His words, “his liability is discharged,” mean the liability of the debtor: he is left wholly free, with no debt upon him.
His words, “even if he does not accept,” mean that the debt is waived even if the debtor does not accept it. This is because a debt is an obligation attached to one’s liability, and releasing him from it removes an obligation from the debtor; it is not the transfer of ownership of a tangible asset to him, as is the case with a gift. Therefore, a release does not require the acceptance of the person released, unlike a gift, whose recipient’s acceptance is required.
This is the principle of the madhhab: acceptance is not required in matters involving attributes. Thus, if Zayd owes Amr one hundred measures of medium-grade wheat, and Zayd gives him one hundred measures of high-quality wheat, but the creditor says, “I accept only the medium-grade kind,” the creditor’s acceptance is not required, because this concerns an attribute: Zayd has not given him more than one hundred measures, but has merely improved their quality. But if he wishes to add one additional measure, the increase cannot validly be effected without the acceptance of the person to whom the debt is owed.
Some scholars said that his liability is not discharged unless he accepts, because the person released may be mindful of another consideration: the favor that will be held over him.
The correct view on this matter is as follows: if he refuses the release in order to avoid having a favor held over him, he cannot be compelled to accept it. The person released may say, “If I accepted, this man would begin telling people, ‘I released So-and-so from his debt,’ or whenever something happened, he would say, ‘This is how you repay me after I released you from your debt!’” In this case, if he does not accept, he is entitled to do so, for he may say, “I did not accept out of fear that a favor would be held over me.” Undoubtedly, this is something every person wishes to ward off from himself.
Question: If a creditor releases his debtor from a debt, is zakah due on it? That is, if he is owed a debt by someone, a full lunar year passes over it, and then he releases him from it