The Determination of the Amount of the Prophetic Sa'
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The Shaykh : And by the sa' I mean the sa' known in our present time, not the sa' which is the sa' of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because the sa' known in the era of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is less than the known sa' by a fifth or more. For example, if the Prophetic sa' is eighty, then the sa' existing now is one hundred or more. Based on this, we say that the known, customary sa', especially in Najd, is five mudds by the mudd of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and for every poor person is one mudd. And if you wish to estimate it by weight, we considered the sa' of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) according to what the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) established for the fitrah with good, sifted wheat, and we found it to equal two kilograms and forty grams. And of course, this weight differs according to the heaviness of the weighed item, because the heavier the weighed item, the less its volume compared to the lighter one. Is the measure considered by volume or by weight?
The questioner : By weight.
The Shaykh : The measure is not by volume, and as for the weight, it is by heaviness. Therefore, it is obligatory upon the one who considers the Prophetic sa' that he should be cautious if the measured item is heavy. If the sa' of the light item is, for example, two kilograms and forty grams, then it must be two kilograms and forty grams or more of the heavy item. The important thing is that the rule for us in the matter of measuring and weighing is that what the Lawgiver considered by measure is considered by measure, and if you convert it to weight, it will differ. On what basis does it differ? On the basis of heaviness and lightness. So the heavier the measured item, the more you must increase it in weight.
The questioner : By weight.
The Shaykh : The measure is not by volume, and as for the weight, it is by heaviness. Therefore, it is obligatory upon the one who considers the Prophetic sa' that he should be cautious if the measured item is heavy. If the sa' of the light item is, for example, two kilograms and forty grams, then it must be two kilograms and forty grams or more of the heavy item. The important thing is that the rule for us in the matter of measuring and weighing is that what the Lawgiver considered by measure is considered by measure, and if you convert it to weight, it will differ. On what basis does it differ? On the basis of heaviness and lightness. So the heavier the measured item, the more you must increase it in weight.