Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Is it permissible for a Shafi’i to pay his zakat al-fitr in the form of money?
It is a known fact that our school and the school of the majority of scholars, does not permit giving zakat al-fitr in the form of money, rather one must pay it in food, as exposited in the hadiths, such as wheat.
The Hanafi scholars have differed, so they have permitted paying it in money, and this is a highly deemed ruling that is permissible for a Shafi`i and others to follow and act upon, along with the condition that they know the details of the Hanafi school in that.
Amjad Rasheed
(Translated by Shazia Ahmad)