Is it permissible to fulfill the expiation requirement by combining feeding the poor and clothing them for ten individuals?

Primary text

Fulfilling the expiation requirement by feeding some of the poor and clothing the rest, provided the total count of ten is met, is sufficient. This is the position of the Imam (Abu Hanifa), Al-Thawri, and the People of Opinion. The basis is that the verse implies a choice for each poor person between being fed or clothed, and since both food and clothing satisfy the need of the poor person (one addressing hunger, the other covering shame), and both carry the same numerical weight in the count, combining them is valid. Furthermore, the obligation is discharged for each individual upon fulfilling the required sustenance or covering for them, analogous to choices involving equivalent valuation, such as in the case of redeeming a hunting animal or paying *Diyah* (blood money) where different forms of equivalent value are accepted.