22 – The Book of ʿĀriyah (Loan for Use)

An ʿāriyah is permissible; it is the transfer of benefit without compensation. It becomes valid with expressions such as: “I lend you this land,” “I assign you the use of this land,” “I grant you this garment,” “I place you on this mount,” provided the speaker does not intend an outright gift; likewise: “I place this slave at your service,” “My house is yours to live in,” or, “My house is yours to live in for as long as I live.”

The lender may withdraw the ʿāriyah whenever he wishes.

An ʿāriyah is a trust: if the article perishes without negligence, the borrower is not liable for anything.

The borrower may neither lease out what he has borrowed nor pledge it, though he may lend it to someone else when the item is of a type that is unaffected by the identity of the user.

A loan for use of silver dirhams, gold dinars, and items measured by volume or weight is treated as a loan (qard).

If someone borrows land to build on or to plant date-palms, it is valid, but the lender may still reclaim it and require him to demolish the building and uproot the trees. When no term was stipulated for the ʿāriyah, no compensation is due; but if a term was set and the lender retracts before it ends, he must compensate for whatever the demolition and uprooting destroy.

The expense of returning a borrowed article is upon the borrower; the expense of returning a rented article is upon the lessor; and the expense of returning a usurped article is upon the usurper.

If a person borrows a riding animal and merely leaves it in the owner’s house without handing it over to him, he is liable; the same ruling applies to one who returns a deposit—he remains liable if he only places it in the owner’s house without delivering it to him.