{"id":2219,"date":"2012-08-12T14:54:30","date_gmt":"2012-08-12T14:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/?p=2219"},"modified":"2013-08-03T02:43:03","modified_gmt":"2013-08-03T02:43:03","slug":"zakat-fitr-measurements-saa-three-litres-mudd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/zakat-fitr-measurements-saa-three-litres-mudd.htm","title":{"rendered":"Zakaat al-Fitr Measurements: One Saa’ = Three Litres, One Mudd = .75L"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Merciful, the Ever-Merciful…<\/em><\/p>\n

The Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) ordered that a fasting person give out Zakaat al-Fitr<\/em> at the end of Ramadhan – one saa’<\/strong><\/em> of staple food on behalf of yourself and each person you are responsible for. [1]<\/p>\n

What is a Saa’?<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

A Prophetic saa’<\/strong><\/em> (\u00a0\u0635\u0627\u0639 ) is not a weight measurement.\u00a0 It was and still is a\u00a0measurement of volume,\u00a0similar to the size of a large salad bowl.\u00a0 It is made up of four mudds<\/strong><\/em>, and a mudd<\/strong><\/em> (\u00a0\u0645\u062f\u00a0) is a smaller\u00a0container, close to the size of a small salad bowl.<\/p>\n

To be precise, a Prophetic mudd<\/strong><\/em> in modern volume measurements is .75L (or 750mL), which means that a saa’<\/strong><\/em> is three litres.<\/p>\n

The Chain of Transmission for this Prophetic Measurement<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

This mudd<\/em><\/strong> was measured up to Sh. Yahyaa ibn ‘Uthmaan al-Mudarris’ mudd<\/strong><\/em> (may Allaah preserve him), which was measured up to the mudd<\/strong><\/em> of his shaykh al-‘Allaamah Aboo Sa’eed Muhammad ‘Abdullaah al-Laknawee (d.1400), which was measured up to his shaykh’s mudd<\/strong><\/em>… and so on, all the way back to the mudd<\/strong><\/em> of Zayd ibn Thaabit (may Allaah be pleased with him) that was in use in al-Andalus and elsewhere, all the way back to (at least) the\u00a0fourth century.<\/p>\n

Al-‘Allaamah al-Laknawee (may Allaah have Mercy on him) – a former teacher at the Haram in Makkah and at Daar al-Hadeeth<\/a><\/em>, an Indian scholar grounded in Towheed<\/em> and firm against the people of desires – said about this mudd<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n

This is the mudd<\/strong> that the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) was speaking about when he prayed, “O Allaah! Put blessings in our saa’<\/strong> and our mudd<\/strong>!” This was collected by the two shaykhs (al-Bukhaaree and Muslim). Further, he (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) used to make wudhoo’ using this mudd<\/strong>, and he used to take a bath using a saa’<\/strong>. [2]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In one narration of the hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim, the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said when praying for Allaah to bless the mudd<\/strong><\/em> and the saa’<\/strong><\/em>:(what means),\u00a0“blessings upon blessings.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

So whoever wants to give their zakat al-fitr<\/em> using this measurement – as it was prescribed – is free to do so. May Allaah bless the Muslims and accept their fasting and their zakaat<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How to Calculate Your Zakat Al-Fitr<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n

A way of keeping it simple, using the modern equivalent of a saa’<\/strong><\/em> (3L), is to measure out .75L (750ml) of the food you intend to use in a large measuring cup, then use that same amount (whether you convert it to weight or not) a total of four times for each person’s zakaat<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This works for any food type, and it eliminates the need for lengthy calculations and conversions that differ from one food type or another, especially since some kinds of rice -for example- are heavier than others. Its true! Even within one food type there are different kinds that have different densities and weights.<\/p>\n

So if you want to give out rice, for example, measure 750ml of the kind you have in a measuring cup. If you want to give the zakaat<\/em> in a sealed unopened container, then weigh the 750ml you measured, and then multiply by four. That’s the weight of one person’s zakaat al-fitr<\/em> using that exact kind of food. Then multiply that by the number of people you are giving zakaat<\/em> on behalf of.<\/p>\n

Step-by-Step Walkthrough<\/span><\/h1>\n

Step 1:<\/strong> Determine the number of people you are giving zakaat al-fitr on behalf of.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A man has a wife and four children, and his parents have asked him to give out zakaat al-fitr<\/em> for them too. So he needs to give out 8 units, or saa’s<\/strong><\/em>, of food.<\/p>\n

Step 2:<\/strong> Determine how much one saa’ (3 litres) of the selected food item is.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The man in our example decides to use barley. He can either:<\/p>\n

(a) Measure out\u00a0three litres of barley in a large measuring pitcher, if he doesn’t mind opening the container, and it will not be seen as unacceptable to the poor person.<\/p>\n

(b) Measure out 750 ml of barley in a measuring cup. Weigh this amount. Multiply its weight by 4. This is one saa’<\/strong><\/em> of that barley. Let’s say in this example 750ml of the selected barley weighed 400 grams. So 400g x 4 = 1.6kg.\u00a0 The weight of one saa’<\/strong><\/em> of that specific kind of barley would be 1.6 kilograms.<\/p>\n

Step 3:<\/strong> Multiply the measurement from step 2 by the number of people you are giving on behalf of (from step 1).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This is done one of two ways:<\/p>\n

(a)<\/strong> 3 litres x 8 = 24 litres of barley as in this example (based on the original volume)<\/p>\n

(b)<\/strong> 1.6kg x 8 = 12.8 kilograms in this example (converted to weight)<\/p>\n

I hope this walkthrough is helpful.<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT: Is a Mudd<\/em> Simply a “Double-Handful”?<\/span><\/h1>\n

The mudd<\/strong><\/em> is not<\/strong> simply a double-handful.\u00a0 A mudd<\/strong><\/em> is an actual physical container (like a small bowl or pot, or a large cup), a standardized unit of measurement, one that was widely in use in the time of the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) in the marketplaces and in their houses.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>It is based on a double-handful – don’t get confused<\/strong><\/em> – but the Companions used to buy and sell using the containers (the mudd<\/strong><\/em> and the saa’<\/strong><\/em>), not their own individual double-handfuls, and they used to give their zakaat al-fitr<\/em> with these containers (the saa’<\/strong><\/em> and the mudd<\/strong><\/em>). The Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace)\u00a0used to have Zayd ibn Thaabit measure out mudds<\/strong><\/em> and saa’s<\/strong><\/em> of food using the standardized mudd<\/strong><\/em> and saa’<\/strong><\/em> of al-Madeenah.<\/p>\n

So Allaah did not legislate that big-handed people have to give more zakat al-fitr<\/em>, and people with small hands give less. Rather there is a standardized measurement to be used, according to how it has been legislated.<\/p>\n

Thus, it is known that it is inaccurate\u00a0to define the mudd<\/strong><\/em> referred to in the texts as simply anyone’s “double-handful”, rather the mudd<\/strong><\/em> referred to was an actual container, which our scholars throughout history have busied themselves recording its size, shape, volume, and description.<\/p>\n

CLARIFICATION: “The Scholars have Specified the Saa’ as 2.172 Kilograms” <\/em>[?]<\/span><\/h1>\n

In a translation of a fatwaa<\/em> from the Permanent Committee of Scholars in Saudi Arabia, headed by Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have Mercy on him), there seems to be<\/strong> a specification of 2.172 kilograms<\/strong> as one saa’<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/em>Actually, this is something that has been added to the\u00a0text of\u00a0their fatwaa<\/em> by the translator(s) (between parenthesis). The Arabic original has NO MENTION<\/strong> of this specification, not in the text of the fatwaa<\/em>, nor in a footnote. [3]\u00a0It was simply added by the translator(s).<\/p>\n

This does not mean that such a measurement must be inaccurate, as a saa’<\/strong><\/em> (3L) of some kinds of food might actually weigh precisely 2.172 kg. However, it should be known that this specification did not occur from the scholars in the fatwaa translated and referenced.<\/p>\n

And Allaah knows best.<\/p>\n

ANOTHER CLARIFICATION: “The Mudd is NOT a cup, bowl, or utensil” [?]<\/span><\/h1>\n

In an informative and generally\u00a0accurate article, our brother, Aboo Sufyaan Beecher in Kuwait (may Allaah give him success), posted the following words just recently:<\/p>\n

I asked our Shaykh, Dr. Aboo Muhammad Fawaaz al-‘Awadhee, this evening about the miqdaar [size]\u00a0of a mudd & saa’ due to the confusion (mine & some others) in regards to different sayings of Ahlul-‘Ilm and things posted on the internet. He mentioned the mudd an-Nabawee (Prophetic mudd) is a measurement based on volume that fits in the two cupped-together hands of an average sized man. This was the saa’ of the people of al-Madeenah. He said a mudd is a measurement, not a cup, bowl or utensil.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Source:<\/em> The Salafiyyah Kuwait Blog<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

We can address this common misunderstanding with the following textual and rational proofs:<\/p>\n

Firstly, Imaam al-Bukhaaree gathered hadeeths about the size of the mudd<\/em> container in the chapter of his Saheeh<\/em> called “Chapter: the Saa’<\/em> of al-Madeenah and the Prophet’s Mudd<\/em> (may Allaah\u00a0raise his rank and grant him peace), and How They Were Passed on by the People of Madeenah, Generation\u00a0After Generation.” (Fat-hul-Baaree<\/em>: 11\/598)<\/p>\n

His first hadeeth (#6712) in that chapter\u00a0mentions that the government-endorsed Saa’<\/em> container had become\u00a0noticeably smaller\u00a0than the standard Saa’<\/em> in the time of the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), so this was corrected\u00a0during the Caliphate of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil-‘Azeez.<\/p>\n

The second hadeeth of the chapter (#6713)\u00a0describes how\u00a0Ibn ‘Umar used to\u00a0use the\u00a0original Saa’\u00a0<\/em>measurement of the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace)\u00a0before it had been\u00a0changed.<\/p>\n

Quite simply,\u00a0how could you have a standardized government-endorsed measurement without a physical container to represent it?!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Moreover, Asmaa’ bint Abee Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with her)\u00a0said: They used to give their zakaat al-Fitr<\/em> in the time of the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) using the mudd<\/em> container\u00a0that the people used in\u00a0their houses\u00a0to measure their foods with, or the Saa’<\/em> container that the people used in their houses to measure their food with.\u00a0 She said: All of the people of Madeenah did likewise, without exception!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This hadeeth was collected by al-Haakim in his al-Mustadrak<\/em> (#1499, 1\/570 of the Daar al-Haramayn<\/em> printing).\u00a0 Al-Haakim called the hadeeth saheeh<\/em> (authentic) according to the conditions of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim.\u00a0 Neither ath-Thahabee nor al-Waadi’ee objected to this authentication.<\/p>\n

Ibn Khuzaymah also collected the hadeeth in his Saheeh<\/em> (#2401), and said in his chaper title quite profoundly: “The Chapter Mentioning the Evidence Used to Prove that the Zakat of Ramadhaan was Only Prescribed Using the Saa’ of the Prophet (may Allaah Raise his Rank and Grant him Peace), Not the Saa’ that was Later Invented,\u00a0Since the Saa’ in the\u00a0Time of the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) in al-Madeenah was his Saa’.”<\/em><\/p>\n

This shows quite clearly that\u00a0a mudd\u00a0<\/em>is not simply anyone’s double-handful, or the average double-handful, rather it is\u00a0a standardized measurement, which was obviously a known and widely used container, since the Companions of al-Madeenah all had such Mudd and Saa’ containers in their houses for daily use!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If that is not clear enough as proof to dispel the error that a “mudd<\/em> is not a cup, bowl, or utensil,”\u00a0review the famous event that took place between the two scholars – Aboo Yoosuf and Maalik ibn Anas.\u00a0 They differed over the size of the Saa’<\/em>, so Imaam Maalik\u00a0requested all the people of Madeenah to bring out their Saa’<\/em> containers so they could be measured.\u00a0 As a result, Aboo Yoosuf realized that the Saa’<\/em> of al-Madeenah was the correct Prophetic Saa’<\/em> and abandoned his previous estimation of it.<\/p>\n

To dispel any remaining doubts, let us\u00a0look at\u00a0the chain\u00a0for the Mudd<\/em> container\u00a0shown in the pictures above:<\/p>\n