Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 1508
sahih

Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:

In the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ) we used to give one Sa' of food or one Sa' of dates or one Sa' of barley or one Sa' of Raisins (dried grapes) as Sadaqat-ul-Fitr. And when Muawiya became the Caliph and the wheat was (available in abundance) he said, "I think (observe) that one Mudd (of wheat) equals two Mudds (of any of the above mentioned things).

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُنِيرٍ، سَمِعَ يَزِيدَ الْعَدَنِيَّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عِيَاضُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي سَرْحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ كُنَّا نُعْطِيهَا فِي زَمَانِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم صَاعًا مِنْ طَعَامٍ، أَوْ صَاعًا مِنْ تَمْرٍ، أَوْ صَاعًا مِنْ شَعِيرٍ، أَوْ صَاعًا مِنْ زَبِيبٍ، فَلَمَّا جَاءَ مُعَاوِيَةُ وَجَاءَتِ السَّمْرَاءُ قَالَ أُرَى مُدًّا مِنْ هَذَا يَعْدِلُ مُدَّيْنِ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 24, Hadith 108
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 2, Book 25, Hadith 584 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Zakat al-Fitr is one the acts of worship that Allah, Exalted be He, has blessed us with and made a means of purification and compensation to make up for the decrease or loss of reward that may happen to the fasting person during the month of Ramadan. In this hadeeth, Aboo Sa’eed al-Khudree (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that Zakat al-Fitr that the Muslims, during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ and the reign of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, would give was one Saa’ of food i.e., dates wheat, barely or raisins. However, during the reign of Mu’aawiyyah (may Allah be pleased with him) the levant wheat became available in abundance and thus its price dropped. Mu’aawiyyah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I believe that one Mudd (of wheat) equals two Mudds of any of the abovementioned food items. A one Mudd equals the weight of double handfuls, and the one Saa’ equals 4 Mudds. Accordingly, a one Mudd equals between 509 grams at minimum and 1072 grams at maximum, and a one Saa’ equals between 2036 grams at minimum and 4288 grams at maximum. Because of this, Mu’aawiyyah (may Allah be pleased with him) proposed that people would give half of a Saa’ of levant wheat which would amount to the weight of one Saa’ of dates or barely. This hadeeth is clear evidence that during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ the Muslims never give one half of a Saa’ of wheat, and that this happened afterwards. With that said, we know that the one Saa’ of food is the obligation of Zakat al-Fitr, and that Mu’aawiyyah (may Allah be pleased with him) exerted his efforts to conclude the ruling, but his view cannot stand before the textual evidence. .
Related hadiths3
Compare isnād across 3 related chains →