Deferred debt (kali)

In the lexicon kali is deferral and loan; one says that a debt is kali when its payment is delayed. In the jurists' terms it means debt ¹.

Among the sales forbidden by the law is selling kali for kali, that is, selling debt for debt. The jurists rely on the prohibition, and a report of Ibn Umar says that the Prophet ﷺ forbade it ². Abu Ubayda explains the phrase as deferral for deferral ¹. A version of the prohibition in al-Bayhaqi is weakened by Ibn Hajar in Bulugh al-Maram ¹.

Ibn Arafa said that the scholars' acceptance of the hadith makes a search for its chain unnecessary, and Ibn al-Mundhir reports agreement that debt for debt is not permitted ².

Al-Qarafi holds that when a contract burdens the obligations of both parties, claims can come from both sides, which causes many disputes and enmities, so the law forbids it ².

The sale of kali for a present specific item ('ayn) involves detail and disagreement among the jurists, and the book treats it under its entries on forbidden sales and on debt ².