Sa (Islamic measure)
The Sāʿ (
Proportion to other Arabic measures
There is general agreement between medieval Arabic authors that 1 Sāʿ = 4 Mudd. [
Because the Sāʿ was related to different measures of mass, many standardization problems occurred. Its relation to the Ratl was especially controversial, with two prevailing opinions:
- 1 Sāʿ = 8 Ratl was how the people of Kufa defined 1 Sāʿ.[3] It was also the measure used by Umar (reg. 634–644) when he atoned oaths.[1]
- 1 Sāʿ = 5 1/3 Muawiyah I (reg. 661–680).[1]
Meaning for Islamic teachings
Like the Mudd, the Sāʿ has an additional symbolic and religious meaning in Islam than simply a measurement. According to a hadith referred to by Anas ibn Malik in different versions and is also found in Sahih al-Bukhari, Muhammad asked God on the return from the Battle of Khaybar to bless the Sāʿ and the Mudd of the Muslims.[6]
The Sāʿ is especially important for the measurement of the
Special Sāʿ-measuring vessels were produced for the metering of the Zakāt al-fitr.
Based on hadith, the Sāʿ is also considered to be the minimum amount of water that must be available to perform a valid ghusl.[11]
Use of the Sāʿ for non-ritual purposes is recorded only in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Maqdisī reports that the Arabs had two different Sāʿ units on the ships, a small one for compensating sailors, and a large one used for commercial transactions.[12]
Conversion to the metric system
According to Walther Hinz, who relies on the news of a Mudd calibration vessel from Ayyubid time, the "Sāʿ of the Prophet" ( ṣā' an-nabī ) is exactly 4.2125 liters. Converting this measure to the weight of wheat it is a value of 3.24 kg.[13] The Sāʿ-vessel for the Merinid Sultan Abū l-Hasan, which was also to represent the "Sāʿ of the Prophet," has a volume of 2.75 liters.[14]
According to students of Abdul Muhsin bin Hamad al Abbaad, the head of the department of Sharia in the Islamic University of Medina, the Majority opinion of the Fuqaha (experts in Islamic jurisprudence) is:
A Sa of raw grain is 2.3 kilograms according to the Hanbali, Maliki & Shafi'i schools of thought. A Mudd of raw grain is 510 grams according to the Hanbali, Maliki & Shafi'i schools of thought. 2.3 kilograms equals 2.3 Liters of Water, this being the minimum amount of water to perform a valid Ghusl (full body ablution) 60 Sa = 1 Wask
The Minority opinion of the Fuqaha is: A Sa of raw grain is 3.3 kilograms according to the Hanafi school of thought.
Literature
Arabic sources
- Abū-ʿUbaid al-Qāsim Ibn-Sallām: al- Amwāl. Ed. Muḥammad al-ʿAmmāra. Dār aš-Šurūq, Beirut, 1989. S. 615–627. Digitalisat
- Abū-ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad Ibn-Aḥmad al-Ḫwārizmī: Kitāb Mafātīḥ al-ʿulūm. Ed. Gerlof van Vloten. Brill, Leiden, 1895. S. 14. Digitalisat
- Šams ad-Dīn al-Maqdisī: Kitāb Aḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʿrifat al-aqālīm. Ed. M. J. de Goeje. 2. Aufl. Brill, Leiden 1906. s. 98f. Digitalisat
Literature
- Alfred Bel: "Ṣāʿ" in Enzyklopaedie des Islam Brill, Leiden, 1913–1936. Bd. IV, S. 1. Digitalisat
- Alfred Bel: "Note sur trois anciens vases de cuivre gravé trouvés à Fès et servant à mesurer l'aumône légale du fitr." in Bulletin archéologique 1917. S. 359–387. Digitalisat
- Walther Hinz: Islamische Masse und Gewichte. Umgerechnet ins metrische System. E. J. Brill, Leiden/Köln 1970, S. 51.
- Cengiz Kellek: "Sâʿ" in Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi Bd. XXXV, S. 317c-319c. Digitalisat
- Paul Pascon: "Description des mudd et ṣāʿ Maghribins" in Hespéris Tamuda 16 (1975) S. 25–88 Digitalisat
- M. H. Sauvaire: "Matériaux pour servir à l'histoire de la numismatique et de la métrologie musulmanes" in Journal Asiatique VIII/7 (1886) 394–417 Digitalisat.
References
- ^ a b c d Šams ad-Dīn al-Maqdisī: Kitāb Aḥsan at-taqāsīm. 1906, S. 98.
- ^ Henri Sauvaire: "Arab Metrology.
- ^ Al-Ḫwārizmī: Kitāb Mafātīḥ al-ʿulūm. 1895, S. 14.
- ^ Al-Ǧuwainī: Muġīṯ al-ḫalq fī tarǧīḥ al-qaul al-ḥaqq. Kairo 1934. S. 19f. Digitalisat
- ^ Sauvaire: "Matériaux". 1886, S. 400f.
- ^ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buḫārī, Kitāb al-Ǧihād wa-s-Siyar, Nr. 2732. OnlineVersion on Wikisource
- ^ Bel: "Sāʿ" in Encyclopaedia of Islam . Vol. IV, p. 1.
- ^ Bel: "Note sur trois anciens vases". 1917, p. 363.
- ^ a b Bel: "Note sur trois anciens vases". 1917, p. 370.
- ^ Bel: "Note sur trois anciens vases". 1917, pp. 364, 366.
- ^ Bel: "Sāʿ" in' 'Encyclopedia of Islam' '. Vol. IV, p. 1.
- ^ Šams ad-Dīn al -Maqdisī: Kitāb Aḥsan at-taqāsīm . 1906, p. 99.
- ^ Hinz: Islamic Mass and Weights. 1970. p. 51.
- ^ Bel: "Note sur trois anciens vases". 1917, p. 364, 366.