his zakāt al-fitr to twelve, eighteen, twenty-four, thirty-two, twenty-eight, or a similar number of recipients. This runs contrary to the practice of Muslims during the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, his Rightly Guided Caliphs, and all his Companions. No Muslim practised this in their time. Rather, a Muslim would give his own zakāt al-fitr and that of his dependants to a single Muslim.

Had they seen someone dividing a sāʿ among more than ten people, giving each a handful, they would have condemned this in the strongest terms and considered it a reprehensible innovation and an objectionable practice. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prescribed a sāʿ of dates or a sāʿ of barley, and either half a sāʿ or a full sāʿ of wheat—an amount sufficient to meet the needs of one needy person fully. He made it food for the needy on the day of Eid, sparing them the need to beg. If a needy person receives only a handful, it neither benefits him nor serves its intended purpose.

Likewise, if someone who is in debt and is a stranded traveller receives a handful of wheat, it does not benefit him in a way that fulfils its intended purpose to any extent that reasonable people would consider meaningful. Nevertheless, this may serve a purpose in some circumstances, as, for example, if there were a number of people in dire need