And from ‘Ata’, Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib, Abu Qilabah, and Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, that he should give in charity a mudd for every day.

His saying: ‘And whoever volunteers goodness, then it is better for him’

1642 - My father narrated to us, Abu Ma‘mar al-Minqari narrated to us, ‘Abd al-Warith narrated to us, Humayd ibn Qays narrated to us, Mujahid narrated to us from Ibn ‘Abbas regarding ‘And whoever volunteers goodness’, he says: Whoever increases by feeding more than one poor person, it is better for him. It was reported from ‘Ata’, Tawus, and one of the two opinions of Mujahid, as well as al-Suddi and Muqatil ibn Hayyan, something similar to that.

1643 - My father narrated to us, Muqatil ibn Muhammad narrated to us, Waki‘ narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Khusayf, from Mujahid, who said regarding ‘And whoever volunteers goodness’: He gives each poor person a sa‘.

1644 - My father narrated to us, Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth, narrated to us, al-Layth narrated to me, Yunus narrated to me, from Ibn Shihab, regarding the saying of Allah: ‘And whoever volunteers goodness, then it is better for him’—he means that whoever fasts along with paying the ransom, it is better for him.

His saying: ‘And to fast is better for you, if you only knew’

[The First Aspect]

1645 - Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Tehrani narrated to me, Hafs ibn ‘Umar al-‘Adani informed us, al-Hakam ibn Aban narrated to us, from ‘Ikrimah regarding His saying: ‘And to fast is better for you’—he said: Fasting is better if he is able.

And it was reported from Mujahid, Tawus, and Muqatil ibn Hayyan that fasting is better than feeding.

And the Second Aspect:

1646 - Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Affan informed us, in what he wrote to me, Ibn Numayr narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from ‘Amr ibn Murrah, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla narrated to us, the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him and may Allah be pleased with them) narrated to us, they said: Fasting was transitioned through three stages. Whoever fed a poor person each day could leave off fasting, among those who were able to do it; they were granted a concession in that. Then it was abrogated by: ‘And to fast is better for you, if you only knew’, so they were commanded to fast.