If, however, he feeds him (1) with the sort of food he himself ordinarily eats—such as rusks (2), thin bread, and the like—that is acceptable, and it is better than giving him unground wheat or barley (3).

The same rule applies to all other expiations: when he provides food that people customarily live on (4) together with a relish, it is superior to handing over bare grain, unless it is their habit to grind and bake it themselves.

What is obligatory in all these cases is what Allah, Exalted be He, has said:

“Feeding ten needy people with food of the average kind you feed your own families, or clothing them …” [al-Māʾida 89].

Thus Allah has commanded that the poor be fed from the middle-range fare people offer their own households.

The scholars have differed on this matter: is the amount fixed by the Sacred Law, or should one refer (5) to customary practice? They have likewise disagreed over maintenance—specifically, a wife’s maintenance—and the soundest view in all of this (6) is: