The author’s statement, “feeding sixty needy persons”: here, the amount of food is specified, but not the amount given to each person. So is the individual portion specified?

The well-known position of the madhhab is that it is specified: one mudd of wheat, or half a saʿ of something other than wheat, for each needy person. A mudd is one-quarter of a saʿ—that is, the Prophet’s saʿ. Accordingly, the amount for sixty needy persons is fifteen saʿs, by the measure of the Prophet’s saʿ, if it is wheat. The Prophet’s saʿ is one-fifth less than the saʿ commonly known today here in al-Qasim. Thus, the saʿ of al-Qasim equals five mudds, and feeding sixty needy persons amounts to twelve saʿs according to the measures of al-Qasim.

It was also said that one should give half a saʿ of wheat or of another foodstuff. Those who held this view cited the fact that when Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah shaved his head during the ʿumrah, the Prophet ﷺ said to him: “Feed six needy persons, giving each needy person half a saʿ.” (1) He stated this without qualification, and did not say, “of dates” or “of wheat.” This indicates that the specified amount is half a saʿ. If that is so, then add half again to the amount we mentioned: it would be thirty saʿs according to the Prophet’s measure, and twenty-four saʿs according to our measure.

The matter is not difficult; if a person takes the cautious course and gives each needy person half a saʿ, that would be good.

It was also said that no fixed amount is prescribed; rather, one feeds them in whatever manner is customarily regarded as feeding. Thus, if he gathered them and gave them a morning meal or an evening meal, that would suffice, because the Prophet ﷺ said to the man who