Zakah. The second view is that they are not forbidden, because it [the expiation] was not made obligatory by the fundamental text of the Sharia, thus it resembles voluntary charity.

1808 - Issue; He said: (And whoever does not find except one needy person, he shall cycle it upon him every day, completing ten days).

The collective meaning is that the one performing expiation must either find the needy people in their full number or not find them. If he finds them, it does not suffice him to feed fewer than ten in an oath expiation, nor fewer than sixty in the expiation of Dhihar (pre-Islamic form of divorce) or the expiation for sexual intercourse during Ramadan. This is the opinion of Al-Shafi'i and Abu Thawr. Al-Awza'i permitted giving it [the entire amount] to one person. Abu 'Ubayd said: If he specifies a household in dire need, it is permissible, based on the evidence that the Prophet—peace be upon him—said to the one who had intercourse in Ramadan, when he informed him of his dire need and the need of his family: "Feed it to your dependents" (1). And because he gave the right of Allah the Almighty to someone who is among the deserving, it sufficed him, just as if he had given his Zakah to one person. The proponents of reason (Ashab al-Ra'y) said: It is permissible to cycle it upon one needy person over ten days if it is an oath expiation, or over sixty if the obligation is to feed sixty needy people, but it is not permissible to give it to him in one day. Abu al-Khattab narrated this as a report from Ahmad; because in each day he has fed a needy person what is due to him, so it suffices, as if he had given it to someone else. And because if he had fed this needy person from another expiation, it would have sufficed him, so it is the same if he feeds him from this expiation. Our argument is the statement of Allah the Almighty: {Therefore its expiation is the feeding of ten needy persons} (3). Whoever fed one has not fed ten, therefore he has not followed the command, and it does not suffice him. Also, because Allah the Almighty made his expiation the feeding of ten needy persons, so if he does not feed ten, he has not fulfilled the expiation. Furthermore, whoever is not permitted to be given [charity] on the first day, is not permitted on the second day, given the state remains the same, such as one's child. As for the case involving his own family, Allah the Almighty absolved him of the expiation due to his incapacity to perform it, for there is no disagreement that a person does not consume his own expiation, nor does he feed it to his dependents, yet he has been commanded to do so. The second situation: The one incapable of finding the full number of needy people, he shall cycle it among those present in each day until he completes ten. If he finds only one, he shall cycle it upon him