The Book Of ( Hawalah ) Assignment

Assignment means one's transferring what he owes to another person who would pay the creditor.

Rule (877) For the validity of Assignment agreement there must be an offer by the assignor followed by an acceptance from the assigned or the creditor, by any means which indicates such agreement such as words or deeds or writings.

Rule (878) It is necessary for assignor and assigned to be mature, of sound mental condition and rational, as well as free from bankruptcy except in the case of assignment to an unindebted assignee in which case the assignor can be a bankrupt or a fool. The assignor and assigned must be free from compulsion but the need of this condition for the assignee is not free from objection, apparently, it is not necessary except if the assignee is unindebted or payment with some kind other than that of the debt is asked in which case it is necessary that the assignee accepts the assignment freely and willingly.

Rule (879) It is necessary in assignment of debts that the debt is an established liability of the assignor, thus, to assign the debt that one has yet to become a debtor of is not valid.

Rule (880) It is a condition for the validity of an assignment that the property assigned is specified, if one owes to another a ton of wheat and one dollar it is not valid to assign one for either one of the two unspecified properties.

Rule (881) For specifying the debt to have a valid deal it is enough to specify it as, in fact, it is, even if the parties do not presently know the kind and quantity. If debt is recorded in all details and the assignor assigns the creditor to the assignee before looking into the records and after he finds the records he informs the creditor of the kind and quantity, the deal is valid.

Rule (882) The party assigned, or creditor can refuse the assignment even if the assignee is not poor or tardy and procrastinating in paying his debts.

Rule (883) It is not lawful for an unindebted assignee to demand from assignor the amount of money before he pays it to the creditor. If the creditor and the assignee agree on a settlement for less than actual debt, it is not lawful to ask from the assignor more than what he has paid.

Rule (884) It does not matter whether the assigned debt is a substance on the assignor or a benefit or a work in which personal work is not required, like sewing a dress or even like praying, fasting, performing Hajj, visiting the Holy Shrines and reading Holy Quran etc. It also does not matter whether the assignment is to an unindebted person or an indebted person, or that the debt is a property exchanged in kind or value.

Rule (885) Assigning a debt is a binding contract. The assignor and assigned cannot revoke it. If at the time of assignment the assignee is not financially able to pay and the creditor does not know about it, he can revoke the contract after coming to know the case, even if the assignee has become rich at present, but if the assignee is well to do at the time of assignment or the creditor knows his financial inability, he, the creditor can not revoke.

Rule (886) It is lawful for the contract to give any one of the creditor, the assignor or assignee, the right of having the choice to revoke the contract.

Rule (887) If the assignor himself pays the debt if this is due to a request from the assignee who is a debtor, the assignor can demand from him for what he, assignor, has paid, but if it is not due to the assignee's request or the assignor intended not get any thing from the assigned to, the assignee can not demand payment from him.

Rule (888) If a third party volunteers to pay for the assignee, it makes him free from his obligation, and the same rule applies if some one guarantees the liability in favor of the assignee with the consent of the creditor or the assigned.

Rule (889) If the assignee asks the assignor to pay what he has paid and the assignor claims the assignee to be indebted to him and later denies it, the assignee's words are accepted if there is no testimony, and he takes an oath to prove his not indebtdness.

Rule (890) If the creditor and the debtor dispute about a contract between them as whether it is assignment or agency? In the absence of testimony the words of one who denies it to be assignment, regardless, he is the creditor or the debtor, are accepted.