All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon al his family and companions.
Adherence to the vow which a person had uttered and intended should take precedence over anything else, as stated by the Shafii` scholars. On the other hand, Hanafii scholars have permitted giving the cash value of all types of Zakat, vows, and expiations. It was stated in the Hanafii book [Radul-Mohtar]: "If a person vowed to give some gold to charity, but gave its value in silver, or vowed to give some bread to charity, but gave its value then it is permissible." "It is permissible to give the value of the Zakat, and the same goes for expiations, vows, Zakat ulfitr, and Tithes since Allah, The Exalted, Said (What means): "Of their goods, take alms" {At-Tawbah/103}.
This indicates that what counts is paying the charity. This is supported by what Mo`ad Bin Jabal said to the people of Yemen upon collecting Zakat from them. He said: "I will take clothes instead of corn and barley since this is easier for you to provide and more beneficial to the Muhajireen and Ansar in Medina. [Al-Ekhtiar Lita`leel Al-Mokhtar, vol.1/pp.102]. And the Prophet (PBUH) never objected to what Mo`ad did.. We opt for the Fatwa that permits paying the value of vows and expiations, as said by the Hanafii scholars, based on the narration of Mo`ad. According to Hanafi scholars, feeding equals one Saa` of wheat as stated by Ibn Abdeen who said:" If he said I`m obliged before Allah to feed one needy person, he should give one Saa` of wheat."
Accordingly, whoever vowed to feed sixty needy persons should give thirty Saa`s of wheat or their value in cash. Dr. Alzuhaili estimated Saa`, according to Hanafii scholars as (2.176 kg), as stated in the book [Al-Fiqh al –Islami Wa Adelatoh].
Other scholars estimated it as (3.25 kg), as stated in the book [Al-Makaeel Wal Mawazeen Al-Sharia]. Moreover, whoever vowed to clothe sixty needy persons should buy a garment for each and" it should cover his whole body", but giving him one piece of garment doesn`t suffice.
Therefore, we estimate the average value of clothing one needy person at ten JDs. And Allah Knows Best.
