Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterFeeding poor people one meal together as part of required expiation
Question
Asalaam alaikum, jazakallah khairan for responding. the question was regarding delaying to make up fast (due to menses) for passed ramadhans for no valid reason. my understanding is i should repent to allah s.w.t, make up for each missed day and aswel as to pay for expiation which is 750 gm or 1.5kg of food to each miskeen. so my second question: is it permissible for me to feed the total number of people at once. if I ask my sister to cook and feed at the orphanage on my behalf since i live in the west it is more convenient for me to feed back home. or does it have to be specific that I have to keep 750gm or 1.5kg of food in each bag for each miskeen in order to be sure that each one received the right amount? which way is preferable. jazakallah khair
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Scholars held different opinions regarding a person required to offer expiation of feeding poor people, whether or not it is sufficient for him to gather the required number of poor people and feed them altogether (offering them one complete meal – lunch or dinner). Some scholars held that this is sufficient and clears his liability, but others held that it is not sufficient for him. This is one of the two reported opinions of Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal 
. Ibn Qudaamah said:
"If the person feeds the poor people altogether with one meal of lunch or dinner, this would not be sufficient for him according to the more preponderant opinion of the two opinions (reported from Imaam Ahmad). This is also the obvious sense of the statement of Al-Khiraqi because he estimated the minimum amount of food offered as expiation with one Mudd (750 grams) or half a Saa‘ (a Saa' equals 4 Mudds). If the person feeds them one complete meal, he would not be able to know how much exactly each of them has consumed and whether he has consumed the amount of food due for him….
The other opinion (of Imaam Ahmad), though, suggests that it is sufficient for him to gather the sixty poor people and feed them one complete meal.
Abu Daawood said, 'I heard someone ask Ahmad about a woman who had not observed fast in Ramadan and the following Ramadan came before she made up for the missed days of fasting, and she then passed away; what should be done in this case? He inquired: 'How many days of fasting has she missed?' The questioner replied: 'Thirty days.' He advised: 'Then, gather thirty poor people and feed them one complete meal that satisfies their hunger. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to the person who deliberately had intercourse during the day in Ramadan: 'Feed sixty poor persons.' If such a person gathers all the sixty poor people and feeds them altogether, this is sufficient for him; Allaah The Exalted says (what means): {...then the feeding of sixty poor persons.} [Quran 85:4], and he did.
Allaah The Exalted also says pertaining to expiation for breaking an oath (what means): {So, its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that which you feed your [own] families.} [Quran 5:89] When the person does so, he has fed them as required. Moreover, it has been reported on the authority of Anas that he had broken his fast in Ramadan; so he gathered the poor people and offered them one complete meal. Since he fed sixty poor people, it was sufficient for him and he cleared his liability of the expiation…. Based on this report, when the person feeds the poor people the amount of food prescribed by the Sharee'ah, it is sufficient for him and he has cleared his liability of the expiation. Even if each of them had a lesser amount of food, but it satisfied their hunger, the obvious sense of the statement of Imaam Ahmad suggests that it is sufficient for him as well since he would have fed them as required. However, it may not be sufficient for him because he did not offer them the prescribed amount of food." [Al-Mughni]
There is no doubt that it is more prudent to abide by the first scholarly opinion so as to be on the safe side and clear one's liability from that expiation with certainty; so you are advised to offer each poor person the prescribed amount of food. However, if you act according to the second opinion and you gather the poor people and offer them one complete meal, dinner or lunch, then we see no harm in that and we do not restrict a matter in which there is leeway.
Allaah Knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
