow; Dr. Alhaji S. Jeng; Malik Jeng; saloum Jeng; Jabou Joh; malamin johnson; SHEIKH KAMARAH; Abu-Hassan Koroma; fatima -D; Ibrahim Abdullah; [log in to unmask]; N Allotey; Ousman Bah; Sadu Bah; Abdul Karim Bangura; Salieu Barry; Ceesay, Soffie; [log in to unmask]; Muhammed Drammah; Aiah Fanday; Alhaji Fye; Momodou Buharry Gassama; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: Charity at the end of Ramadan-Zakaat al -Fitr.


Ngo Sami,
 
On occasion like this when our thinking coincides with people like you, it bodes well for us. As soon as I read the posting, the first thing that came to my mind was, have we been doing it wrong all this time we have been over here and it took an a reassuring exchange with Copenhagen to settle my mind.
 
Of course, we all grew up seeing our fathers measuring rice for zakat-ul-fitr in what looked at the time a special mug for the purpose. That be almost impossible to do over here and the best possible way is by giving money as we all do. As Murtada suggests, we give the money not to individuals but to the mosque who are free to translate that into whatever will satisfy the requirements of the Sunnah!!
 
You hit it right when you refer to Abu Saoud's distinction between the letter and spirit of the haddith!!
 
I will join you in wishing Brother Musa, Allah's (SWT) richest rewards for the hard work that he continues to do for us and may He also reward all of us both here and back home with the blessings of Ramadan.
 
Ramadan Mubarak.
 
Sourie
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: jsk [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 12 November 2004 10:19
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Cc: samateh saikou; Amadu sallah; Alim sesay; murtada Sesay; Ansumana sillah; turay, sourie; Karamba touray; Mam Touray; Jane Warner; [log in to unmask]; Sai Njie; [log in to unmask]; Ginny Quick; abdul razim rahim; toegondoe sagbah; Musa Gassama; Habib Ghanim; Bashirou Jahumpa; Ben Jalloh; mohammed jalloh; baba jallow; Fatou Jallow; Dr. Alhaji S. Jeng; Malik Jeng; saloum Jeng; Jabou Joh; malamin johnson; SHEIKH KAMARAH; Abu-Hassan Koroma; fatima -D; Ibrahim Abdullah; [log in to unmask]; N Allotey; Ousman Bah; Sadu Bah; Abdul Karim Bangura; Salieu Barry; soffie ceesay; [log in to unmask]; Muhammed Drammah; Aiah Fanday; Alhaji Fye; Momodou Buharry Gassama
Subject: Re: Charity at the end of Ramadan-Zakaat al -Fitr.


As-salamu Alaykum Brother Musa:
 
Ramadan Mubarak. May Allah (SWT) grant you and your family all the blessings of Ramadan. Thanks for all the kutbahs you have been sending and may Allah (SWT) bless you for transmitting all that valuable information and may He give you the strength and resources to continue informing us.
 
The fact that the question of fulfilling the Zakat al--Fitr obligation via cash is addressed by these great Sheiks suggests that there is a tendency to make the substitution of cash for food. Certainly in most Masjids in the Philadelphia area, this substitution is common and we have, for years, adopted the practice of giving cash. May Allah (SWT) have mercy on us if we erred and forgive our Imams because, I am sure, they did not deliberately or willfully decide to mislead us. 
 
Relying on arguments presented by scholars like Mahmoud Abu-Saud, it is virtually impossible to adhere to the letters of the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAAS) in issues concerning Zakat. The question of substituting rice for the other foods mentioned in the hadith is in itself not strictly following the Sunnah. Furthermore, if even we are inclined to give food we have the added problem of translating these weights and measures into contemporary terms. We will be forced to make approximations. Approximations, strictly speaking, do not amount to strict adherence to the Sunnah. If even it were possible to reproduce the weights and measures; what criteria could we use to claim that a "saa" of rice is equivalent to a "saa" of date, wheat or barley? The question in this case has to deal with equivalent ratio. The only way out is to claim that a "saa" is a "saa" regardless of the food substance. But then, is a "saa' of rice equivalent to a "saa" of banga (a close relative of the date)?
 
My brother, please forgive me for taking this approach to a very serious issue. However, I do feel that the ascription of Bida (innovation) should be revisited on a case by case issue. Please look at Abu-Saud's work "Contemporary Zakat". He does raise some interesting issues covering the whole concept of Zakat in a modern society. He makes a sharp distinction between the letter of the hadith and the spirit of the hadith.
 
Ramadan MuBarak
 
Sami.

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