Muwatta Malik 628
موطأ مالك#628SahihThese are the words of a Companion, not of the Prophet ﷺ. The chain is graded on its own terms.
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، أَنَّ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عُمَرَ، كَانَ لاَ يُخْرِجُ فِي زَكَاةِ الْفِطْرِ إِلاَّ التَّمْرَ إِلاَّ مَرَّةً وَاحِدَةً فَإِنَّهُ أَخْرَجَ شَعِيرًا .
Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar would always pay the zakat al-fitr in dates, except once, when he paid it in barley
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Salim al-HilaliMauquf Sahih
In-book reference: 17:51