“It is a good hadith. Among all that is narrated concerning borrowed property, there is no other sound report.” This is what he said. There are, however, two other established hadiths on this subject, which I shall mention after this one. Its chain of transmission is authentic; all its narrators are trustworthy. In Bulūgh al-Marām, al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “It was recorded by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasāʾī, and authenticated by Ibn Ḥibbān.”

I say: It is not found in al-Nasāʾī’s al-Mujtabā; apparently, then, it is in his Sunan al-Kubrā.

The hadith indicates that a borrowed item must be returned so long as the item itself remains intact. If it perishes while in the borrower’s possession, he is not liable to compensate for it, since the hadith distinguishes between liability and returning the item: it makes returning it obligatory, but not liability. This is the view of Abū Ḥanīfah and Ibn Ḥazm, and al-Ṣanʿānī preferred it, saying: “The hadith is evidence for those who hold that borrowed property is not subject to liability, unless liability is stipulated; and this is the clearest of the views.” The hadith of Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah, which follows, supports the exception mentioned here:

“No; rather, it is a guaranteed loan.”

631 — “No; rather, it is a guaranteed loan.”

It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd (2/265), al-Bayhaqī (6/89), and Aḥmad (6/465), from Sharīk, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rafīʿ, from Umayyah ibn Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah, from his father: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, borrowed suits of armour from him on the Day of Ḥunayn. He said, “Are you taking them by force, Muhammad?” He replied... Then he mentioned it.