His statement, “It is concluded,” means: the gift.

His statement, “by offer,” refers to the words uttered by the donor.

His statement, “and acceptance,” refers to the words uttered by the recipient. Thus, one says, “I have given you this book,” and the other says, “I accept.” The first is the offer, and the second is the acceptance.

His statement, “and by conduct indicating it,” means that a gift may also be concluded through conduct, without any verbal declaration, provided that the conduct indicates a gift. For example, if someone is holding a feast and his brother sends him a sheep without saying anything, and he takes the sheep, slaughters it, and serves it to the guests, the gift is valid. This conduct indicates a gift, since the sender is his friend and wishes to assist him. He sent him the sheep without saying, “It is a gift,” because he fears that explicitly calling it a gift may carry an element of reminding him of the favor.

Another example is a man holding a book which his companion sees. When he notices his companion looking at it, he gives it to him without saying, “I have given it to you,” and without the other saying, “I accept.” Such conduct apparently indicates a gift, especially if the donor is known for generosity. Otherwise, it may be said that the basic presumption is that ownership remains with him, and this gift is not valid, for perhaps he gave it to him merely to examine and benefit from it.

The evidence that a gift may be concluded through conduct is that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would distribute charity and allotments from fay’ without saying to the recipient, “I have given [this] to you,” and without the recipient saying, “I accept.” Moreover, all contracts are concluded by whatever indicates them.

Thus, its forms are of two kinds: verbal and practical. The verbal form consists of offer and acceptance, while the practical form consists of conduct indicating it.