Chapter on the rulings of ʿāriyah (loan for use)

The jurists—may Allah have mercy on them—define ʿāriyah as: granting another person the right to benefit from a tangible item whose use is lawful while the item itself remains intact, so that it can be returned to its owner once the benefit has been taken.

This definition excludes anything whose use is impermissible; such items may not be loaned. It also excludes those things that cannot be used without being consumed, like food and drink.

The legitimacy of ʿāriyah is established by the Quran, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus. Allah the Exalted says, “and they withhold al-maʿūn” (the everyday articles people normally lend to one another). He therefore censured those who refuse to lend to someone in need.

On the basis of this noble verse, some scholars have argued that lending is obligatory when the owner is wealthy; this was the position chosen by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him.

The Prophet ﷺ borrowed a horse from Abū Ṭalḥah, and he ﷺ also borrowed from