it is a contract for an action, and he is cleared of it. Al-Qadi said: He refers him to the judge and delivers him to him; if he cannot find a judge, he has two witnesses testify to his production of him and the refusal of the beneficiary of the suretyship to accept him. The former is more correct, for with the presence of the holder of the right, he is not obligated to surrender him to his deputy, such as a judge or others. If the suretyship is deferred, he is not obligated to produce him before the term, just like a deferred debt. When the term arrives, if he produces him and delivers him, he is cleared. If the person is absent or has apostatized and joined the Abode of War (Dar al-Harb), he is not to be taken for the right until a duration of time has passed that makes it possible to go to him and bring him back. Ibn Shubruma said: He is to be imprisoned immediately, because the right has become due upon him. Our view is that the possibility of delivery is considered in the obligation of performance of the right. If it is immediate, like a debt, then when a period of time has passed in which he could have produced him and he did not, or if the absence is total and his news is unknown, or he refused to produce him despite the ability to do so, he is taken for what is upon him. The companions of Al-Shafiʿi said: If the absence is total and his location is unknown, the guarantor is not demanded to produce him, and nothing is incumbent upon him; but if he refuses to produce him despite the ability to do so, he is imprisoned. We have already provided evidence for the obligation of liability (ghurm) in what has passed. If he produces the person guaranteed before the term, and there is no harm in taking delivery of him, it is incumbent upon him to do so. But if there is harm in it—such as if the debtor's evidence is absent, or it is not the day of the judge's session, or the debt is deferred against him and it is not possible to exact it from him, or he had promised him a respite for that duration—he is not obligated to accept him, just as we say in the case of one who pays a deferred debt before its term.

Section: If he specifies in the suretyship a place for his delivery, but produces him in a different place, he is not cleared of the suretyship. This is the opinion of Abu Yusuf and Muhammad. Al-Qadi said: If he produces him in another place within the city and delivers him, he is cleared of the suretyship. Some of our companions said: Whenever he produces him in any place, and there is an authority in that location, he is cleared of the suretyship, because he cannot refuse to appear before the judge's session, and it is possible to establish proof there. It was also said: If there is harm in producing him in another place, the guarantor is not cleared by producing him there; otherwise, he is cleared, similar to our view regarding what we said if he produces him before the term.