Section: If one guarantees an immediate (hal) debt by deferring it (mu'ajjal), it is valid. It remains immediate for the debtor and deferred for the guarantor; the creditor has the right to demand payment from the debtor but not from the guarantor. Al-Shafi'i held this view. Ahmad said, regarding a man who guaranteed what was owed by someone else, that he should pay it in three years: it is binding upon him, and he shall pay it as he guaranteed. The evidence for this is what Ibn Abbas narrated, that a man held a debtor of his for ten dinars during the era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and he said: "I have nothing to give you." He said: "By Allah, I will not leave you until you pay me or bring me a guarantor." He dragged him to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: "How long will you give him?" He said: "A month." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Then I shall guarantee it (fa-ana ahmilu)." He came with it at the time the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had specified, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: "From where did you get this?" He said: "From a mine." He said: "There is no good in it," and he paid it on his behalf. It was narrated by Ibn Majah in his "Sunan". Furthermore, because he guaranteed wealth through a deferred contract, it is deferred, like a sale. If it is said: "According to you, an immediate debt cannot be deferred, so how can it be deferred for the guarantor? Or how can it be established in the liability of the guarantor with a description other than that which it possesses in the liability of the debtor?" We say: A right may be deferred at the beginning of its establishment if its establishment is via a contract, and this is the beginning of its establishment regarding the guarantor, for it was not established upon him immediately. It is permissible for what is in the liability of the guarantor to differ from what is in the liability of the debtor, as evidenced by when a debtor dies while the debt is deferred. Once this is established, if the debt is deferred [to a month], and he guarantees it to two months, he does not have the right to demand payment from the guarantor until two months have passed; if he pays it before the term, he has the right to recoup it.
(47) In the original: "u'tika" (I give you). (48) In the original: "faraqtuka" (I parted from you). In Sunan Ibn Majah: "ufariquka" (I part from you). (49) Omitted from A and M. In the Sunan: "faja'ahu" (he came to him). (50) In: The Chapter of Kafala (Guaranty), from the Book of Sadaqat (Charity). Sunan Ibn Majah 2/804. It was also recorded by Abu Dawood, in: The Chapter on Extracting from Mines, from the Book of Sales. Sunan Abi Dawood 2/217, 218. (51) Omitted from M. (52) In A: "halan" (immediate). (53) Omitted from the original and A.