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The question

What are the measures of Islamic weights and volumes mentioned in books of Fiqh, and what are the most important printed references that can be consulted in this regard?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Several books have addressed the legal weights, measures, and standards mentioned in Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and (Prophetic traditions), including "Al-Kharaj fi al-Dawlah al-Islamiyyah" by Diya' al-Din al-Rayyis, "Al-Nuthum al-Islamiyyah" by Subhi al-Salih, and "Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh" by Wahbah al-Zuhayli.

Shaykh Wahbah al-Zuhayli, in his book "Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh," defined the legal measures using contemporary units, as follows:

1. Length Units: Al-Qasabah: 6 cubits or 3.696 meters. Al-Jarib: 100 qasabahs or 3600 square Hashimi cubits or 1366.416 square meters. Al-Dhira' al-Hashimi (Hashimi Cubit): 61.2 cm. Al-Mil (Mile): 4000 cubits or 1848 meters. Al-Farsakh: 3 miles or 5544 meters. Al-Barid al-Arabi (Arabic Post-stage): 4 farsakhs or 22176 meters. Distance for Qasr (Shortening Prayer for a Traveler): 16 farsakhs or 88.704 kilometers (approximately 86 km according to the Hanafis). Al-Faddan al-Misri (Egyptian Feddan): 4200 square meters (approximately 5/6 of 4200 square meters).

2. Volume Units (Measures): Al-Sa' al-Shar'i (Legal Sa') (Baghdadi): 4 mudd or 2.75 liters (2176 grams), and according to Abu Hanifah, 3800 grams. Al-Mudd: 0.688 liters (675 grams). Al-Ritl al-Baghdadi (Baghdadi Rotl): 408 grams. Al-Qafiz: 12 sa's or 33 liters. Al-Wasq: 60 sa's. Five Awsuq ( for ): 300 sa's or 653 kilograms. Al-Ardab al-Misri al-Hali (Current Egyptian Ardab): 198 liters or 156 kg. Al-Karr: 720 sa's or 1560 kilograms.

3. Weight and Currency Units: Al-Dinar (Al-Mithqal): 4.24 grams of gold. Al-Qirat: 0.2125 grams of silver (if the mithqal is 20 qirats). Al-Dirham al-Arabi (Arabic Dirham): 2.975 grams. Al-Daniq: 0.495 grams of silver. Al-Qintar al-Shar'i (Legal Quintar): 1200 uqiyahs or 8400 dinars.

Note: Estimates vary between different schools of thought and some books. The reliance here is on what Shaykh Wahbah al-Zuhayli presented and on the most well-known estimates.

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