relinquishing part of it and collecting the remainder, or for postponing part of it, the settlement is valid. But if the debt itself is deferred and he agrees to take early payment of part of it in return for waiving the rest, or to waive part and further postpone the remainder, the settlement is invalid. If, however, the bargain is to remit part of the debt and defer the balance to a fixed date, it is permissible.

Thus it is not lawful to commute a deferred debt of one hundred for fifty to be paid immediately, for that constitutes a prohibited discount for acceleration. Likewise, if a man stands surety for another in the amount of one thousand dirhams and, before the term falls due, gives the creditor less than the full thousand, the arrangement is invalid, because it combines both a discount and an advance payment. Once the due date has arrived, the settlement is valid, and the guarantor may recover from the debtor whatever he disbursed.

If the guarantor settles by handing over a commodity, he may reclaim from the debtor the value of that commodity—unless its value exceeds the original one-thousand-dirham obligation, in which case he has no claim against the guarantor for more than that amount.

There is no objection to a man’s concluding a settlement on behalf of his virgin daughter concerning her share of her husband’s estate, provided the estate does not consist of ready coin. But if the estate is liquid cash, he may not settle for only part of it.

When a person claims a right in a house or a tract of land that is in another man’s possession and they reach a settlement, the settlement is valid if both parties are unaware of the precise extent of that right. If only the claimant knows it, the settlement is invalid until he specifies it. Some jurists, however, maintain that none of these settlements is valid—just as such ignorance is not tolerated in sales—unless the agreement is merely to redeem the defendant’s oath in that lawsuit.

In settlements it is permissible to defer payment of the assessed value of consumable goods, but a deferment is not permissible when one commodity is exchanged for another of the same kind and description.

If someone seizes another’s slave and the slave then runs away from the usurper, the owner may settle with the usurper for dinars or dirhams, whether immediate or deferred, or for goods delivered on the spot.

Should a creditor, by way of settlement, remit part of what is owed to him while leaving the rest outstanding, he may not later retract the portion he waived; he is bound by the concession he has made.