He said: Flour or sult. Both were recorded by Al-Nasa'i (7).

Section: It is permissible to pay flour. Ahmad explicitly stated this. The same applies to sawiq (roasted flour). Ahmad said: It has been narrated from Ibn Sirin [that he permitted] sawiq or flour. Malik and Al-Shafi'i said: It is not sufficient to pay them both because of the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, and because their benefits have decreased, so they are like bread. Our view is based on the hadith of Abu Sa'id, and his statement in it: "Or a sa' of flour." Furthermore, flour and sawiq are parts of grain, purely so, and it is possible to measure and store them, so it is permissible to pay them out, just as it is before grinding. This is because grinding only separated its parts and sufficed the poor person of its trouble, so it resembles the case where one removes the pits of dates and then pays them out. It differs from bread (8), harisa (porridge), and kabula (9); because, with them, there are parts of grain mixed with other things, and they have exited the state of being storable and measurable. What is commanded is a sa', which is a measurable item, and the hadith of Ibn 'Umar did not imply what they mentioned, nor did they act upon it.

Section: It is not permissible to pay bread, because it has exited [the state of] being measured and stored. Nor [is it permissible to pay] harisa, kabula, and their likes for that reason, nor vinegar, nor syrup (dibs), because they are not staple foods. It is not permissible to pay defective grain, such as grain infested with weevils or wet grain, nor old grain whose taste has changed, due to the saying of Allah the Almighty: "And do not aim for the defective thereof, spending [from that]" (10). If the old grain has not had its taste changed, except that the [new] grain is more valuable than it, it is permissible to pay it because there is no defect in it, though it is better to pay the higher quality. Ahmad said: Ibn Sirin liked to clean the food, and that is more beloved to me so that it may be in its perfection and remain free from anything else mixed with it. If that which is mixed with it takes up a portion of the measure, and it is in large enough quantity that it is considered a defect in it, it does not suffice him. If it is not significant, it is permissible to pay it if he increases the amount beyond the sa' by an amount that exceeds what is in it of other things, so that the amount paid is a complete sa'.