Is the command to write down a debt for the sake of obligation?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you. Your Eminence, father, the questioner says: In the saying of Allah the Exalted,[Al-Baqarah 2:282], he asks: Is the command to write down a debt obligatory? And if a person lends to someone and does not write down this debt, is he sinful?
Answer:
The scholars say that this command is for guidance and not for obligation. Therefore, writing it down is recommended and not obligatory; it is merely recommended. It is a command of guidance, not a command of compulsion and obligation.
May Allah reward you. Your Eminence, father, the questioner says: In the saying of Allah the Exalted,
O you who have believed, when you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا تَدَايَنتُم بِدَيْنٍ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُAnswer:
The scholars say that this command is for guidance and not for obligation. Therefore, writing it down is recommended and not obligatory; it is merely recommended. It is a command of guidance, not a command of compulsion and obligation.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [725- 4717] هل الأمر بكتابة الدين للوجوب؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.