Is it permissible to sell the sheep given as Zakat and distribute its price among a number of needy people?

The fundamental principle is that zakat should be disbursed from the same type of wealth upon which it is levied. It is obligatory to pay it to those who are eligible among the recipients of zakat. You are not permitted to dispose of it through sale or similar means and then distribute its value to the needy, because that would be disposing of something you do not own. Scholars have differed on the issue of giving the monetary value instead of the actual item. The majority of scholars are of the opinion that it is not permissible, while a group of scholars holds that it is permissible to give the monetary value if it is more beneficial and advantageous for the poor. Accordingly, if you disburse zakat in the form of the actual item, for example, a sheep, and give it to the poor, you do not have the right to sell it to distribute its price among them unless they authorize you to do so. However, if you wish, you may give the monetary value instead of the actual item if that is more beneficial for the needy, according to the preponderant opinion.