Are the poor considered the needy (masaakeen)? Is it permissible to give money to the needy instead of food? How is this amount estimated? Is it permissible to give it to one person to distribute among ten needy people at different times? And does the person need to know the reason for the distribution?

Giving money to a poor person instead of feeding them is not sufficient according to the majority of scholars; rather, feeding them is necessary. According to the view that permits giving monetary value, such as the opinion of the Hanafis, the value of ten mudds of the food one feeds their family with should be estimated. The weight of a Shar'i mudd varies depending on the type of food; for rice, it is 750 grams. The opinion of the majority, which is to provide food, is more cautious and absolves one's responsibility. There is no harm in appointing a trustworthy person to discharge the expiation for ten poor people, and there is no need to inform him of the reason for the expiation. There is also no harm in discharging it in installments.