Chapter on Pledges

His statement: “Chapter on pledges.” A pledge is the verbal noun of rahana—“to pledge.”

Linguistically, it means detention, and it may also refer to permanence. An example of the first meaning is Allah’s saying:

“Every soul is held in pledge for what it has earned.” [al-Muddaththir]

That is, detained on account of what it has earned. And Allah says:

“Every person is held in pledge for what he has earned.” [al-Tur: 21]

That is, detained. As for permanence, they say, “māʾ rāhin” (still water), meaning water that is motionless and settled.

Technically, it is the securing of a debt by means of a tangible asset from which all or part of the debt may be recovered, whether from the asset in its entirety or part of it.

For example, someone owes me one thousand riyals, so he gives me, as security for the debt, an item worth two thousand riyals. Here, the debt may be recovered from part of the pledged asset.

Another example: a man owes me one thousand riyals and gives me an item as security worth five hundred riyals. In this case, part of the debt may be recovered from it. All of this is permissible: whether the pledged asset is worth more than the debt or the debt is greater than the pledged asset. If the pledged asset is worth more than the debt, the security is plainly achieved; and if it is worth less than the debt, securing part of the debt is better than having no security at all.

Our statement, “the securing of a debt by means of a tangible asset,” indicates that the pledge must be a tangible asset, because complete recovery can only be made from a tangible asset. If it consists of usufructs or a debt, then, according to the jurists, it is not valid.