His deputy gave the zakaah of his wealth in the form of foodstuff; is that acceptable or does he have to give it again?
Question

                I give the zakaah of my wealth in Ramadan. This year – 1436 AH – I sent it to Yemen, to villages around the city of Ta‘z, but my deputy bought basic foodstuffs, such as flour, and distributed it to needy women, and he gave cash to some other people. Should I give zakaah again, or can it be accepted in the form of foodstuff?
Praise be to Allah.
	With regard to 
	zakaah, it must be given in the form of cash if the wealth in question is 
	cash, and it is not permissible to give it in the form of other items or 
	foodstuff, except in cases where there is a real need to give it in the form 
	of particular items. We have discussed that in the answer to question no.
	138684.

	Based on that:

	If the real need 
	may be met by giving the zakaah of one’s wealth in the form of food, such as 
	if the poor person is foolish or feebleminded, and cannot handle wealth 
	properly, and if he is given money he will spend it in foolish ways and 
	would neglect his dependents, or if the need in that land for foodstuff was 
	urgent, because of shortages even if people had wealth, or if the poor 
	person’s need for food was greater than his need for cash, or the poor 
	person gave the deputy permission to do that, and the like, so that the 
	deputy gave the zakaah in the form of food because of that need – then in 
	that case what he did was valid and acceptable. 

	But he should 
	not have disposed of the wealth of the one who appointed him to do that 
	except with his permission.

	But if there was 
	no real cause to give the zakaah in the form of food; rather the deputy 
	decided to do that without referring to the one who had appointed him – then 
	the one who appointed him must give zakaah again in the form of cash, to 
	make up for what his deputy gave in the form of food.

	In this case, 
	the deputy is liable for his mistake, and he must return that wealth to the 
	one who appointed him, because he disposed of the wealth in a wrong manner, 
	without the permission of the owner of that wealth.

	Ibn Qudaamah 
	(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

	The deputy does 
	not have the right to dispose of the wealth except in the manner indicated 
	by the permission given by the one who appointed him, whether on the basis 
	of what he said or on the basis of custom, because his options for disposal 
	of the wealth are restricted by the instructions of the one who appointed 
	him to distribute it.

	End quote from
	al-Mughni (5/95)

	And Allah knows 
	best.