Expiation for an Oath: May I Give It to Four People?

The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh, regarding the expiation for an oath.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : Expiation for an oath: May I give it to four people?

The Shaykh : Is there an expiation for an oath that is distributed among the poor? I am asking you.

The questioner : Feeding ten poor people.

The Shaykh : Feeding ten poor people. May Allah reward you. Do the four count as ten?

The questioner : No, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : So then.

The questioner : It is necessary to feed them, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : It is necessary to feed ten. Yes, and I wanted the answer to be in the form of the question for you, so that it becomes firmly established in your mind. If Allah qualifies something with a condition, we must follow that condition. For example, He says: and He did not say: "food for ten poor people." If He had said: "food for ten poor people," it would have been sufficient for me to give charity that suffices for the ten. But He said: meaning that you must feed ten poor people by number. Just as He said regarding zihar: which means it is necessary that I feed sixty poor people by number. Did you understand?

The questioner : Meaning, one does not suffice with the amount?

The Shaykh : No, no, it is not by amount. If Allah had intended the amount, He would have said: "So its expiation is food for ten poor people." He said: Did you understand? But how do you feed them? Do you give them something dry and they cook it, or do you cook and invite them? We say: the matter is broad. If you wish, cook a lunch or dinner for them and invite them to it. And if you wish, give it to them to cook themselves. And if you want to give it to them to cook, its amount is approximately one kilogram of rice for each poor person. One kilogram of rice, and it is good to put meat with it to be a side dish for them. Yes.