2363. If a person wishes to become a surety to pay off the debts of another, then his act of becoming a surety will only be valid if he conveys by means of any words—even if they are not in Arabic—or actions that he has undertaken the surety of paying the debt, and the creditor accepts it. The consent of the debtor is not necessary in this case.
2364. The surety and the creditor must both be sane and b¡ligh, and should not have been wrongfully compelled to it. They should also not be bankrupt or feeble-minded, unless it is carried out with the permission or consent of the guardian of the feeble-minded individual, or the creditors of the bankrupt person.
These conditions are not consequential in the debtor. Therefore if a person becomes a surety to pay off the debt of a child, an insane or feeble-minded person, or a bankrupt individual, his act will be in order.
2365. If a person stipulates a condition for becoming a surety, such as stating that he will become a surety if the debtor fails to pay off the debt, to claim the validity of the surety will be problematic.
2366. The person whom an individual wishes to stand surety for must himself be in debt. Hence, if a person wishes to acquire a loan from someone, one cannot stand surety for him until he acquires the loan.
2367. A person can only stand surety if the creditor, debtor and type of the commodity are in reality specified. Therefore, if two individuals are owed by a person, and a fourth individual states that he will stand surety for the debt owed to one of them, his act of becoming a surety will not be in order, for he has failed to specify whose debt he will be paying. Similarly, if a creditor is owed by two persons, and a fourth individual states that he will stand surety for the debt owed by one of them, his act of becoming a surety will be void, for he too has failed to specify whose debt he will be paying. In a similar manner, if a person is owed ten kgs of wheat and ten dollars from a person, and a fourth individual states that he will stand surety for one of the two items being owed, without specifying whether he is standing surety for the wheat or the money, it will not be in order.
2368. If the creditor gifts the debt to the surety, the surety cannot claim anything from the debtor. Similarly, if the creditor gifts him a part of the loan, he cannot claim that amount from the debtor.
2369. If a person stands surety to pay off an individual’s loan, he cannot revert from being a surety.
2370. The surety and the debtor—based on obligatory precaution—cannot stipulate a condition which permits them to cancel the role of the surety whenever they wish.
2371. If the surety able to pay the debt owed to a creditor at the time of becoming a surety, the creditor cannot remove him from being a surety should he become poor later on, and seek to recover the debt from the original debtor. The same will apply if he is unable to pay the debt at the time of becoming a surety, but the creditor is aware of this and consents to his becoming a surety nonetheless.
2372. If the surety is unable to pay the debt owed to the creditor at the time of becoming a surety, but the creditor is unaware at the time and realizes it later on, he may remove him from being a surety. However, if the surety acquires the ability to pay the debt before the creditor realizes (that he was unable to pay the debt), and the creditor nonetheless wishes to remove him from being a surety, such a move will be problematic.
2373. If a person stands surety to pay off the debt of an individual without the individual’s consent, he cannot claim anything from him.
2374. If a person stands surety to pay off the debt of an individual with his consent, he may claim the surety amount from the individual after he has paid it. However, if he pays the creditor with a commodity other than the commodity that was owed, the surety cannot claim from the (original) debtor the commodity that he paid. For example, if the debtor owes ten kgs of wheat, and instead the surety pays ten kgs of rice, the surety cannot claim rice from the debtor. However, if the debtor himself consents to paying rice, there is no problem in it.
