Short answer
Yes, in the Hanafi school, when feeding the poor is the kaffarah you owe. You may give each poor person the value of half a sa' of wheat, the same as one zakat al-fitr, instead of food. Money only replaces feeding: if your kaffarah is fasting and you are able to fast, paying does not count. The other three schools require food.
Where the kaffarah is by feeding, giving the value (qimah) of the food in money is valid. Each poor person receives half a sa' of wheat or a sa' of dates or barley, or its value, or two full meals.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Kaffarah must be given as food, a mudd of the local staple for each poor person; money does not count.
- Maliki
- Kaffarah must be given as food; money does not count.
- Hanbali
- Kaffarah must be given as food, such as a mudd of wheat or half a sa' of other food for each person; money does not count.
Explanation
Feeding the poor is part of several kaffarahs (expiations):
- A broken oath: feed or clothe ten poor people, or free a slave; only if you cannot afford these, fast three days.
- Deliberately breaking a Ramadan fast: fast sixty days in a row; only if you truly cannot fast, feed sixty poor people.
- Zihar: the same order as for Ramadan.
In the Hanafi school the feeding may be paid in money. Each poor person's share is the amount of one zakat al-fitr, so an oath kaffarah is ten times your local fitrana and a Ramadan kaffarah is sixty times. Use the figure your local scholars announce, or the kaffarah calculator. Giving two full meals a day to each poor person is also valid.
Conditions:
- It must reach poor people who could receive zakat: not your parents, children or spouse, and not a Sayyid.
- Money is not a way round fasting. For a Ramadan kaffarah you must fast if you are able; paying is only for someone too ill or old to fast sixty days.
- You may pay through a charity, telling them it is kaffarah.
Fidya for missed fasts is a different payment; see what is fidya. In the Hanafi school you may also give one poor person one share a day over sixty days, but not all sixty shares in a single day.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:89
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِٱللَّغْوِ فِىٓ أَيْمَٰنِكُمْ وَلَٰكِن يُؤَاخِذُكُم بِمَا عَقَّدتُّمُ ٱلْأَيْمَٰنَ ۖ فَكَفَّٰرَتُهُۥٓ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَٰكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍۢ ۖ فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَٰثَةِ أَيَّامٍۢ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ كَفَّٰرَةُ أَيْمَٰنِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ ۚ وَٱحْفَظُوٓا۟ أَيْمَٰنَكُمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٨٩﴾
Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is meaningless in your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for [breaking] what you intended of oaths. So its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that which you feed your [own] families or clothing them or the freeing of a slave. But whoever cannot find [or afford it] - then a fast of three days [is required]. That is the expiation for oaths when you have sworn. But guard your oaths. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be grateful.
The kaffarah for a broken oath begins with feeding ten poor people.
Quran, Surah Al-Mujaadila 58:4
فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ شَهْرَيْنِ مُتَتَابِعَيْنِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يَتَمَآسَّا ۖ فَمَن لَّمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَإِطْعَامُ سِتِّينَ مِسْكِينًۭا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ لِتُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ ۚ وَتِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَلِلْكَٰفِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿٤﴾
And he who does not find [a slave] - then a fast for two months consecutively before they touch one another; and he who is unable - then the feeding of sixty poor persons. That is for you to believe [completely] in Allah and His Messenger; and those are the limits [set by] Allah. And for the disbelievers is a painful punishment.
Feeding sixty comes only after one is unable to fast.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1936
Sahih... فهل تجد إطعام ستين مسكينا ...
"Can you find the means to feed sixty poor people?"
Feeding was the last option, after freeing a slave and fasting two months.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Ayman, section on the kaffarah of oaths. Feeding ten poor people, with the value allowed in place of the food.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Talaq, chapter on kaffarah (zihar). Half a sa' of wheat or its value for each of sixty poor people.
- Minhaj al-Talibin, Kitab al-Kaffarah. The Shafi'i rule that kaffarah is paid in food.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.