Some scholars said: Feeding the needy is not valid; rather, ownership must be transferred to them. (1) On this basis, they differed. Some held that what is required is one mudd of wheat or half a sa‘ of other foods.

Others said that what is required is half a sa‘, whatever the food may be.

Those who held the first view said: One mudd of wheat is equivalent to half a sa‘ of barley, because wheat is more wholesome and more highly valued by people.

Those who held that it is half a sa‘ in all cases said: The Prophet ﷺ said to Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah concerning the expiation for harm: “Or feed six needy people, giving each needy person half a sa‘.” (2) They said: This is an explicit text establishing the Prophet’s ﷺ measure, so all expiations are analogized to it, and the required amount is half a sa‘.

If it is asked: What is meant by half a sa‘? Is it determined according to customary practice, or according to the Prophetic sa‘?

The answer is: I do not know of any scholar who said that the sa‘ is determined according to customary practice. Even Shaykh al-Islam did not refer measures of sa‘ back to customary practice; rather, he referred them to the sa‘ of the Prophet ﷺ.

Accordingly, we say: What is meant is half a sa‘ according to the Prophetic sa‘.

Our scholars carefully determined the Qasimi sa‘ and found that it exceeds the Prophetic sa‘ by one quarter; that is, the Prophetic sa‘ is four-fifths of the Qasimi sa‘. Thus, our current sa‘ is equivalent to five Prophetic mudds, whereas the sa‘ of the Prophet ﷺ is four mudds.