this stipulation void.” His explanation is correct, for a pledge becoming irredeemable means that it cannot be redeemed. Zuhayr said:
On the day of farewell I parted from you, leaving a pledge beyond redemption;
By evening, that pledge had become irredeemable.
As for his statement—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“A pledged animal may be milked and ridden in return for its upkeep,” our scholars interpret it, in accordance with the school’s position, as referring to the pledgor, who owns the animal itself: he is the one entitled to ride and milk it. That is, he is entitled to the hire paid for riding it and to the milk drawn from it, since he bears its upkeep. As for his statement, “The pledge is set against the debt it secures,” this applies when the pledge is destroyed and its value is unknown. This was also the position of Ashhab, Ibn al-Qāsim and Asbagh.
As for his statement, “The pledge belongs to the one who pledged it: its gains are his, and its losses are his to bear,” its gains mean its growth and increase, while its losses mean its destruction and diminution. There is no disagreement that its growth and increase belong to the pledgor, as stated in the hadith. The disagreement concerns only whether they become part of the pledge, as we shall explain, Allah willing.
As for his statement—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“Its losses are his to bear,” this applies to property that cannot be concealed, or to property that can be concealed when evidence establishes that it was destroyed without any wrongdoing by the pledgee.
Section
A pledge is permissible and becomes binding through the contract, but it is not completed and made definitive, nor does it become effective as security, until possession is taken. This is because Allah Most High says:
“Then let there be pledges taken into possession.” [al-Baqarah: 283]
Some scholars hold that it does not become a pledge until possession is taken. This is the position of al-Shāfiʿī and the scholars of Iraq. The practical consequence of our disagreement with them is as follows: if someone says, “I pledge this garment to you,” and the pledgee accepts, but the pledgor then changes his mind about pledging it, we hold that he must be compelled to deliver it into the pledgee’s possession, because the pledge contract has already been concluded. They, however, hold that he has the choice either to deliver it, making the pledge binding, or not to deliver it, in which case it is not binding. Once possession is taken, it becomes binding.
They cite as evidence the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
“Then let there be pledges taken into possession.” [al-Baqarah: 283]
They argue that, since Allah, Mighty and Majestic, described pledges as being taken into possession, possession must be a condition of their being pledges and must accompany them, just as, when He described a slave as believing, faith became a condition in that slave, necessarily accompanying