Shaykh al-Islām Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—also said:

The expiation for an oath is that mentioned in Sūrat al-Māʾidah. Allah Most High says:

“Its expiation is to feed ten poor people from the average of what you feed your own families, or to clothe them, or to free a slave. Whoever cannot afford this must fast for three days.”

Anyone who has the means must therefore offer expiation through one of these three options. If he lacks the means, he must fast for three days. If he chooses to feed ten poor people, he may do so.

“The amount of food to be given” depends on a fundamental question: is the amount prescribed by the Sharia or determined by customary practice? Scholars hold two opinions on this.

Some maintain that it is “prescribed by the Sharia,” but they differ over the amount.

Some say that each poor person should be given one sāʿ of dates, one sāʿ of barley, or half a sāʿ of wheat. This is the view of Abū Hanīfah and a group of scholars.

Others say that each should be given half a sāʿ in the case of dates and barley, or a quarter of a sāʿ—which is one mudd—in the case of wheat. This is the view of Ahmad and a group of scholars.

Still others say that one mudd of any of these foods suffices in every case. This is the view of al-Shāfiʿī and a group of scholars.

“The second opinion” is that the amount is determined by customary practice, not prescribed by the Sharia. Thus, the poor in each locality should be given food of the average quantity and kind that people there feed their own families. This is the meaning of Mālik’s statement. It was stated by Ismāʿīl