Book of Debt Transfer

Section
On Debt Transfer

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade exchanging gold for gold or silver for silver unless equal amounts were exchanged hand to hand.” He also forbade exchanging a debt for a debt, but permitted debt transfer, saying:

“Delay in payment by one who can afford to pay is injustice. Whoever is referred to a solvent debtor should accept the referral.”

His words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “should accept the referral,” constitute a command intended as a recommendation and guidance, not as an obligation or requirement. According to Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, and most scholars, neither referring one’s creditor to a solvent or insolvent person nor accepting such a transfer is obligatory unless one chooses to do so. The creditor agreed only to hold his own debtor liable; he need not relinquish that claim without his consent. This differs from the position of the literalists, who maintain that a creditor referred to a solvent debtor is under a binding obligation to accept the transfer.

Section

Debt transfer is a form of sale, but it was exempted from the general rules because it is an act of goodwill. Likewise, purchasing an ʿariyya at its estimated yield was exempted from the prohibition of muzābana because it was an act of goodwill. Similar exemptions were made for admitting a partner, resale at cost, and rescission in transactions involving foodstuffs sold by measure