I say, and with God's success: It is permissible to give the value, and this issue is one of the jurisprudential matters that differ among scholars. For the sake of ease and alleviating hardship, there is room for this, especially in our time after wealth has spread and the specified items of wheat and barley have become scarce among people. How could it be otherwise when the Messenger approved taking the value in zakat, and the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs like Umar and Ali, among other prominent companions, was based on this? This practice continued during the time of the fifth Rightly Guided Caliph, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, and the fatwa was on this during the Abbasid caliphate and even during the Ottoman rule, which governed Muslims for more than five consecutive centuries; because the fatwa and judiciary in most of these states were based on the Hanafi school, and giving the value is permissible according to them. The majority of scholars agreed on the permissibility of giving the value in money, such as Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, al-Tahawi, and all the jurists in the Hanafi school, which is said to be followed by two-thirds of Muslims. Moreover, Al-Thawri, Ibn Rahwayh, Abu Thawr, Imam al-Nasir, and al-Muayyad Billah from the Zaydi Imams also agreed with them, as is the view of the rest of the Ahl al-Bayt. A group of Malikis, such as Ibn Habib, Asbagh, Ibn Abi Hazim, Ibn Dinar, and Ibn Wahb, also supported this view, and it is a position of al-Shafi'i, a narration from Ahmad, and it is the view of al-Bukhari. Some Shafi'is, Hanbalis, and others have chosen this as well. This position was supported by the late scholar, Sayyid Ahmad al-Siddiq al-Ghamari al-Maliki, in "Tahqiq al-Amal fi Ikhraj Zakat al-Fitr bil-Mal" with dozens of evidences, including: 1. Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated in his "Musannaf" 2: 398 from Abu Ishaq al-Sabi'i — who is one of the famous Tabi'in and had met Ali and a group of the companions — saying: "I met them — meaning the companions — while they were giving in the charity of Fitr the dirhams equivalent to the food." 2. The Messenger of God took the value in zakat charity, as he said to Mu'adh when sending him to Yemen: "Take the grain from the grain, the sheep from the sheep, the camel from the camels, and the cow from the cows" in Al-Mustadrak 1: 546, and it was authenticated, and in Sunan Abu Dawood 2: 109, and Sunan Ibn Majah 1: 508. Despite this explicit specification from him, Mu'adh said to the people of Yemen: "Bring me a garment of fine or coarse cloth in charity instead of barley" in Sahih al-Bukhari 2: 525, knowing that the intent was to meet the needs of the poor, not specifically these items. Therefore, he said: "For it is easier for you and better for the immigrants in Medina" in Sunan al-Daraqutni 2: 100, and the Prophet approved him on that. If it were contrary to the obligatory law, he would not have approved it, and he would have commanded him to return it to its owners and forbidden him from it. 3. The Prophet said: "Enrich them from the circling this day" in Sunan al-Daraqutni 2: 152, so the Prophet explicitly stated the reason for the obligation of charity, which is to enrich the poor on the day of Eid. The best way to enrich the poor today is to provide them with cash; because it is the basis for obtaining everything necessary for life, unlike the time of the Prophet when food was better for enriching the poor from circling, and they would exchange goods among themselves. Additionally, enriching on the day of Eid is to spread joy among all Muslims, and this meaning cannot be achieved today by giving grain that is not food for the poor and all people, nor can they benefit from it that day. Rather, the intended goal is achieved by giving money that the poor can benefit from immediately, so giving it is the first and best choice. And God knows best.