here he has not refrained from performing it, but rather he acknowledged it and reconciled with him regarding it while offering it to him, so it is similar to the case where he did not deny it.
818 - Issue: He said: (And whoever acknowledges a right, then reconciles on a portion of it, that is not a reconciliation; because it is a diminution of the right.)
The total meaning of this is that whoever acknowledges a right and refrains from performing it until a reconciliation is reached on a portion of it, the reconciliation is void; because he is reconciling regarding a portion of his wealth with another, and this is impossible. It is the same whether it is by the wording of reconciliation, or by the wording of release (ibra'), or by the wording of a gift accompanied by a condition, such as if he says: "I release you from five hundred, or I grant you five hundred, on the condition that you give me what remains." And if he did not stipulate a condition, but he only gave him a portion of his right by having him waive a portion of it, it is also forbidden; because he has diminished his right. Ibn Abi Musa said: Reconciliation upon acknowledgment is a diminution of the right; so whenever he compels the one to whom the acknowledgment was made to leave a portion of his right, and he leaves it without his own free will, taking it is not wholesome. And if the one to whom the acknowledgment was made voluntarily waives a portion of his right of his own free will, it is permissible, except that this is not a reconciliation, nor is it from the category of reconciliation in any way. Al-Khiraqi did not label it as reconciliation except in the case of denial, in the manner we have previously mentioned. As for acknowledgment, if he acknowledges something and pays it in kind, it is a fulfillment (wafa'), and if he pays it in a different kind, it is an exchange (mu'awada), and if he releases him from a portion of it by his own choice and receives the remainder, it is a release (ibra'), and if he gifts him a portion of the physical object and takes the remainder with goodwill, it is a gift (hiba), so this is not called reconciliation. Ibn Abi Musa stated something similar, while the Qadi and his companions called it reconciliation. It is the statement of Al-Shafi'i and others; the disagreement is in the naming, while as for the meaning, it is agreed upon, which is the performance of what is other than the fulfillment of the right, and waiving it in a way that is valid, and this is three categories: exchange, release, and gift.
(1) Al-mahal, with a kasra on the mim: guile and attempting to achieve something through tricks. (2) In B: "bi-isqat". (3) In B and M: "Ishaq". (4) In A (addition): "minhu". Perhaps the reading of the sentence is: "nafs minhu".