The amount of half a sa‘ in present-day weight

Question

Concerning sadaqat al-fitr, an article by Mr Muhammad Razi al-Din Mu‘azzam was published in the local newspaper here, Siyasat (“Politics”), dated 1 Shawwal 1400 AH. He wrote about the weight of the sa‘ and how much fitra should be given accordingly: the weight of the sa‘ is fixed as 2½ and (2 kilo 337 grams) and three and a half seers (3 kilo 265 grams) (seer: a unit of weight, ≈ 0.93 kg). Accordingly, the weight of half a sa‘ is, respectively, one and a quarter seers, i.e. (one kilo 166 grams), or 1¾ seers, i.e.

Answer

The amount of sadaqat al-fitr is half a sa‘ of wheat and one sa‘ of barley. The sa‘s in Arabia were different, and the seers were different too; moreover there was disagreement about the barleycorn and the ratti (a small unit of weight, ≈ 0.12 g). Taking all these into account, the reckoning made was that if the seer of “eighty”, i.e.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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