Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (11/71)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

The issue is subject to scholarly disagreement, but this is the position of the school in this matter, and we follow it.

The donor’s permission is also necessary. Thus, if a man says, “I have given you my camel that is in my enclosure,” and the other replies, “I accept,” then the recipient rushes off and takes the camel, does the gift become binding? The author says: It does not become binding unless the donor says, “Go and take possession of it,” or goes with him and hands it over to him. As for taking possession without his permission, this is not sufficient. If someone were to ask, “Does not the gift itself entail permission to take possession?” we say: No, it does not necessarily entail that, for the donor may regret it and retract the gift before possession is taken. If you hasten to take possession without his permission, you have closed the door on him, whereas he has the right to retract it until he hands it over to you or permits you to take possession. This is why the author stipulated, “with the donor’s permission.”

His statement, “except for that which is already in the recipient’s possession”: whatever is already in the recipient’s possession does not require permission. For example, someone may have borrowed a book from another person and have it in his hand. The owner of the book then says to him, “I have given you my book which you borrowed from me.” He does not need to ask, “Do you permit me to take possession of it?” because it is already in his possession; thus, upon the gift, it is considered possessed.

If someone were to say: “Possession here is different: before the gift, he held it as a trust, not as an owner; whereas after the gift, he holds it as an owner,” we say: This distinction has no effect, because the relevant question is whether the gifted item has reached the recipient or not. In this case, we say that it has reached him. A deposit is like a loan for use in this respect. For instance, if you give someone a book and say, “Take this book and keep it with you until I ask for it back,” then you give it to him as a gift, then this does not

والمسألة خلافية، لكن هذا المذهب في هذه المسألة ونحن نمشي عليه. ولا بد ـ أيضاً ـ من إذن الواهب بذلك، فلو قال رجل: وهبتك بعيري الذي في حظيرتي، فقال: قبلت، ثم ذهب الموهوب له مسرعاً وأخذ البعير، فهل تلزم الهبة؟ المؤلف يقول: لا تلزم إلا إذا قال: اذهب فاقبضها، أو ذهب معه وأقبضه إياها، أما أن يقبض بدون إذنه فلا، فإذا قال قائل: أليس يلزم من الهبة الإذن في القبض؟ قلنا: لا يلزم؛ لأنه قد يندم الواهب فيرجع قبل القبض، وأنت إذا بادرت وقبضت بدون إذنه سددت عليه الباب، وهو له الحق أن يرجع حتى يسلمك إياها، أو يأذن لك بالقبض، فلهذا اشترط ذلك المؤلف فقال: «بإذن واهب». قوله: «إلا ما كان في يد متَّهب»، فما كان في يد متَّهب لا يحتاج إلى إذن، كشخص استعار كتاباً من آخر والكتاب في يده، فقال له مالك الكتاب: قد وهبتك كتابي الذي استعرته مني، فلا يحتاج أن يقول: وهل تأذن لي في قبضه؟ لأنه في يده، فصار بعد الهبة مقبوضاً. فإن قال قائل: إن قبضه هنا يختلف، فقبضه قبل الهبة على أن يده يد أمانة لا يد مالك، وبعد الهبة صارت يده يد مالك، نقول: هذا الفرق لا يؤثر؛ لأن العبرة هل الموهوب وصل إلى الموهوب له أو لا؟ وحينئذٍ نقول: إنه قد وصل، ومثل العارية الوديعة، كما إذا أعطيت شخصاً كتاباً، وقلت له: خذ هذا الكتاب احفظه عندك حتى أطلبه منك، ثم وهبته إياه، فهذا لا