Two scoops of different size

Brief

This lesson asks you to measure the same thing with units of different sizes and to show that the count changes while the amount stays the same. The museum offers a record on a measure used for grain, of which two sizes were known; measuring with units of your own is the class's work. ¹

Why does the count change?

Measure the same sand with a small cup and then a large one. Which cup gives the larger count? Is there more sand in one count than in the other?

Go deeper

Picture a measure for grain. The record on the sa' says that in the jurists' technical usage it is a dry measure used in buying and selling ². Two sa's circulated, one of Medina and one of Iraq, and the Medinese one was the smaller ² ³. The jurists agree that a sa' is four mudds, then differ over the mudd, so the Medinese sa' holds five and a third ratls and the Iraqi one eight ratls ². The record adds that the majority of jurists hold that the legal sa' used in the rulings is the smaller one, while Abu Hanifa took the Iraqi sa' ² ³.

Think about it

The people of Medina and the people of Iraq agreed that a sa' is four mudds, yet their sa's were not the same size. Why could two people each say "one sa'" and not have the same amount of grain?

Into the museum

The sa': the measure of which two sizes were known.
Measure (kayl): how the Kuwaiti Encyclopaedia of Fiqh speaks of measuring by volume, and how it differs from weighing.

Try this

Read the record on the sa'. Fill a container with rice using a small cup, then again using a large cup. Compare the two counts and say what stayed the same.