Abu Saeed said, "When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was among us, we used to give the zakat al-fitr on behalf of every young and old, free person or slave, a sa of food, or a sa of dried yogurt, or a sa of barley, or a sa of dates, or a sa of raisins. We continued to give it in this manner until Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan came to us as a pilgrim or for umrah, and he addressed the people from the pulpit. Among what he said to the people was, 'I am of the view that two mudds of Syrian wheat are equal to a sa of dates.' So the people adopted that view."Abu Saeed said, "As for me, I will continue to give it as I used to give it for as long as I live."
كنا نخرج إذ كان فينا رسول الله ﷺ زكاة الفطر عن كل صغير وكبير حر أو مملوك صاعا من طعام أو صاعا من أقط أو صاعا من شعير أو صاعا من تمر أو صاعا من زبيب. فلم نزل نخرجه حتى قدم علينا معاوية بن أبي سفيان حاجا أو معتمرا فكلم الناس على المنبر فكان فيما كلم به الناس أن قال: إني أرى أن مدين من سمراء الشام تعدل صاعا من تمر فأخذ الناس بذلك. قال أبو سعيد: فأما أنا فلا أزال أخرجه كما كنت أخرجه أبدا ما عشت.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Zakat (985) from Abdullah bin Maslama bin Qanab, who said, Dawud (meaning Ibn Qays) narrated to us, from Iyad bin Abdullah, from Abu Saeed Khudri, who said (then he related the hadith). Malik narrated it in abridged form as mentioned before.As for what Hamid bin Yahya narrated from Sufyan, he added in the hadith, "or a saa of flour." Hamid said, so they objected to him over it, and Sufyan abandoned it.Abu Dawud narrated it (1618) from Hamid bin Yahya, who said, Sufyan (that is, Ibn Uyayna) informed us, from Ibn Ajlan, who heard Iyad, who said, I heard Abu Saeed Khudri saying (then he related the hadith). Abu Dawud said, this addition is a mistake from Ibn Uyayna.Nasai narrated it (2514) from Muhammad bin Mansur, who said, Sufyan narrated to us, with his chain, and in it, "or a saa of salt-wheat," then Sufyan doubted, and said, "flour or salt-wheat." Salt-wheat is a type of white barley with no husk, and it is also said to be a type of wheat.So Sufyan's statement, "or a saa of flour," is shadhdh.