1320 - Issue: He said: "For every poor person, a mudd (a dry measure) of wheat or half a sa' (a dry measure) of dates or barley."

The entirety of the matter is that the amount of food for all expiations is a mudd of wheat for every poor person, or half a sa' of dates or barley. Among those who said it is a mudd of wheat are Zayd ibn Thabit, Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Umar. Imam Ahmad narrated this from them, and al-Athram narrated it from them, as well as from 'Ata' and Sulayman ibn Musa. Sulayman ibn Yasar said: "I encountered the people, and when they gave in the expiation for an oath, they would give (6) a mudd of wheat, according to the smallest mudd, the mudd of the Prophet - may Allah bless him and grant him peace." Abu Hurayrah said: "He feeds a mudd of any type." This is the view of 'Ata', al-Awza'i, and al-Shafi'i, based on what Abu Dawud (7) narrated with his chain of transmission from 'Ata', from Aws, the nephew of 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit, that the Prophet - may Allah bless him and grant him peace - gave him - meaning the one performing zihar (the muthahir) - fifteen sa's of barley, to feed sixty poor people. Al-Athram also narrated, with his chain of transmission from Abu Hurayrah regarding the hadith of the one who had intercourse during Ramadan, that the Prophet - may Allah bless him and grant him peace - was brought a 'araq (a large basket) containing fifteen sa's, and he said: "Take this and give it as charity." (8) If this is established for the one who had intercourse during Ramadan through the report, it is established for the muthahir by analogy to it. Furthermore, it is a mandatory feeding, so it does not differ by the difference in the types of items dispensed, such as al-fitrah (zakat al-fitr) and the fidya (expiation) for injury. Malik said: For every poor person, there are two mudds of all types. Among those who said there are two mudds of wheat are Mujahid, 'Ikrimah, al-Sha'bi, and al-Nakha'i (9); because it is an expiation that encompasses fasting and feeding, so for every poor person there is half a sa', just like the fidya for injury. Al-Thawri and the People of Reason (Ashab al-Ra'y) said: Regarding wheat, there are two mudds, and regarding dates and barley, there is one sa' for every poor person; because of the saying of the Prophet - may Allah bless him and grant him peace - in the hadith of Salama ibn Sakhr: "Then feed a wasq (a specific unit of measure) of dates." This was narrated by Imam Ahmad in the "Musnad", Abu Dawud, and others (10). Al-Khallal narrated with his chain of transmission from Yusuf ibn...