What is the obligation when a debtor admits a debt as 'from one dirham to ten dirhams'?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Acknowledgment of Rights

Book 20 · Issue 2 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

There are three legal opinions regarding an admission of debt stated as 'from one dirham to ten dirhams.' One opinion dictates that nine dirhams are obligatory, based on the understanding that 'min' (from) marks the beginning of the boundary and 'ila' (to) marks its end, excluding the endpoint, similar to the interpretation of Quran 2:187, 'then complete the fast until the night' ('ila al-layl'). Another opinion states that eight dirhams are obligatory because the first and the tenth are boundaries, thus they are excluded, leaving only the amount between them. A third view holds that ten dirhams are obligatory because the tenth is one of the two limits and is included, similar to the first limit, and as in the statement 'I read the Quran from its beginning to its end.'

Supporting text

The opinion attributing nine dirhams as obligatory originates from Abu Hanifa, interpreting 'min' as the start and 'ila' as the exclusion of the end point, analogous to Quran 2:187.