His statement, “It becomes binding upon taking possession with the donor’s permission,” means that once the gift has been concluded through offer and acceptance, there is no option to rescind while the parties remain in the same sitting. However, there is an unrestricted option to rescind until possession is taken, because it does not become binding except by taking possession. Thus, if he says, “I have given you such-and-such book of mine,” and the other says, “I accept,” but he has not yet handed it over to him, then he retracts it, his retraction is permissible, because a gift does not become binding except by taking possession. Once the recipient takes possession of it, there is no option to rescind while the parties remain in the same sitting, for this is a gratuitous contract, whereas the contract in which such an option applies is an exchange contract.

The distinction between the two is clear. In an exchange contract, the Lawgiver grants the two contracting parties a period of consideration so long as they remain in the same sitting, because a person may desire an item, yet once it has been sold to him, it may lose its appeal in his eyes. This is something commonly observed. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ granted him the option to return it if he wishes (1).

A gift, however, involves no exchange: he has given it freely. Even if he initially loved it, but then gave it away and it lost its appeal in his eyes, this causes him no harm. The evidence that a gift does not become binding except by taking possession is that Abu Bakr ﷺ gave Aisha ﷺ the yield of a date palm, but when he fell ill, he retracted it and said to her, “Had you harvested it, it would have been yours; but now it is inheritance” (2). This shows that it does not become binding except by taking possession,