Is it permissible to give the expiation for an oath (kaffarat al-yamin) to a poor family whose members are fewer than ten, without being certain that all of them will eat from the food? And is an expiation for an oath incumbent upon someone who swore not to commit a sin on a certain day, but committed it after 'Isha, if it did not occur to him at the time of the oath whether the day was to be reckoned legally (shar'i) or astronomically (falaki)?

It is permissible to pay the expiation (kaffara) to a family consisting of ten individuals. It is not a condition to know that all of them will eat from it, because the obligation is to transfer ownership of the food, and this has been achieved by giving it to the head of the family. Scholars have differed regarding the permissibility of giving to someone who does not eat the food; some have permitted it, while others have prohibited it. However, the summary of the opinion is that paying to a family of ten individuals is permissible, regardless of whether all family members actually eat from the expiation; the mere presumption of it is sufficient.