What is your opinion of people who believe that a man without debt lacks manliness, and who borrow from people with the intention of not repaying?

The questioner : May Allah reward the honorableThe Shaykh : What is your opinion of a group of people who consider a man without debt to be lacking in manliness, and even mock a man whose debt is small, saying, "So-and-so has the debt of an old woman," even though they borrow with the intention of not repaying?

The Shaykh : I say that this is undoubtedly an error; there is no doubt that it is an error. Honor and humiliation follow debt. The one who has no debt is the honorable one, and the one who has debt is the humiliated one, because one day the creditor may demand payment and have him imprisoned. How many are currently imprisoned in jails because of the debts they owe! So this speaker is undoubtedly foolish in mind and misguided in his speech. However, it appears that he is like a sick person who wants everyone else to be sick. He is sick with debt and wants everyone to borrow so that he can take pleasure in them, for when you share a calamity or misfortune with others, it becomes lighter for you, as the Exalted said: But in this world, if people share the calamity with you, it becomes lighter for you, just as al-Khansa said when mourning her brother Sakhr: "And had it not been for the many mourners around me, mourning their brothers, I would have killed myself. They do not mourn the like of my brother, but I console my soul by taking comfort in their example." So it appears that this speaker has many debts and wants people to be like him. We ask Allah to settle his debt for him so that he may know that debt is humiliation and that honor lies in having no debt.