Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After the Book of Settlement, Imam al-Nawawi (631\u2013676 AH \/ 1233\u20131277 CE) presents the Book of Transfer of Debt (Kitab al-Hawalah<\/em>). The word hawalah<\/em> comes from the root meaning to shift or move, and in the legal sense it refers to moving a debt from one person’s liability to another’s. It is a short book, but it addresses a practical need: a debtor who is owed money by a third party can direct his creditor to collect from that person, and the matter is settled without anyone handling cash twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legal basis is a report from the Prophet, who said that a wealthy person’s delay in paying is an injustice, and that when one of you is referred to a wealthy person, he should follow. The scholars understood this as endorsing the transfer of debt and encouraging the creditor to accept it when the new debtor is capable of paying. This article follows the main themes in the general order of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A transfer of debt involves three people and two debts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a typical case, Zayd owes Amr a hundred, and Khalid owes Zayd a hundred. Zayd transfers Amr to Khalid. Amr now collects from Khalid, and Zayd’s debt to Amr is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book lists the elements of the contract as the wording, the parties, and the two debts. As in other contracts, there must be an offer and acceptance, expressed in words that indicate the transfer. The school’s position regarding consent is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Al-Nawawi notes that the other schools differ on some of these points, and that the question has consequences for the validity of the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The debts involved must satisfy certain conditions so that the transfer works as a settlement and not as a risky exchange. The school requires that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These conditions reflect the way the school understands the contract: as a way of collecting what is owed, not as a sale of one debt for another. If it were a sale, it would raise questions about the sale of debts and the rules of usury. By treating it as a mode of settlement, the school allows it under a special rule, while keeping its terms tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the transfer is valid, three things follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A well-known feature of the school’s position is that the discharge is final. If the third party later becomes insolvent, or denies the debt, or dies leaving nothing, the creditor has no right to return to the original debtor. This is the risk the creditor accepts when he agrees to the transfer, and it is the reason his consent is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book considers what happens when the transfer is found to be invalid from the beginning, for example if the debt turns out not to have been established. In that case, the contract is void, and the original debtor remains liable, since the discharge was based on a transfer that never took effect. Al-Nawawi distinguishes this from a later problem, such as a later claim that the third party was not truly indebted, and states which parties must prove their claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One section deals with the common disputes. A typical question arises when the debtor and the creditor disagree about the nature of the arrangement. The debtor may say, “I transferred you to him,” while the creditor says, “You only authorized me to collect on your behalf.” The difference matters, because in the second case the debtor remains liable, as the creditor is merely his agent. The school gives rules about who is believed under oath, according to the circumstances and the wording used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book mentions how the transfer of debt differs from similar arrangements. It differs from a guarantee (daman<\/em>), which is treated in the next book, because a guarantor adds a second person liable while the original debtor remains bound, whereas a transfer replaces one debtor with another. It differs from agency (wakalah<\/em>), in which the creditor collects on the debtor’s behalf without ending the debtor’s liability. Seeing these distinctions helps the student recognize which contract the parties have actually made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book proceeds from the parties and the debts to the contract’s validity conditions, then to its effects, and finally to its failures and disputes. This order matches the logical life of the contract: who is involved, what must be true for it to work, what changes once it does, and what to do if it goes wrong. It is also a short sequence that makes it easy to remember, which suits the Minhaj<\/em>‘s aim of presenting the law in compact form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For al-Nawawi, the transfer of debt is an example of how the law of transactions makes settlement easier. It encourages a creditor to accept payment from a solvent third party, and it frees the debtor from a burden that he can settle through an existing credit. The strict conditions ensure that this convenience does not become a loophole for usury or uncertainty. The underlying ethic is the one expressed in the prophetic report: a debt should be paid promptly, and a creditor should accept a capable payer in place of delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: This article summarizes the general Shafi’i position as presented in Minhaj al-Talibin. Details, including the requirement of consent by each party, differ among the schools and can vary between editions and commentaries. Readers who need a precise ruling, especially in modern financial arrangements, should consult a qualified teacher or scholar.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Part 2: Transactions (Mu\u2019amalat) – Transfer of debt (Hawalah) Part of a series on the structure of Minhaj al-Talibin, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","video_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12,38,15,14,27,37],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-part-2-transactions-muamalat","tag-fiqh","tag-hawalah","tag-imam-al-nawawi","tag-minhaj-al-thalibin","tag-transactions-muamalat","tag-transfer-of-debt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions\/161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lslam.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. The parties and the debts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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2. The pillars of the contract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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3. Conditions of the debts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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4. The effect of the transfer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/lslam.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2.-The-Effect-of-the-Transfer-Infographic-1024x936.png\")
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5. When the transfer fails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Disputes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Related arrangements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why the order matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Closing reflection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n