Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterMudd, Saa' and Qullah in modern measurements
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. Could you please give the standard measurements of these term in kg/liter in our present time: Mudd, Saa', and Qullah.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The Muslim scholars unanimously agreed that the Saa’ equals four Mudds. The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh reads, “The Muslim jurists agreed that one Saa’ equals four Mudds...”
We have previously underlined in our fatwas that the equivalent weight of the Saa’ differs according to the type of food; the Saa’ of barley is not equal to the Saa’ of wheat in terms of weight because the weight of barley is different from the weight of wheat. The same applies to all things whose weights are different; their Saa’ is of different weights. In general, a group of contemporary scholars estimated the Saa’ to be approximately three kilograms. The Permanent Committee for Iftaa said in its fatwas, “The amount of the Prophetic Saa’ is three kilograms approximately...” Similarly, Shaykh ‘Abdullah Al-Bassaam 
wrote, “The Prophetic Saa’ of pure grains equals 3000 grams approximately...” [Tawdheeh Al-Ahkaam] Hence, the Mudd equals 750 grams approximately.
Some scholars estimated that the Saa’ equals 2,040 grams (2.04 kg); accordingly, the Mudd would be 510 grams. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said, “In modern weights, the Saa’ of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is equivalent to two kilograms and forty grams. Accordingly, the Mudd is half a kilogram and ten grams."
As for the unit of two Qullahs (Qullataan), the Hanafi, Shaafi'i, and Hanbali scholars held that two Qullahs in volume are equivalent to one and a quarter cubits in length, width, and depth (one cubit equals the length of a forearm). Shaykh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said in Majmoo’ Al-Fataawa, “There is no doubt that this is an approximation, as determining the two Qullahs is only an approximation according to the more correct view of the two scholarly views in this regard.” In liters, Shaykh ‘Abdullah Al-Fawzaan estimated that it is equal to 307 liters in his book Minhat Al-‘Allaam Sharh Buloogh Al-Maraam, and Dr. Wahbah Az-Zuhayli estimated that it is equal to 270 liters in his book Al-Fiqh Al-Islaami wa Adillatuh.
Allah knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
