What is the form of selling a debt owed to one with a debt owed to the other?
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The questioner : ... in the form of a sale, selling a debt owed to one with a debt owed to the other?
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Immediate settlement and mutual exchange are required, yes. If you buy from me a copy of Ibn Aqil’s commentary for ten riyals, this is selling a debt owed to one with a debt owed to the other. It is necessary that we do not say, for example, that the ten riyals will be settled after a week; they must not be deferred but must be immediate. One of the two counter-values must be taken possession of, either the money, meaning either the price or the item sold, either the money or the commentary. This is because they hold that selling a debt owed to one with a debt owed to the other is not valid if the parties separate, because it would be selling a debt with a debt.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : So the sale is not valid. You say, do not engage in the sale until you are present...
The questioner : ... in the form of...?
The Shaykh : No, the form is conditional, and its benefit is this: if I say, I bought from you Ibn Aqil’s commentary for ten riyals, is this specific? The commentary?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It is not specific, and the riyal?
The questioner : non-...
The Shaykh : So this is it, but we say now, present the riyal or present the book, yes. So the condition here is not a condition for the form; the form is achieved without this. But it is a condition for validity, because if they separate before taking possession of one of the counter-values, the sale is invalid. Yes?
The questioner : Selling... is not valid.
The Shaykh : It will come to us, if Allah wills, from the conditions.
The questioner : By way of aside.
The Shaykh : By way of aside, for the sake of illustration, not for the sake of explanation and elaboration.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Immediate settlement and mutual exchange are required, yes. If you buy from me a copy of Ibn Aqil’s commentary for ten riyals, this is selling a debt owed to one with a debt owed to the other. It is necessary that we do not say, for example, that the ten riyals will be settled after a week; they must not be deferred but must be immediate. One of the two counter-values must be taken possession of, either the money, meaning either the price or the item sold, either the money or the commentary. This is because they hold that selling a debt owed to one with a debt owed to the other is not valid if the parties separate, because it would be selling a debt with a debt.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : So the sale is not valid. You say, do not engage in the sale until you are present...
The questioner : ... in the form of...?
The Shaykh : No, the form is conditional, and its benefit is this: if I say, I bought from you Ibn Aqil’s commentary for ten riyals, is this specific? The commentary?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It is not specific, and the riyal?
The questioner : non-...
The Shaykh : So this is it, but we say now, present the riyal or present the book, yes. So the condition here is not a condition for the form; the form is achieved without this. But it is a condition for validity, because if they separate before taking possession of one of the counter-values, the sale is invalid. Yes?
The questioner : Selling... is not valid.
The Shaykh : It will come to us, if Allah wills, from the conditions.
The questioner : By way of aside.
The Shaykh : By way of aside, for the sake of illustration, not for the sake of explanation and elaboration.