Classification of valid agreements resulting from the admission of a right but involving less than full payment.
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Settlement
Primary text
The meaning common to these acts, agreed upon by Al-Qadi, his associates, Al-Shafi'i, and others, is the performance of something other than satisfying the full right or its complete forfeiture in a permissible manner. This falls into three categories: exchange (*mu'awadah*), release (*ibra'*), and gift (*hiba*). Exchange occurs when one admits ownership of a specific asset or a debt owed and then they both agree to substitute it with something permissible for substitution. This includes exchanging one type of currency for another (which requires the conditions of currency exchange, like immediate mutual possession), exchanging commodities for their cash value or vice versa (which constitutes a sale), or settling a debt for usufruct, such as dwelling in a house or service of a slave, or for an agreed-upon labor (which functions as a lease).
Supporting text
If the subject of a lease (house or slave) is destroyed before any benefit is utilized, the lease is voided, and the creditor reverts to the original claim. If destroyed after partial utilization, the lease is voided for the remaining term, and a pro-rata refund is due. If the settlement is for the lessor to marry a female slave, it is valid if the claimant is permitted to marry a slave woman, and the settlement acts as the dowry. If the marriage is dissolved before consummation by an act that voids the dower, the husband recovers what he settled. If the admitting party is a woman and settles by marrying the claimant, it is valid. If the admission concerned a defect in a sold item, settling with marriage is valid; if the defect disappears, she recovers the compensation for the defect (*arsh*) as it becomes her dower; if the defect remains but the marriage dissolves voiding the dower, she recovers the *arsh*.