had intercourse with his wife during the daytime in Ramadan: “Are you able to feed sixty needy persons?” (1) This is the correct view.

Issue: In the Sacred Law, the food and the persons to be fed fall into three categories:

The first is that in which the amount of food is specified, but not the number of recipients.

The second is that in which the number of recipients is specified, but not the amount of food.

The third is that in which both the amount of food and the number of recipients are specified.

An example of the first is zakat al-fitr: it is one saʿ of food, which may be given to one person or two; or two or three saʿs may be combined and given to one person—there is no objection to this.

An example of the second is this issue, as well as the expiation for an oath.

An example of the third is the expiation for harm, such as shaving one’s head while in ihram. Allah Most High says: “Then a ransom: either fasting, charity, or sacrifice.” [al-Baqarah 2:196] Notice that in the verse Allah says, “charity,” and does not say, “feeding.” The Prophet ﷺ clarified it when he said to Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah: “Feed six needy persons, giving each needy person half a saʿ.” (2)

The well-known position of the madhhab is that unrestricted references to feeding are to be understood in light of this qualified case; thus, every prescribed feeding must consist of half a saʿ. But it may be said to them: you hold that it is half a saʿ of something other than wheat, but one mudd of wheat, even though the hadith of Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah states half a saʿ without qualification. Thus, you have both applied analogy and failed to apply it. The correct view is that wherever no specification is given, any feeding suffices.

His statement, “If he cannot find it, it falls away,” means: the expiation falls away. The evidence for this is found in the Quran and the sunnah. As for the Quran, Allah Most High says: “Allah does not burden a soul