How can a person rid himself of the rights of people, whether it is money or otherwise, when he is unable to fulfill them?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : How can a person rid himself of the rights of people, whether it is money or otherwise, when he is unable to fulfill them?
The Shaykh : The answer is that the rights of people are either financial or physical. If they pertain to a person's body, then the way to rid oneself of them is that the person does not prevent the one who has the right from taking what is due from him. If retaliation (qisas) is obligatory for a wound or a limb, then the way to rid oneself of it is to allow the one who has the right to take the retaliation. As for if they are financial, then the way to rid oneself of them is to pay the right to its owner, paying the money to him if he is alive, or to his heirs if he is deceased. If he has no heirs, then he pays it to the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal), and by this he rids himself of it. However, if he is unable to pay the rights to their owners, it is established in the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Bulugh al-Maram 7:94 So, if this person is eager to pay and strives to do so as much as he can, but he is unable, and it is his intention to pay, then Allah the Exalted will pay the right on his behalf to the one who has the right by His grace and generosity, and the liability of this unable person remains clear.
As for the one who takes people's money not intending to pay it back, but rather intending to destroy it for them and consume it unjustly, then Allah the Exalted will destroy him by diminishing his wealth, and He may also destroy him by taking from his good deeds. As it came in the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: They said: Who is the one who has no dirham and no goods? He said: .
A person must rid himself of the rights of people as long as he is within the period of grace, and he must pay them to them and not delay them, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):. Yes.
The questioner : The second question is in a message from the listener Awad 'Abd al-Wahhab, who says.
The Shaykh : The answer is that the rights of people are either financial or physical. If they pertain to a person's body, then the way to rid oneself of them is that the person does not prevent the one who has the right from taking what is due from him. If retaliation (qisas) is obligatory for a wound or a limb, then the way to rid oneself of it is to allow the one who has the right to take the retaliation. As for if they are financial, then the way to rid oneself of them is to pay the right to its owner, paying the money to him if he is alive, or to his heirs if he is deceased. If he has no heirs, then he pays it to the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal), and by this he rids himself of it. However, if he is unable to pay the rights to their owners, it is established in the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
Whoever accepts other people's wealth intending to pay it back, Allah will pay it back for him. And whoever accepts it intending to waste it, Allah, the Most High, will waste (destroy) him.
من أخذ أموال الناس يريد أداءها أدى الله عنه ومن أخذها يُريد إتلافها أتلفه اللهAs for the one who takes people's money not intending to pay it back, but rather intending to destroy it for them and consume it unjustly, then Allah the Exalted will destroy him by diminishing his wealth, and He may also destroy him by taking from his good deeds. As it came in the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
Who do you consider to be the bankrupt among you?
من تعدّون المفلس فيكم؟The bankrupt is the one who comes on the Day of Resurrection with good deeds like mountains, then he comes having wronged this one, insulted this one, struck this one, and taken the money of this one. So this one takes from his good deeds, and this one takes from his good deeds. If anything remains of his good deeds, otherwise, their bad deeds are taken and thrown upon him, and then he is thrown into the Fire.
المفلس من يأتي يوم القيامة بحسنات أمثال الجبال، ثم يأتي وقد ظلم هذا، وشتم هذا، وضرب هذا، وأخذ مال هذا، فيأخذ هذا من حسناته، وهذا من حسناته، فإن بقي من حسناته شيء، وإلا أخِذ من سيئاتهم فطرِح عليه، ثم طرِح في النارA person must rid himself of the rights of people as long as he is within the period of grace, and he must pay them to them and not delay them, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
The delay of the wealthy is injustice.
مطْل الغني ظلمThe questioner : The second question is in a message from the listener Awad 'Abd al-Wahhab, who says.