A guarantee/ guaranty/ suretyship (kafalah) that is restricted by description (e.g. deferred or current). It is permissible to restrict a kafalah through deferment to a preset date. In this case, the term of deferment may or may not coincide with the term of the guaranteed debt. Furthermore, in the case of a current debt, it is also permissible to conclude a deferred kafalah, since the debtor- according to the jumhur- may still benefit legally from deferment. If deferment is stipulated in the original contract, that automatically renders the debt deferred. However, if deferment is stipulated after the contract has been drawn up, this will only affect the kafeel.

In essence, kafalah is a voluntary act that aims to serve a financial need in transactions between individuals or entities, and thus it is valid in any form deemed appropriate by the kafeel (guarantor). As far physical kafalah is concerned, it is permissible to confine it to a specified term (e.g. one month, ten days, etc). However, the kafeel is required to deliver the subject matter at the end of the specified period, not immediately (though some fuqaha don’t restrict delivery to the end of that period, i.e., the kafeel may be required to deliver any time during the specified period).

Kafalah muqayyadah (كفالة مقيدة) is an Arabic term that translates as restricted suretyship or restricted guarantee.