Rāfi to give the man a young camel in repayment. Abū Rāfi returned to him and said, ‘Among them I found only an excellent camel in its seventh year.’ The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said, ‘Give it to him, for the best people are those who are best in repayment.’”

This provides evidence that it is permissible to borrow animals and similar property that are neither measured by volume nor weighed, as held by the jurists of the Hijaz and the hadith scholars. This is contrary to those among the Kufans who said that it is impermissible, arguing that a loan requires the return of an equivalent, whereas animals are not fungible, and proceeding on the basis that property not measured by volume or weight cannot be owed as a countervalue for property.

It also provides evidence that an approximate equivalent of an animal may be established as a liability, as is the well-known position in their legal schools. This is contrary to the Kufans and to one position in the school of Ahmad, according to which liability is assessed by the animal’s value.

This demonstrates that what matters in identifying the subject matter of a contract is reasonable approximation. Otherwise, a person would be unable to find an animal exactly like the animal concerned, particularly according to those who maintain that animals are not fungible and that, in cases of wrongful appropriation or destruction, liability is assessed by their value.

Moreover, the jurists have differed concerning the deferment of debts until the crop harvest or the date harvest. Two reports are related from Ahmad. According to one of them, this is permissible, as Mālik held, and the hadith of Jābir recorded in the Sahih supports this.

Moreover, the Book provides evidence in the following words of Allah Most High: