Short answer
Yes, in the Hanafi school. You may give zakat as food, clothes or other goods, counted at their market value, as long as they are handed to eligible people as their own. Cash is usually better because the poor can buy what they need. The Shafi'i school requires zakat on money to be paid in money.
Giving the value of zakat in goods is valid. The goods count at their value on the day you give them, and the recipient must own them: food parcels to take home count, but meals served at an iftar or dinner do not, because the poor only eat them and do not own them.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Zakat must be paid in the kind that is owed: on money, money. Goods given instead of cash zakat do not count.
- Maliki
- Zakat on gold, silver and cash is paid in money; goods in its place generally do not count.
- Hanbali
- The relied-upon view requires the kind owed; another narration from Imam Ahmad allows value where there is need or clear benefit.
Explanation
The Hanafi school allows zakat to be paid by value, in money or in goods. Its evidence includes the zakat instructions from the Prophet ﷺ: when someone did not have the camel of the age due, a different camel was accepted with two sheep or twenty dirhams to make up the difference. Value was accepted in place of the thing itself.
Goods count as zakat when:
- They go to eligible people (see who can receive zakat).
- They are handed over as the recipient's own: food parcels, groceries, clothes, blankets, school uniforms, or a tool or sewing machine for work.
- You count them at their market value on the day you give them. Something bought new at the normal price counts at that price; used items count at what they would sell for now, not what they first cost.
These do not count as zakat:
- Meals served at an iftar, a community dinner or a soup kitchen, where people eat but do not take ownership.
- Delivery and packing costs you pay on top.
- Poor-quality goods you would not accept yourself (2:267).
Which is better? Hanafi scholars say cash usually serves the poor best, since they know their own needs. Goods can be better when cash might be misused, or in a famine where food is scarce. The same principle explains why the Hanafis allow zakat al-fitr in cash. See also what zakat can be used for.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:267
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَنفِقُوا۟ مِن طَيِّبَٰتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّآ أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَلَا تَيَمَّمُوا۟ ٱلْخَبِيثَ مِنْهُ تُنفِقُونَ وَلَسْتُم بِـَٔاخِذِيهِ إِلَّآ أَن تُغْمِضُوا۟ فِيهِ ۚ وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ ﴿٢٦٧﴾
O you who have believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth. And do not aim toward the defective therefrom, spending [from that] while you would not take it [yourself] except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.
What you give in zakat should be of decent quality.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1453
Sahih... ويجعل معها شاتين إن استيسرتا له أو عشرين درهما ...
"He gives with it two sheep, if he has them, or twenty dirhams."
Value was accepted in zakat in place of the exact animal due.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the zakat of sheep. Paying values in zakat is permitted in the Hanafi school.
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, opening definition and chapter on the recipients. Zakat needs tamlik; letting the poor eat (ibaha) is not enough.
- al-Majmu' (al-Nawawi), Kitab al-Zakat, on paying value in zakat. The Shafi'i rule that value does not count.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.