agreed upon (19). In al-Bukhari's version: "The most excellent of you is the best of you in repayment." This is because he did not make that increase a compensation for the loan, nor a means to it, nor a means to collect his debt, so it is lawful, just as if there were no loan. Ibn Abi Musa said: "If he adds an increase to him after the settlement, and then the borrower returns after that to seek a second loan, and he does so, he should not take from him except the like of what he gave him. If he takes an increase, or something better than what he gave him, it is forbidden, by a single consensus." If a man is known for his good repayment, it is not disliked to loan him. The Qadi said: "There is another position that it is disliked, because he might covet his good habit." This is incorrect, for the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was known for good repayment, and is it permissible for anyone to say that loaning him is disliked? Furthermore, the one known for good repayment is the best and most virtuous of people, and he is the most deserving of having his needs fulfilled, his requests answered, and his distress relieved, so it is not permissible for that to be disliked. The only thing prohibited is the stipulated increase. If he loaned him broken currency, and he brought him whole currency in its place without a condition, it is permissible. But if he brought him whole currency of a lesser amount, and he accepted it as full payment for his right, it is not permissible, by a single consensus, because that is an exchange of currency for less than its value, which constitutes usury.

Section: If he stipulates in the loan that he will repay him less than what he loaned him, and that is something in which usury occurs, it is not permissible, because it leads to the loss of equality where it is a condition. If it is in something else, it is also not permissible. This is one of the two positions held by the followers of al-Shafi'i; in the other position, it is permissible because the loan was established to be a kindness to the borrower, and the condition of a decrease does not remove it from its intended purpose, unlike an increase. Our view is that a loan requires the like [in return], so the condition of a decrease opposes its requirement; thus it is not permissible, just like the condition of an increase.

Section: If one borrows half a dinar from a man, then gives him a whole dinar, saying, "Half of it is repayment and half of it is a trust (wadi'ah) with you," or "a payment in advance (salam) for something," it is valid. If the lender refuses