One of the sellers placed a sign that says: “Fitrah according to the fatwa of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Uthaymeen.” Do you have any knowledge of this?
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The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : One of the sellers placed a sign that says: “Fitrah according to the fatwa of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Uthaymeen.” Do you have any knowledge of this?
The Shaykh : You know that merchants have means of advertising, and it is well known that if he says that this is fitrah according to the fatwa of so-and-so, people will turn to him based on their trust in that person. The truth is that I dislike that. People came to me when I was in Unayzah, before I came here, with a bag written on it, “A fatwa from me,” and the intermediary between me and them advised them to reach you and prevent this. I said: Do not write it on the bags, because there is something of insult in that. The fatwa contains “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy,” and when the bags are emptied, they will be thrown on the ground with the Basmala, which is a verse from the verses of Allah. I said: If it is absolutely necessary, put a paper in the middle of the bag in the rice; there is no harm in that. But the intermediary told me that they said they had already printed some of these bags. In any case, I am telling you now from here that I dislike that, and I do not like it.
As for estimating it at two kilograms and one hundred grams, and we have mentioned in our book *Majalis Shahr Ramadan* that the amount of zakat al-fitr is two kilograms and forty grams, there is no contradiction in this; there is no contradiction. Even if one person came and said that the amount of the sa' is two and a half kilograms, or another came and said: the amount of the sa' is three kilograms, there is no contradiction, because the estimation of fitrah is by measure, and measure depends on volume, not weight. Stay with me, people; do not think that this is a contradiction. Measure depends on volume, not on weight. Perhaps a thing, like a hand gathered like this, weighs a lot if the thing in the gathered hand is heavy and the other is light. Therefore, the weight of dates cannot be like the weight of wheat, and the weight of wheat cannot be like the weight of rice, and the weight of rice, some of it with the rest, cannot be the same. Be careful of this issue. Grains may be affected by the weather; if the weather is humid, they may absorb this humidity and their weight increases, or they may absorb it and their volume increases. So the important thing is that if we estimate zakat al-fitr by kilograms, it does not mean that this estimation is general for everything. Why? Because the criterion in measure is volume, not weight. So if we estimate it with wheat at two thousand and forty grams, and rice comes that is heavier than it, the weight in the rice must be increased, yes or no? The weight in the rice must be increased. We say: If this is two kilograms and forty grams, this must be increased. Likewise, if rice comes that is heavier than the first, we must increase the weight. The heavier the thing is, and it is estimated by measure, the more its weight must be increased. This is a rule; understand it. Therefore, it is not possible to estimate fitrah for people with a specific weight for all food. If we did that, we would be mistaken. If someone asks: How do we know this thing? We say: Measure the measure with the Prophetic sa'. Measure it first, then make a container that holds this measure, then estimate the fitrah with it, whether its weight is heavy or light, because the criterion in measure is volume, yes or no? Good.
The Shaykh : You know that merchants have means of advertising, and it is well known that if he says that this is fitrah according to the fatwa of so-and-so, people will turn to him based on their trust in that person. The truth is that I dislike that. People came to me when I was in Unayzah, before I came here, with a bag written on it, “A fatwa from me,” and the intermediary between me and them advised them to reach you and prevent this. I said: Do not write it on the bags, because there is something of insult in that. The fatwa contains “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy,” and when the bags are emptied, they will be thrown on the ground with the Basmala, which is a verse from the verses of Allah. I said: If it is absolutely necessary, put a paper in the middle of the bag in the rice; there is no harm in that. But the intermediary told me that they said they had already printed some of these bags. In any case, I am telling you now from here that I dislike that, and I do not like it.
As for estimating it at two kilograms and one hundred grams, and we have mentioned in our book *Majalis Shahr Ramadan* that the amount of zakat al-fitr is two kilograms and forty grams, there is no contradiction in this; there is no contradiction. Even if one person came and said that the amount of the sa' is two and a half kilograms, or another came and said: the amount of the sa' is three kilograms, there is no contradiction, because the estimation of fitrah is by measure, and measure depends on volume, not weight. Stay with me, people; do not think that this is a contradiction. Measure depends on volume, not on weight. Perhaps a thing, like a hand gathered like this, weighs a lot if the thing in the gathered hand is heavy and the other is light. Therefore, the weight of dates cannot be like the weight of wheat, and the weight of wheat cannot be like the weight of rice, and the weight of rice, some of it with the rest, cannot be the same. Be careful of this issue. Grains may be affected by the weather; if the weather is humid, they may absorb this humidity and their weight increases, or they may absorb it and their volume increases. So the important thing is that if we estimate zakat al-fitr by kilograms, it does not mean that this estimation is general for everything. Why? Because the criterion in measure is volume, not weight. So if we estimate it with wheat at two thousand and forty grams, and rice comes that is heavier than it, the weight in the rice must be increased, yes or no? The weight in the rice must be increased. We say: If this is two kilograms and forty grams, this must be increased. Likewise, if rice comes that is heavier than the first, we must increase the weight. The heavier the thing is, and it is estimated by measure, the more its weight must be increased. This is a rule; understand it. Therefore, it is not possible to estimate fitrah for people with a specific weight for all food. If we did that, we would be mistaken. If someone asks: How do we know this thing? We say: Measure the measure with the Prophetic sa'. Measure it first, then make a container that holds this measure, then estimate the fitrah with it, whether its weight is heavy or light, because the criterion in measure is volume, yes or no? Good.