the loan period, allowing for the depreciation caused by the authorized use, after swearing that it has been lost and that he is unable to return it. This oath is required because he may be suspected of taking it at its assessed value without its owner’s consent. If he uses it for an unauthorized purpose, and that use causes greater depreciation than the authorized use would have caused, he is liable for the depreciation exceeding that attributable to the authorized use. If that use wears it out and destroys it, he is liable for its value at the end of the loan period, allowing for the depreciation that would have resulted from the use for which it was lent. If the lender wishes instead to claim the hire charge for the use actually made of it, less the hire charge for the authorized use, then, according to one view, he is not entitled to do so if the difference exceeds the item’s value; according to another, he is. If the difference is less than its value, however, he is not prevented from claiming it.
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The cost of transporting the borrowed property falls upon the borrower, as indicated by the Messenger of Allah’s words—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to Safwān concerning the weapons he had lent him: “Take care of transporting them for us.” There is disagreement over the cost of returning it. According to one view, it falls upon the borrower, which is the more evident position. According to another, it falls upon the lender, since lending is an act of kindness: after doing someone a kindness by offering him the item to take wherever he wishes, the lender should not impose an expense on him. The same applies to a hirer.
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The borrower is entitled to have witnesses attest that he has returned the borrowed property to the lender, even if the lender originally handed it over without witnesses. This differs from a deposit for safekeeping, because borrowed property entails liability, whereas a deposit does not.
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Loans for use may involve houses, land, animals, and anything that remains individually identifiable—even when kept out of sight—with the sole exception of sexual access. As for anything measured by volume or weight that cannot be individually identified once out of sight, lending it constitutes a loan for consumption and is governed by the rules applicable to such loans. Success comes from Allah.