C H A P . III.
Of Compofitions of Debt.
A debt owing I f the thing to be given in compofition be of the fame nature with
m confe- , . - ^ • t . . k
quenceofany this debt wnicn is to be compounded for, and which is owing to the
ciuded^upon" P^htiffuiideran AkidI/loodainat, or contrail concluded upon credit*,
credit may be the compofition is not in that cafe conftrued to be an exchange, but the
ed by pay- plaintiff is confidered as taking a part of his right, and annulling or
mentofa relinquifhing the remainder.— An Akid Mooddinat, or contrast concluded
upon credit, is where a perfon purchafes the goods of another,
for a thoufand good dirms, (for inftance,) and then the parties fepa-
rate, without the feller receiving the price, or a time of payment
being agreed upon:— in which cafe, if the purchafer fhould compound
the laid thoufand for fv e hundred good dirms, (or for five hundred bad
dirms,"), and the feller agree to the lame, fuch compofition is valid;
and it is thus conftrued, that he [the feller] agrees to accept a part o f
his right, and to relinquilh the remainder;— not that he accepts the
fiv e hundred in exchange for the thoufand.— The reafon of this is, that
it is neceflary, as far as poffible, to.give validity to the a£ls of rational
perfons; and tins may be done in the former inftance, by the claimant
relinquilhing a part o f the dirms to which he is entitled,— or, in the
* T h e commentators define Mooddinat to fignify “ the a£t o f felling to a perfon upm
c r e d i t— or “ the i& .iilig rd n tin g credit. ’ ’— T h e compofers o f the Perftan verfion o f the
Heddya have evidently miftaken the lenfe o f the text in the beginning o f this paflage. T h e
Arabic (imply ftates it “ in all compofitions for a thing claimed under a contract upon credit,
“ the tranfadlion is not confidered as an exchange,, but as an acceptance o f a part o f the
“ right, and a retinquilhment o f the remainder.
latter
latter inftance, by conceding that and the goodnefs of them.—Such
alfo is the rule where the debt has been incurred, on the part of the
defendant, by a ufurpation or deJlruSiion of property,— The refiriSiion
to debts owing “ in confequence o f a contrast concluded upon credit,
(as here fet forth,) is for this reafon, that it is originally requilite that
debt be incurred in confequence of a contract agreeable to l a w .— If,
in the cafe in queftion, the compofition ,confift of a thoufand dirms
payable at a difiant time, -for a thoufand dirms immediately payable, it
is valid; becaufe the conftruCtion then given to it is that the plaintiff
agreed to poftpone his claim,— not that he entered into an exchange; as
the fale of dirms, for dirms payable at a future period, is not lawful._
If, on the other hand, the thoufand dirms be compounded for a proportionable
number o f deenars, payable after the expiration of a month,
(for inftance,) it is unlawful; becaufe it is impoffible to confider it
merely as a delay of the claim; fince the claim related to dirms,
not to deenars; nor is it poffible to conftrue it into a fale, be'caufe a
fale of dirms, for deenars payable at a future period, is unlawful. T h e
compofition, therefore, in this cafe, is invalid.
If a perfon have a debt of one thoufand dirms, payable at a future
period, owing to him by another in confequence of a contraft upon
credit, andcompound the fame for five hundred dir ms payable itnmedi-
ately, fuch compofition is invalid ; becaufe ready money is better than
future payment; And ready money not being his right, the compofition
therefore takes place in a thing which is not his right, whence it is
impoffible to confider the compofition as a dereliction of part o f the
Claim:— it rauft therefore be neceffarily confidered as an exchange; (in
this way, that the debtor gives up his right (namely, the delay of
payment) in return for the five hundred remitted:)— thofe five
hundred, therefore, are in exchange for the forbearance; and the acceptance
of any thing io confederation otforbearance is not lawful.
and the fanje
o f Similar
compofitions
ofdebtjowing
in ;CQnfe-
q uence o f ajiy
aft which
fubjefts to
refponfibi-
lity.
Debt may be
compounded
by a forbearance,
for the
fame fum:
but qpt if the
poftponed
payment be
ftipulated ia
money o f a
different denomination.
A poft potted
debt cannot
be compound
by the
immediate
payment o f a
part.
C c ! I f