owes another person twenty dinars, payable after one full year, whether the liability arose from a sale or from a loan. When half the year has elapsed, the creditor finds himself in need and asks the debtor to settle the debt, but the debtor refuses to pay until the term falls due. The creditor then says, “Give me ten now and I will waive the remaining ten.” This is the practice known as ḍaʿ wa-taʿajjal (drop-and-advance), and in the view of Mālik and the majority of scholars it constitutes ribā.

Likewise, he is not allowed to engage in currency exchange (muṣārafa) with the debtor before the term, as I have already indicated. Nor, according to Mālik, may he receive part of the debt before it matures and take the remainder in merchandise, whether that merchandise is delivered immediately or on deferment. In Mālik’s analysis, such a transaction combines several kinds of ribā: first, ḍaʿ wa-taʿajjal, as though he had increased the price of the commodity; second, it merges exchange (ṣarf) with sale; and third, it mixes immediate gold and immediate merchandise with gold that is deferred to a later date.

Everything that may lawfully be exchanged only in equal amounts and hand-to-hand is, in this respect, treated like gold and silver. Likewise, all forms of merchandise here take the same ruling as gold, silver, and foodstuffs that are eaten or drunk. Hence it is impermissible to take part of the merchandise owed to you and, on the basis of its value, demand another price—whatever that price may be, whether in merchandise or in cash—for, in the view of Mālik and his colleagues, this too involves ḍaʿ wa-taʿajjal and the dropping of liability: it is as though he has reduced the price of the commodity he sold, together with what he has already received, so as to free himself from any remaining guarantee.

Mālik does allow the creditor, before the due date, to accept immediate merchandise for the whole of a debt that is owed in gold or silver on deferment—whether the obligation arose from a sale or a loan—without having to consider market value. He likewise permits the creditor to take part of his debt early and leave the remainder to mature at its original term; but if he extends that remainder beyond its first due date, it is not permissible. And whoever sells his merchandise for a deferred price may not, according to Mālik—