Mudd of food

Priority: b, Quality: c
From wikishia

One mudd of food is about 750 grams of flour, wheat, rice, or dates, which is considered as the measuring unit for the amount of fidya for fasting and kaffara in jurisprudence.

According to the fatwa of Shiite jurists, people, who cannot fast during the month of Ramadan due to old age or illness, or women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and fear that fasting will harm their lives or the lives of their children, and their excuse continues until the month of Ramadan of the following year, should pay one mudd of food per day as fidya to the poor. Also, a person who does not fast in the month of Ramadan due to a shar'i excuse such as travel, etc., if after his excuse is removed, he does not perform the qada of them until the month of Ramadan of the following year, he must pay one mudd of food per day as a kaffara (expiation) for the delay.

Kaffara (expiation) for committing some prohibitions of Ihram is also payment of one mudd of food.

Definition and Importance

Majority of jurists consider the amount of each mudd about 750 grams, and by food, they mean wheat, rice, dates, flour, etc.[1] Some have also said that the amount of each mudd is one hundred and fifty three and a half mithqal, equivalent to 719 grams,[2] and others considered it to be around 900 grams.[3]

One mudd of food is used in jurisprudence to measure the amount of kaffara, and it is mentioned in the books of jurisprudence in the rulings of fasting,[4] zihar, hajj (prohibitions of Ihram),[5] and kaffaras.

Unit for measurement of Fidya

Fidya or kaffara for delay is a substitute paid for not fasting.[6] The cases in which one or two mudds of food should be paid to the poor as fidya for fasting[7] are:

• Delaying the qada of fasting of Ramadan until next year’s Ramadan: whoever postpones qada of the fasts of the month of Ramadan without a shar'i excuse until the month of Ramadan of the following year must give one mudd of food to a poor for each fast.[8]

• Pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding and do not fast for fear of harm to themselves or their baby.[9]

• Someone who is suffering from polydipsia (istisqa') and cannot fast.[10]

• Elderly people who cannot fast, or fasting is very difficult for them.[11]

Rulings

There is a disagreement about whether it is obligatory to pay one mudd of food in these cases or two mudds,[12] although paying two mudds is in agreement with caution,[13] however, marja's consider paying one mudd to be sufficient.[14] Also, according to the fatwa of marja’s, it is not enough to pay the price of one mudd of food to the poor, and the food itself must be given to the poor, unless the person is certain that the poor will buy food with that money.

Unit for measurement of kaffaras

Paying one mudd of food is considered as kaffara for performing some prohibitions of Ihram, such as:

  • Killing a sparrow while being in state of Ihram[15]
  • To cut each nail if the total is less than ten nails in state of Ihram[16]
  • A person who is unable to pay kaffara for not fulfilling his vow or covenant must also pay one mudd of food to the poor.[17]

It has also been said that a person who finds it difficult to perform the daily nafilas should give one mudd of food to the poor in order to benefit from their rewards.[18]

Notes

  1. Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marajiʿ, vol. 1, p. 928.
  2. Shaʿrānī, Tabṣirat al-mutaʿallimīn, vol. 1, p. 103.
  3. See: Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marajiʿ, vol. 1, p. 928.
  4. Majlisī, Bīst-o-panj risāla-yi farsī, p. 393.
  5. Ḥillī, Irshād al-adhhān, vol. 1, p. 319.
  6. Ṣadr, Mā warāʾ al-fiqh, vol. 9, p. 120.
  7. Ṣadr, Mā warāʾ al-fiqh, vol. 9, p. 120.
  8. Ḥakīm, Mustamsak al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 8, p. 449.
  9. Ḥakīm, Mustamsak al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 8, p. 496.
  10. Narāqī, Tadhkirat al-aḥbāb, p. 147.
  11. Najafī, Majmaʿ al-rasāʾil, p. 434; Narāqī, Tadhkirat al-aḥbāb, p. 146.
  12. See: Majlisī, Bīst-o-panj risāla-yi farsī, p. 393.
  13. Ḥakīm, Mustamsak al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 8, p. 447 and 451.
  14. Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marajiʿ, vol. 1, p. 948.
  15. Ḥillī, Irshād al-adhhān, vol. 1, p. 319.
  16. Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, vol. 1, p. 271.
  17. Makārim, al-fatāwā al-jadīda, vol. 2, p. 326.
  18. Narāqī, Tuḥfa-yi raḍawīyya, p. 460.

References

  • Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥasan. Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marajiʿ. Tehran: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī affiliated to Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1383 Sh.
  • Ḥakīm, Muḥsin. Mustamsak al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā. Qom: Muʾassisat Dār al-Tafāsīr, 1416 AH.
  • Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Irshād al-adhhān ilā aḥkām al-īmān. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī wābasti bi Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1410 AH.
  • Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan al-. Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām fī masāʾil al-ḥalāl wa l-ḥarām. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAlī Baqqāl. Second edition. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Ismāʿīlīyān, 1408 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Bīst-o-panj risāla-yi farsī. Qom: Kitābkhāna-yi Ayatullāh Marʿashī Najafī, 1412 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Al-fatāwā al-jadīda. Qom: Madrasat al-Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (a), 1427 AH.
  • Najafī, Mūḥmmad Ḥasan. Majmaʿ al-rasāʾil (muḥashshī Ṣāḥib Jawāhir). Mashhad: Muʾassisa-i Sahib al-Zaman, 1415 AH.
  • Narāqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Mahdī. Tadhkirat al-aḥbāb. Qom: Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī-yi Ḥawza-yi Ilmīya-yi Qom, 1425 AH.
  • Narāqī, Muḥammad Mahdī. Tuḥfa-yi raḍawīyya. Qom: Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī-yi Ḥawza-yi Ilmīya-yi Qom, 1426 AH.
  • Shaʿrānī, Abu l-Ḥassan. Tabṣirat al-mutaʿallimīn fī aḥkām al-dīn- tarjuma wa sharḥ. Tehran: Manshūrāt Islāmiyya, 1419 AH.
  • Ṣadr, Sayyid Muḥammad. Mā warāʾ al-fiqh. Beirut: Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1420 AH.