Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:184
[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers excess - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
أياما معدودات (a number of appointed days)
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: أياما معدودات (a number of appointed days). The Exalted, whose mention is sublime, means: prescribed for you, O you who believe, is fasting for a number of appointed days. The word "أياما" (days) stands in the accusative because of an elided verb, as though it were said: prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you, namely that you should fast a number of appointed days — as one says: "أعجبني الضرب زيدا" ("the striking of Zayd pleased me"). And His saying: كما كتب على الذين من قبلكم (as it was prescribed for those who were before you) pertains to the fasting, as though it were said: prescribed for you is that which is equal to what was prescribed for those who were before you, namely that you should fast a number of appointed days.
Then the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning what Allah, Mighty and Exalted, meant by His saying: أياما معدودات (a number of appointed days). Some of them said: the appointed days are: the fasting of three days of every month. He said: and that was what was prescribed for the people as fasting, before the month of Ramadan was prescribed for them.
Mention of who said that:
2241 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: for them there was the fasting of three days of every month, and the month was not designated as "a number of appointed days." He said: and this was the fasting of the people earlier; then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, prescribed for the people the month of Ramadan.
2242 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: يا أيها الذين آمنوا كتب عليكم الصيام كما كتب على الذين من قبلكم لعلكم تتقون (O you who believe, prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you, that you may be God-fearing). It was three days of every month; then that was abrogated (nasakha) by what was sent down concerning the fasting of Ramadan. This was the first fasting, from the time of the late-evening prayer (al-ʿatama).
2243 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtba related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of Muʿādh ibn Jabal: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Medina and fasted the day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, and three days of every month. Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent down the obligation of the month of Ramadan, and Allah sent down: يا أيها الذين آمنوا كتب عليكم الصيام كما كتب على الذين من قبلكم (O you who believe, prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you), until He reached: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين (and for those who are able to do it only with hardship there is a ransom: the feeding of a needy person).
2244 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Allah, whose mention is sublime, had prescribed for the people, before Ramadan was sent down, the fasting of three days of every month.
And others said: no, the three days that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to fast before Ramadan was prescribed were a voluntary (taṭawwuʿ) fast; and Allah, Mighty and Exalted, meant by His saying: كتب عليكم الصيام كما كتب على الذين من قبلكم . . أياما معدودات (prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you ... a number of appointed days) the days of the month of Ramadan, not the days that he used to fast before the fasting of the month of Ramadan became obligatory.
Mention of who said that:
2245 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, who said: our companions related to us: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he arrived among them, commanded them to fast three days of every month, voluntarily and not as an obligation. He said: then the fasting of Ramadan was sent down. Abū Mūsā said: his saying — ʿAmr ibn Murra said: "our companions related to us" — by that he means Ibn Abī Laylā; it was Ibn Abī Laylā who said "our companions related to us."
* — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard ʿAmr ibn Murra, he said: I heard Ibn Abī Laylā — and he mentioned something similar.
And we have already mentioned the saying of him who said: he meant by His saying كتب عليكم الصيام كما كتب على الذين من قبلكم (prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you) the month of Ramadan. And the most correct of these in my view is the saying of him who said: Allah, whose praise is sublime, meant by His saying أياما معدودات (a number of appointed days) the days of the month of Ramadan. That is because no report has come upon which a proof (ḥujja) can be founded that the people of Islam were prescribed any fasting other than the fasting of the month of Ramadan which was then abrogated by the fasting of the month of Ramadan; and because Allah, the Exalted, in the context of the verse, has made clear that the fasting which He, whose praise is sublime, has made obligatory upon us is the fasting of the month of Ramadan and no other times, by His clarification concerning the days of which He informed that He prescribed their fasting for us, with His saying: شهر رمضان الذي أنزل فيه القرآن (the month of Ramadan, in which the Qurʾān was sent down) (2:185). So whoever claims that the Muslims were charged with the obligation of a fasting other than the fasting of the month of Ramadan — upon whose obligation they are agreed — and that this was then abrogated, is asked for the proof of that from a report upon which a proof can be founded, since that can only be known through a report that cuts off every excuse.
Since the matter herein is as we have described, for the reason we have set forth, the explanation of the verse is: prescribed for you, O believers, is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you, that you may be God-fearing — a number of appointed days, that is the month of Ramadan. It is also permissible that the meaning be: كتب عليكم الصيام (prescribed for you is fasting): prescribed for you is the month of Ramadan. And as for "المعدودات" (the appointed): these are the days whose numbers and the hours of their times are counted; and He means by His saying "معدودات" (appointed): counted (muḥṣayāt).
فمن كان منكم مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين (So whoever of you is sick or on a journey, a number of other days; and for those who are able to do it only with hardship there is a ransom: the feeding of a needy person)
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: فمن كان منكم مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين . He, whose praise is sublime, means by His saying: whoever of you is sick — of those upon whom fasting has been imposed — or whoever is healthy, not sick, but is on a journey, then a number of other days. He says: then upon him rests the fasting of the number of days that he broke during his illness or on his journey, from other days — that is, from days other than the days of his illness or his journey. The nominative in His saying فعدة من أيام أخر (then a number of other days) is of the same kind as the nominative in His saying: فاتباع بالمعروف (then a following-up in a fitting manner) (2:178), and the explanation of that has already been given there, in a manner that makes repetition unnecessary.
And as for His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين (and for those who are able to do it only with hardship there is a ransom: the feeding of a needy person): the reading of all Muslims is وعلى الذين يطيقونه , and upon it the writings of their Qurʾānic codices (maṣāḥif) are based; and that is the reading from which it is not permissible for anyone of the people of Islam to deviate, on account of its transmission by all of them, generation after generation, that this is correct. And Ibn ʿAbbās used — according to what is transmitted from him — to read it as: "وعلى الذين يطوقونه" (and for those who can manage it only with the utmost effort).
Then the reciters of وعلى الذين يطيقونه differed concerning its meaning. Some of them said: that was at the beginning, when fasting was prescribed; and whoever of the non-travelers was able to perform it would fast it if he wished, and if he wished he would break it and ransom it, by feeding a needy person for each day that he broke, until that was abrogated.
Mention of who said that:
2246 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtba related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of Muʿādh ibn Jabal, who said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Medina and fasted the day of ʿĀshūrāʾ and three days of every month. Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, prescribed the month of Ramadan, and Allah, whose mention is sublime, sent down: يا أيها الذين آمنوا كتب عليكم الصيام (O you who believe, prescribed for you is fasting), until He reached: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين (and for those who are able to do it only with hardship there is a ransom: the feeding of a needy person). So whoever wished would fast, and whoever wished would break it and feed a needy person. Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, made fasting obligatory upon the healthy non-traveler, and confirmed the feeding for the aged who is unable to fast; and Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent down: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it; and whoever is sick or on a journey...) to the end of the verse."
2247 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, who said: our companions related to us: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he arrived among them, commanded them to fast three days of every month, voluntarily and not as an obligation. He said: then the fasting of Ramadan was sent down. He said: and they were a people not accustomed to fasting. He said: and the fasting was heavy upon them. He said: and whoever did not fast would feed a needy person. Then this verse was sent down: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it; and whoever is sick or on a journey, a number of other days). Thus the dispensation (rukhṣa) came to be for the sick and the traveler, and we were commanded to fast." Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā said: his saying — ʿAmr said: "our companions related to us" — by that he means Ibn Abī Laylā; it is as if Ibn Abī Laylā is the one who said "our companions related to us."
* — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard ʿAmr ibn Murra, he said: I heard Ibn Abī Laylā — and he mentioned something similar.
2248 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlqama, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين (and for those who are able to do it only with hardship there is a ransom: the feeding of a needy person), who said: whoever wished would fast, and whoever wished would break it and feed a needy person with half a ṣāʿ; then شهر رمضان (the month of Ramadan) abrogated it, up to His saying: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it).
2249 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, in a similar manner; and he added, he said: this verse abrogated it, and the first verse came to apply to the aged who is unable to fast: he gives as alms in place of each day half a ṣāʿ to a needy person.
2250 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ Abū Tumayla related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين (and for those who are able to do it only with hardship there is a ransom: the feeding of a needy person). Whoever of them wished to fast would fast; and whoever of them wished to ransom by feeding a needy person would ransom, and his fasting was completed for him. Then He said: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it); then He made an exception to that and said: ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر (and whoever is sick or on a journey, a number of other days).
* — Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I asked al-Aʿmash about His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , and he narrated to us on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlqama; the two of them said: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it) abrogated it.
2251 — ʿUmar ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, who said: this verse — namely: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين — was abrogated by the verse that follows it: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it; and whoever is sick or on a journey, a number of other days).
* — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlqama, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , who said: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه abrogated it.
2252 — Al-Walīd ibn Shujāʿ Abū Hammām related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Mushir related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: this verse was sent down: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين . The man would break the fast and give for each day an alms of food to a needy person; then this verse was sent down: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it; and whoever is sick or on a journey, a number of other days). Thus the dispensation was sent down only for the sick and the traveler.
* — Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Mushir related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: this verse was sent down for the people in general: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , and the man would break the fast and give his food as alms to a needy person; then this verse was sent down: ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر (and whoever is sick or on a journey, a number of other days). He said: thus the dispensation was sent down only for the sick and the traveler.
2253 — Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, who said: I went in to ʿAṭāʾ while he was eating in the month of Ramadan, and he said: I am a man of great age. Fasting was sent down, and whoever wished would fast, and whoever wished would break it and feed a needy person, until this verse was sent down: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it; and whoever is sick or on a journey, a number of other days). Thus fasting became obligatory upon everyone, except for a sick person, a traveler, or a man of great age such as I, who ransoms.
2254 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, saying: Yūnus informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, who said: Allah said: يا أيها الذين آمنوا كتب عليكم الصيام كما كتب على الذين من قبلكم (O you who believe, prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you). Ibn Shihāb said: Allah prescribed fasting for us, and whoever wished would ransom it — of those who were able to perform the fasting, whether a healthy person, a sick person, or a traveler — and nothing was upon him other than that. When Allah then made fasting obligatory upon whoever witnesses the month, the ransom was lifted for whoever was healthy and able to perform it, and for whoever was on a journey or sick there was a number of other days. He said: and the ransom that had been accepted before that time remained in force for the aged who is unable to perform the fasting, and for the one who suffers from thirst or from an ailment by which he cannot fast.
2255 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Allah set in the first fasting a ransom: the feeding of a needy person; and whoever of a traveler or a resident wished to feed a needy person and break the fast, for him that was a dispensation. Then Allah sent down concerning the later fasting: فعدة من أيام أخر (then a number of other days), and Allah did not mention in the later fasting the ransom of feeding a needy person. Thus the ransom was abrogated, and there remained for the later fasting: يريد الله بكم اليسر ولا يريد بكم العسر (Allah desires ease for you and does not desire hardship for you), and that is the breaking of the fast on a journey; and He made it a number of other days.
2256 — Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Wahb related to me, saying: my uncle ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb informed me, saying: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith informed me, that Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh said, on the authority of Yazīd, the client (mawlā) of Salama ibn al-Akwaʿ, on the authority of Salama ibn al-Akwaʿ, that he said: in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whoever wished would fast, and whoever wished would break the fast and ransom it with the feeding of a needy person, until there was sent down: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it).
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , who said: it applied to all the people; and when there was sent down: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصم (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast), they were commanded to fast and to make up (qaḍāʾ), and He said: ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر (and whoever is sick or on a journey, a number of other days).
2257 — Hannād related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Mushir related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , who said: the verse that follows it abrogated it: وأن تصوموا خير لكم إن كنتم تعلمون (and that you fast is better for you, if you only knew).
2258 — Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda, concerning: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , who said: the verse that follows it abrogated it: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it).
2259 — It was related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: al-Faḍl ibn Khālid related to us, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His saying: كتب عليكم الصيام (prescribed for you is fasting), the verse. Fasting was prescribed from the late-evening prayer (al-ʿatama) until the same time the following day; and when a man had performed the late-evening prayer, food and sexual intercourse were forbidden to him until the same time the following day. Then the later fasting was sent down, with the permission of food and sexual intercourse throughout the whole night, and that is His saying: وكلوا واشربوا حتى يتبين لكم الخيط الأبيض من الخيط الأسود (and eat and drink until the white thread becomes distinct to you from the black thread), up to His saying: ثم أتموا الصيام إلى الليل (then complete the fast until the night) (2:187). And He also permitted sexual intercourse and said: أحل لكم ليلة الصيام الرفث إلى نسائكم (permitted for you on the night of the fast is intercourse with your wives) (2:187). And in the first fasting there was the ransom; and whoever of a traveler or a resident wished to feed a needy person and break the fast would do so. And Allah, whose mention is sublime, did not mention in the later fasting the ransom, and said: فعدة من أيام أخر (then a number of other days). Thus this later fasting abrogated the ransom.
And others said: no, His saying وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين was a special ruling for the man of great age and the old woman who were indeed able to fast: it was permitted to them to ransom their fasting by feeding a needy person and breaking the fast; then that was abrogated by His saying: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it), so that upon them rested fasting equal to what rested upon the young man, unless they were not able to fast — in which case that ruling which applied to them before the abrogation remained, in that case, in force for them in its original form.
Mention of who said that:
2260 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿUrwa, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the man of great age and the woman of great age, while they were able to fast — it was permitted to them to break the fast if they wished, and to feed a needy person for each day. Then that was afterward abrogated: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it; and whoever is sick or on a journey, a number of other days); and it remained in force for the man of great age and the woman of great age when they were unable to fast, and for the pregnant woman and the nursing woman when they both feared.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿUrwa, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وعلى الذين يطيقونه (and for those who are able to do it only with hardship), he said: the man of great age and the woman of great age — then he mentioned something similar to the narration of Bishr on the authority of Yazīd.
2261 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: the man of great age and the old woman had the dispensation to break the fast and feed, on the basis of His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين . He said: thus they had the dispensation, then it was abrogated by this verse: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it). Thus the dispensation for the man of great age and the old woman was abrogated when they were able to fast, but it remained in force for the pregnant woman and the nursing woman, that they break the fast and feed.
2262 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Hammām ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: I heard Qatāda say concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , he said: therein was a dispensation for the man of great age and the woman of great age, while they were able to fast, that they feed a needy person in place of each day and break the fast; then that was abrogated by the verse that follows it, and He said: شهر رمضان (the month of Ramadan), up to His saying: فعدة من أيام أخر (then a number of other days). Thus this verse abrogated it. And the people of knowledge held the opinion and hoped that the dispensation remained in force for the man of great age and the woman of great age when they were unable to fast, that they break the fast and feed a needy person for each day; and for the pregnant woman when she feared for what was in her belly, and for the nursing woman when she feared for her child.
2263 — It was related to me, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين . The man of great age and the old woman were able to perform the fasting of Ramadan, and Allah permitted them to break it if they wished, and upon them rested the ransom for each day that he breaks, namely the feeding of a needy person. Then Allah sent down after that: شهر رمضان الذي أنزل فيه القرآن (the month of Ramadan, in which the Qurʾān was sent down), up to His saying: فعدة من أيام أخر (then a number of other days).
And others, of those who read this as وعلى الذين يطيقونه , said: it was not abrogated, nor anything of it, and it is an established ruling from the moment this verse was sent down until the rising of the Hour. They said: its explanation is only this: upon those who are able to perform it — in their youth and their young years, and in their state of health and strength — when they become sick and grow old and are no longer able to fast on account of old age, there rests a ransom: the feeding of a needy person; not that the people were permitted to break the fast while they were able to fast, provided they ransomed.
Mention of who said that:
2264 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , he said: as for "those who are able to perform it": that is the man who was able to perform it and had fasted it previously, and afterward suffers from pain, or thirst, or a prolonged illness; or the nursing woman who is unable to fast — upon them rests for each day the feeding of a needy person; and if he feeds a needy person, that is better for him, and whoever imposes the fasting upon himself and fasts it, that is better for him.
2265 — Hannād related to us, saying: ʿAbda related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿUrwa, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: when the pregnant woman fears for herself and the nursing woman for her child in Ramadan, he said: they break the fast and feed a needy person in place of each day, and they do not make up the fast.
2266 — Hannād related to us, saying: ʿAbda related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he saw a slave-girl of his pregnant or nursing, and said: you are in the position of the one who is unable to perform it; upon you rests that you feed a needy person in place of each day, and no make-up fasting rests upon you.
2267 — Hannād related to us, saying: ʿAbda related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Thābit, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, similar to the saying of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning the pregnant woman and the nursing woman.
* — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: it was mentioned to us that Ibn ʿAbbās said to a slave-girl of his who was pregnant or nursing: you are in the position of those who are unable to perform it; upon you rests the ransom and no fasting rests upon you. This is when she fears for herself.
2268 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين : that is the man of great age who was able to perform the fasting of the month of Ramadan when he was young, and who grew old and can no longer fast it; let him then give alms to one needy person for each day that he breaks, at the moment he breaks the fast and at the moment he takes the predawn meal (suḥūr).
2269 — Hannād related to us, saying: ʿAbda related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, similar to that, except that he did not say "at the moment he breaks the fast and at the moment he takes the suḥūr."
2270 — Hannād related to us, saying: Ḥātim ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥarmala, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, that he said concerning the saying of Allah, whose mention is sublime: فدية طعام مسكين (a ransom: the feeding of a needy person), he said: that is the aged one who used to fast and grew old and could no longer manage it, and the pregnant woman upon whom no fasting rests. Upon each of the two rests the feeding of a needy person: a mudd of wheat for each day, until Ramadan has passed.
And others read that as: "وعلى الذين يطوقونه فدية طعام مسكين" (and for those who can manage it only with the utmost effort there is a ransom: the feeding of a needy person), and they said: it is the man of great age and the old woman who have grown too old for fasting, so that fasting is imposed upon them while they cannot perform it; it is permitted to them to break it and to feed a needy person in place of each day that they break. And they said: the verse has an established ruling from the moment it was sent down, and it was not abrogated; and they rejected the saying of him who said that it was abrogated.
Mention of who said that:
2271 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, Ibn Jurayj related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he used to read it as: يطوقونه (they can manage it only with the utmost effort).
2272 — Hannād related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Mushir related to us, on the authority of ʿIṣām, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he used to read: وعلى الذين يطوقونه فدية طعام مسكين . He said: and he used to say: it is in force today for the people of strength.
* — Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he used to read it as: وعلى الذين يطوقونه فدية طعام مسكين . He said: and he used to say: it is in force today for the people of strength.
2273 — Hannād related to us, saying: Qabīṣa related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he used to read it as: وعلى الذين يطوقونه , and said: it is the man of great age; he breaks the fast and feeding is done on his behalf.
2274 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that he said concerning this verse: وعلى الذين يطوقونه — and thus he used to read it — that it is not abrogated: the man of great age is charged that he break the fast and feed a needy person in place of each day.
2275 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abī Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that he read: وعلى الذين يطوقونه .
2276 — Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: those who are able to perform it (yuṭīqūnahu) fast it; but those who can manage it only with the utmost effort (yuṭawwaqūnahu) are not able to do it.
2277 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbād ibn Jaʿfar related to me, on the authority of Abī ʿAmr, the client (mawlā) of ʿĀʾisha, that ʿĀʾisha used to read: يطوقونه .
2278 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, that he used to read it as: يطوقونه . Ibn Jurayj said: and Mujāhid used to read it thus.
2279 — Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Khālid related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima: وعلى الذين يطيقونه , he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: it is the man of great age.
2280 — Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā al-Suddī related to us, saying: Sharīk informed us, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وعلى الذين يطوقونه , he said: they burden themselves with it, they impose it upon themselves with hardship.
* — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Muslim al-Malāʾī, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , he said: the man of great age who cannot perform it; he breaks the fast and feeds a needy person each day.
2281 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid and ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the saying of Allah: وعلى الذين يطيقونه , he said: they impose it upon themselves, فدية طعام مسكين (a ransom: the feeding of) one needy person. He said: this is an abrogated verse; dispensation is given in it only for the aged who cannot perform the fasting, or a sick person who is known not to recover.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: الذين يطيقونه (those who are able to perform it): they impose it upon themselves, فدية طعام مسكين (a ransom: the feeding of) one needy person; and this was given only as a dispensation for the aged who cannot perform the fasting, or the sick person who is known not to recover. This is on the authority of Mujāhid.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he used to say: it is not abrogated.
2282 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , he says: whoever can perform the fasting only with great effort, it is permitted to him to break it and feed a needy person each day — and likewise the pregnant woman, the nursing woman, the man of great age, and the one who has a chronic ailment.
2283 — Hannād related to us, saying: ʿAbīda related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the saying of Allah, whose mention is sublime: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , he said: it is the man of great age, the person who used to fast in his youth and who, when he grew old, was no longer able to fast before his death; he then feeds a needy person each day. Hannād said: ʿAbīda said: Manṣūr was asked: the one who feeds half a ṣāʿ each day? He said: yes.
2284 — Hannād related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn al-Aswad, who said: I asked Mujāhid about a wife of mine whose ninth [month] coincided with the month of Ramadan and with a severe heat, and he commanded me that she break the fast and feed. He said: and Mujāhid said: that dispensation applies also to the traveler and the sick, for Allah says: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين .
* — Hannād related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the pregnant woman, the nursing woman, and the man of great age who is unable to fast break the fast in Ramadan and feed a needy person for each day. Then he recited: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين .
2285 — ʿAlī ibn Saʿd al-Kindī related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī, concerning His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , he said: the man of great age who is unable to fast breaks the fast and feeds a needy person in place of each day.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , he said: they are those who impose it upon themselves but cannot perform it, the old man and the old woman.
2286 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: it is the old man and the old woman.
2287 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that he used to read it as: وعلى الذين يطيقونه , and that they would then break the fast.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of someone who related it to him, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: it is established for the aged, the nursing woman, the pregnant woman, and for those who can perform the fasting only with hardship.
2288 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: I said to ʿAṭāʾ: what is His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه ? He said: it has reached us that the aged, when he is unable to fast, ransoms for each day with a needy person. I said: the aged who is unable to fast, or the one who can do it only with great effort? He said: no, the aged who cannot perform it in any way, by any effort; but whoever can perform it with effort, let him fast it, and there is for him no excuse to neglect it.
2289 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Yazīd informed me: وعلى الذين يطيقونه (and for those who are able to do it only with hardship), the verse; as if he means the man of great age. Ibn Jurayj said: and Ibn Ṭāwūs informed me, on the authority of his father, that he used to say: it was sent down concerning the aged who is unable to perform the fasting of Ramadan; he then ransoms for each day with the feeding of a needy person. I said to him: how much is his food? He said: I do not know, except that he said: the food of one day.
2290 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His saying: فدية طعام مسكين (a ransom: the feeding of a needy person), he said: the man of great age who is unable to fast breaks the fast and feeds a needy person each day.
And the most correct of these sayings concerning the explanation of the verse is the saying of him who said: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين is abrogated by the saying of Allah, whose mention is sublime: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it). For the "hāʾ" (the pronominal suffix -hu) in His saying وعلى الذين يطيقونه refers to the fasting, and its meaning is: and upon those who are able to perform the fasting there rests a ransom: the feeding of a needy person. Since that is so, and since all of the people of Islam are agreed that for whoever is able — of the healthy, resident men, not the travelers — to perform the fasting of the month of Ramadan, it is not permitted to break the fast therein and ransom it with the feeding of a needy person, it is known that the verse is abrogated. This, in addition to what supports this saying among the reports we have just mentioned on the authority of Muʿādh ibn Jabal, Ibn ʿUmar, and Salama ibn al-Akwaʿ, that after the sending down of this verse, in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, concerning the fasting of the month of Ramadan they had the choice between fasting it, in which case the ransom fell away from them, and between breaking the fast and ransoming it by feeding a needy person for each day; and that they used to do that, until there was sent down: فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (so whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it); then the obligation of fasting it was imposed upon them, and the choice and the ransom fell away.
If a speaker were to say: how can you claim a consensus of the people of Islam concerning the fact that for whoever is able to perform the fasting, in the condition you have described, it is permitted only to fast it, while you nonetheless know the saying of him who said: the pregnant woman and the nursing woman, when they fear for their children, may break the fast, even though they are able with their bodies to perform the fasting — together with the report transmitted concerning this on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, namely:
2291 — Hannād ibn al-Sarī related this to us, saying: Qabīṣa related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Abī Qilāba, on the authority of Anas, who said: I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was taking the morning meal, and he said: "Come, I will tell you something. Verily, Allah has remitted for the traveler, the pregnant woman, and the nursing woman the fasting and half of the prayer."
Then it is answered: we have not claimed a consensus concerning the pregnant woman and the nursing woman; we have only claimed a consensus concerning the men whose attribute we have described. As for the pregnant woman and the nursing woman: we only know that they are not intended by His saying وعلى الذين يطيقونه , and that the men are excluded from being intended by it. For if they were intended by it, to the exclusion of the men, then it would have been said: "وعلى اللواتي يطقنه فدية طعام مسكين" (and for the women who are able to perform it there is a ransom: the feeding of a needy person); for that is the manner of speech of the Arabs when one makes the statement specifically about them [the women], to the exclusion of the men. Since, then, it was said: وعلى الذين يطيقونه , it is known that what is intended by it are the men to the exclusion of the women, or the men and the women [together]. Since it is established by the consensus of all that for whoever is able — of the resident, healthy men — to perform the fasting of the month of Ramadan, it is not permitted as a dispensation to break the fast and ransom it, the men are excluded from being intended by the verse; and it is known that the women were not intended by it, for the reason we have described, namely that the statement about the women, when the saying is directed specifically to them, would read "وعلى اللواتي يطقنه" (and for the women who are able to perform it); but the revelation reads otherwise than that.
And as for the report transmitted on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ: if it is authentic, then its meaning is only that he remitted for the pregnant woman and the nursing woman the fasting so long as they are unable to do it, until they are able to do it and then make it up — just as he remitted it for the traveler during his journey, until he resides and then makes it up — and not that the two of them were commanded the ransom and the breaking of the fast without an obligation to make it up. And if there were in the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: "Verily, Allah has remitted for the traveler, the nursing woman, and the pregnant woman the fasting" an indication that he ﷺ meant only that Allah, whose mention is sublime, remitted it for them by His saying: وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين , then it would necessarily follow from that that upon the traveler, when he breaks the fast on his journey, no make-up fasting rests, and that nothing but the ransom is imposed upon him by that breaking; for the Prophet ﷺ joined his ruling with the ruling of the pregnant woman and the nursing woman. That is a saying which, were a speaker to make it, contradicts the manifest meaning of the Book of Allah and that upon which all the people of Islam are agreed.
Some of the grammarians of the people of Basra have claimed that the meaning of His saying وعلى الذين يطيقونه is: and upon those who are able to manage the food [i.e. can afford it]; but that contradicts the explanation of the people of knowledge. And as for the reading of him who read this as وعلى الذين يطوقونه : that is a reading that contradicts the Qurʾānic codices of the people of Islam; and it is not permitted for anyone of the people of Islam to object, by his own opinion, against what the Muslims have transmitted as the inheritance of their Prophet ﷺ, in an open, decisive transmission that cuts off every excuse. For that for which the proof has come from the religion is the truth concerning which there is no doubt that it is from Allah; and no objection may be raised against what is already established and for which the proof has been given that it is from Allah, by means of opinions, conjectures, and divergent sayings.
And as for the meaning of "الفدية" (the ransom): it is the compensation, from your saying "فديت هذا بهذا" — that is: I gave the one as compensation for the other, and I gave it as a substitute for it. And the meaning of the saying is: and upon those who are able to perform the fasting there rests a compensation: the feeding of a needy person for each day that he breaks of the days of his fasting that is prescribed for him.
And as for His saying: فدية طعام مسكين (a ransom: the feeding of a needy person): the reciters differ in the reading of it. Some read it by annexing "الفدية" to "الطعام" (in a genitive construction) and placing "الطعام" in the genitive; that is the reading of most of the reciters of the people of Medina, with the meaning: and upon those who are able to perform it there rests that they ransom it with the feeding of a needy person; and when "the ransom" was put in place of "that they ransom it," it was annexed to "the food," as one says: "لزمني غرامة درهم لك" ("there rests upon me the fine of a dirham to you") with the meaning: there rests upon me that I pay you a dirham as a fine. And others read it with tanwīn on "fidya" and the nominative on "ṭaʿām," with the meaning of clarification, in the word "the food," of the nature of the obligatory ransom upon whoever breaks the fast in his obligatory fasting — as one says: "لزمني غرامة درهم لك" ("there rests upon me the fine of a dirham to you"), where by "the dirham" is clarified what the fine is and what its measure is; and that is the reading of most of the reciters of the people of Iraq.
And the more correct of the two readings is the reading of him who read "فدية طعام" with the annexation of "the ransom" to "the food" (genitive construction), for "the ransom" is a name for the action, and it is something other than the food with which the fasting is ransomed. That is because "the ransom" is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the saying of the speaker: "I ransomed the fasting of this day with the feeding of a needy person, I ransom it, a ransoming" — as one says: "I sat, a sitting," and "I walked, a walking." The ransom is, then, an action, and the food is something other than it. Since that is so, it is clear that the more correct of the two readings is the annexation of "the ransom" to "the food," and the unsoundness is clear of the saying of him who said: the non-annexation of "the ransom" to "the food" is more correct in meaning, because the food, according to him, is the ransom itself. To him who says that it is said: we already know that "the ransom" requires a ransomer, something that is ransomed, and a ransoming; if now the food is the ransom and the fasting is that which is ransomed, then where is the name of the action of the ransomer, which is the "ransoming"? Verily, this saying is a clear, unmistakable error.
And as for the word "the food": it is annexed to "the needy person" (in a genitive construction), and the reciters differ in the reading of it. Some read it with "the needy person" in the singular, with the meaning: and upon those who are able to perform it there rests a ransom: the feeding of one needy person for each day that he breaks. As:
2292 — Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Rifāʿī related to me, saying: Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī related to us, on the authority of Abī ʿAmr: that he read "فدية" in the nominative with tanwīn, "طعام" in the nominative without tanwīn, "مسكين" [in the singular]. And he said: for each day a needy person. And upon this is the majority of the reciters of the people of Iraq.
And others read it with "the needy persons" in the plural: فدية طعام مساكين (a ransom: the feeding of needy persons), with the meaning: and upon those who are able to perform it there rests a ransom: the feeding of needy persons for the month, when he breaks the fast the whole month. As:
2293 — Abū Hishām Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Rifāʿī related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb, on the authority of Bashshār, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: the feeding of needy persons for the whole month.
And the more pleasing to me of the two readings therein is the reading of him who read "طعام مسكين" in the singular, with the meaning: and upon those who are able to perform it there rests, for each day that they break, a ransom: the feeding of a needy person. For in clarifying the ruling of whoever breaks one day there lies an access to the knowledge of the ruling of whoever breaks the whole month; but in clarifying the ruling of whoever breaks the whole month there lies no access to the clarification of the ruling of whoever breaks one day, or a number of days less than the days of the whole month. For every single one represents the whole, but the whole cannot represent the single one; therefore we have chosen to read it in the singular.
And the people of knowledge differed concerning the quantity of food with which they fed in that case when they broke the fast. Some said: the obligatory amount of food for the needy person, for the breaking of one day, was half a ṣāʿ of wheat. And some said: the obligatory amount of food for the needy person, for the breaking of a day, was a mudd of wheat or of their other foodstuffs. And some said: it was half a ṣāʿ of wheat, or a ṣāʿ of dates or raisins. And some said: that which the one who broke the fast ate of food on the day he broke. And some said: it was a morning and an evening meal that constituted for the needy person a breaking of the fast (iftār). And we have already mentioned some of these sayings earlier, and so we have found it disagreeable to mention them again.
فمن تطوع خيرا فهو خير له (So whoever voluntarily does good, that is better for him)
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: فمن تطوع خيرا فهو خير له (So whoever voluntarily does good, that is better for him). The exegetes differed concerning the explanation of that. Some of them said, as:
2294 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid and ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: فمن تطوع خيرا (so whoever voluntarily does good): that he adds the feeding of another needy person — that is better for him; وأن تصوموا خير لكم (and that you fast is better for you).
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, similar to that.
2295 — Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: فمن تطوع خيرا (so whoever voluntarily does good), he said: whoever feeds a needy person a ṣāʿ.
2296 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father: فمن تطوع خيرا فهو خير له (so whoever voluntarily does good, that is better for him), he said: the feeding of needy persons for each day — that is better for him.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ḥanẓala, on the authority of Ṭāwūs: فمن تطوع خيرا (so whoever voluntarily does good), he said: the feeding of a needy person.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ḥanẓala, on the authority of Ṭāwūs, similar to that.
* — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Ṭāwūs: فمن تطوع خيرا (so whoever voluntarily does good), he said: the feeding of a needy person.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Ṭāwūs, similar to that.
2297 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, that he read: فمن تطوع with the soft (undoubled) "tāʾ" [in the ṭāʾ] خيرا , he said: he adds to a needy person.
2298 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: فمن تطوع خيرا فهو خير له (so whoever voluntarily does good, that is better for him): if he feeds two needy persons, then that is better for him.
* — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn Ṭāwūs informed me, on the authority of his father: فمن تطوع خيرا فهو خير له (so whoever voluntarily does good, that is better for him), he said: whoever feeds yet another needy person.
And others said: the meaning of that is: so whoever voluntarily does good, namely that he fasts together with the ransom.
Mention of who said that:
2299 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, saying: Yūnus informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb: فمن تطوع خيرا فهو خير له (so whoever voluntarily does good, that is better for him): he means that whoever fasts together with the ransom, that is better for him.
And others said: the meaning of that is: so whoever voluntarily does good, namely that he gives the needy person more than the quantity of his [obligatory] food.
Mention of who said that:
2300 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said: فمن تطوع خيرا (so whoever voluntarily does good): that he adds more food — that is better for him.
And the correct of the sayings therein is, in our view, that Allah, whose mention is sublime, spoke generally by His saying فمن تطوع خيرا (so whoever voluntarily does good), and did not single out some meanings of good above others; for the joining of fasting with the ransom belongs to voluntary good, and the adding of a needy person above the compensation of the ransom belongs to voluntary good. And it is possible that He, whose mention is sublime, meant by His saying فمن تطوع خيرا (so whoever voluntarily does good): these meanings — whoever, of his fasting, [though] ransoming, performs voluntarily anything of it, فهو خير له (that is better for him), for all of that belongs to voluntary good and the supererogatory works of merit.
وأن تصوموا خير لكم (And that you fast is better for you)
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وأن تصوموا خير لكم إن كنتم تعلمون (And that you fast is better for you, if you only knew). He, whose mention is sublime, means by His saying: وأن تصوموا (and that you fast) what is prescribed for you of the month of Ramadan — that is better for you than that you break the fast and ransom. As:
2301 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وأن تصوموا خير لكم (and that you fast is better for you); and whoever imposes the fasting upon himself and fasts it, that is better for him.
2302 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, saying: Yūnus related to me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb: وأن تصوموا خير لكم (and that you fast is better for you): that is to say that fasting is better for you than the ransom.
2303 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وأن تصوموا خير لكم (and that you fast is better for you).
إن كنتم تعلمون (If you only knew)
And as for His saying: إن كنتم تعلمون (if you only knew): He means: if you knew which of the two matters is better for you, O you who believe — the breaking of the fast with the ransom, or the fasting as Allah has commanded you.
