A man borrowed a sum of money from another years ago, and when he wanted to repay it, the value of the money had fallen and decreased from what it was years before.
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The Shaykh : And I want to mention, on the occasion of this question, a matter I assumed would be clear and distinct to the general Muslim youth, but it is not. This question, knowing the truth of the answer to it, leads to the resolution of many problems. Perhaps a person borrowed from his friend some years ago, ten thousand, five thousand, more or less, Syrian pounds. Then the days passed, the value of the pound fell, and gold rose until it became what you have heard. Perhaps a woman married a man twenty or thirty years ago, and a deferred mahr was written for her, especially if it was, what, on the basis of contentment and sufficiency, meaning five hundred notes or a thousand notes. If the five hundred notes today are worth only about fifty notes or less, and now the man wants to pay his wife the deferred mahr before his death, is it good conduct if he does not give her the five hundred notes and his debt is cleared? The answer is no. A time may come when the five hundred notes become such that the note in hand, the benefit of writing on it, is stronger, or I do not say more valuable, than these five hundred Syrian pounds, because nothing is required of it and no benefit is derived from it. Can it be said, "We have cleared our debt, we gave our wife five hundred notes, and the matter is over"? No. The secret is that these paper currencies, which the present age in all countries has been afflicted with, are among the misfortunes of people. And although people, due to the worries of this world and their running about like beasts, have stopped feeling it, and it is true of them: "A dead camel does not cause pain", they no longer feel this problem until, for example, gold rises, and we feel, "What is the value of this currency?" There is no value to this currency; in reality, these are certificates, as is known in the terminology of states generally. If the value of the Syrian currency falls, this currency has no value; it must return to gold. So you owe a thousand notes from five years ago, and you want to pay it now, it is not a thousand notes, but the value of a thousand notes in gold at that time. So give him gold. Some of the unaware or those who pretend to be unaware say, "My brother, we did not receive gold." My dear, what you received is not worth this much in gold, or the note has no value. Therefore, we must preserve this, whether it is for us or against us. We borrow from people without depriving them of their rights, because, by Allah, they did us a favor. We will repay them now with the currency we borrowed from them in Syrian paper, even if the value has become half or less. Likewise, the woman we took by the right of Allah and the covenant of Allah, we do not wrong her and give her the specified amount in paper currency. Also, now we want to pay zakah on these ornaments; we do not pay it except at the current value. A piece we bought for a hundred notes is now worth three hundred or four hundred, so what is the benefit to us on the basis that it is nine hundred, on the basis of four hundred, and so on.
The questioner : ... .
Another questioner: I mean, what do I have to give her...
The Shaykh : He will look and see what it is worth, what it equals.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... at the price of gold.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : And this question, I do not ask; ask the money changer who knows the rise and fall, yes.
Another questioner: ... and that.
The Shaykh : It is the same case, my brother. The important thing is, you give gold.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes. Second, what is the ruling on tattooing?
The questioner : Excuse me, Shaykh Abu Abd al-Rahman.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Regarding the issue of the mahr and its determination in gold, for example, the husband, ten years ago, when he agreed to a mahr, for example, a certain amount of gold, he estimated in his mind that, meaning, even... meaning, even... meaning, he would earn the value of this mahr, for example, work for a month. But now, after ten years, when he wants to pay the value of the mahr at today's price, he has to work, meaning, a full year instead of a month. Is there not injustice here, meaning, against the rights of the husband?
The Shaykh : No, there is no injustice, although the discussion in the question or the exaggeration in depicting the question, I do not think the difference is as you imagine, instead of working a month he works a year. I do not think so, on the contrary, because the salary, when the salary for the ordinary worker was, for example, two hundred notes, three hundred notes, today it has become... it has become... and more.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It catches up with each other. I do not care about the same ratio, Professor. I am not calculating now, and is it possible that it is the same ratio? I am just discussing the hypothesis that this happens to him in a month, now he needs a year. This is an exaggeration. Even so, you took this woman by the covenant of Allah and His pact, and I will return to say that I did not give her a mahr in paper currency that has no value, but what is equivalent to so much and so much in gold. And you did not lend, but you deferred. So if something happens that befalls you after that, some harm as you depict, what is she responsible for? What does she deserve to be wronged because you deferred the mahr? And perhaps this is an opportunity to mention what we always and forever talk about, and this is among the virtues of the Sunnah: dividing the mahr into two parts and making it a system in the marriage of the man to the woman. It must be that there is a prompt and a deferred portion. This is an innovation in Islam with no basis whatsoever, and... from the legal aspect, it is one of the factors that make the relationship between the spouses a hellish mahr relationship. Often, neither spouse suits the other, and they want to break free, but the man is bound, bound, and what a heavy bond is written on him: five thousand and ten thousand, but... on our way, the brother, the weight of which is five thousand, ten thousand. Today, what does he do? Allah is greater, where will he get this? The man who wrote this amount on himself? ... He lives with her reluctantly. Where did this problem come from? From our commitment to what is not necessary, from our division of the mahr into prompt and deferred, and then "a bundle of straw on a camel's back today". And this is from the corruption of society; the ruler becomes lenient with the prompt mahr and expensive with the deferred mahr, what? The deferred, increasing the burden, what? The yoke on the neck of this husband.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : They said,[Ash-Shuraa 42:30] Exalted and Glorious is He. Therefore, when you come to solve the problem in some of its forms and manifestations, who is responsible for it? This people, this uneducated one, he does not commit to all the Islamic etiquettes and take Islam whole, not divisible. These problems appear... they are responsible for them.
The questioner : ... .
Another questioner: I mean, what do I have to give her...
The Shaykh : He will look and see what it is worth, what it equals.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... at the price of gold.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : And this question, I do not ask; ask the money changer who knows the rise and fall, yes.
Another questioner: ... and that.
The Shaykh : It is the same case, my brother. The important thing is, you give gold.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes. Second, what is the ruling on tattooing?
The questioner : Excuse me, Shaykh Abu Abd al-Rahman.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Regarding the issue of the mahr and its determination in gold, for example, the husband, ten years ago, when he agreed to a mahr, for example, a certain amount of gold, he estimated in his mind that, meaning, even... meaning, even... meaning, he would earn the value of this mahr, for example, work for a month. But now, after ten years, when he wants to pay the value of the mahr at today's price, he has to work, meaning, a full year instead of a month. Is there not injustice here, meaning, against the rights of the husband?
The Shaykh : No, there is no injustice, although the discussion in the question or the exaggeration in depicting the question, I do not think the difference is as you imagine, instead of working a month he works a year. I do not think so, on the contrary, because the salary, when the salary for the ordinary worker was, for example, two hundred notes, three hundred notes, today it has become... it has become... and more.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It catches up with each other. I do not care about the same ratio, Professor. I am not calculating now, and is it possible that it is the same ratio? I am just discussing the hypothesis that this happens to him in a month, now he needs a year. This is an exaggeration. Even so, you took this woman by the covenant of Allah and His pact, and I will return to say that I did not give her a mahr in paper currency that has no value, but what is equivalent to so much and so much in gold. And you did not lend, but you deferred. So if something happens that befalls you after that, some harm as you depict, what is she responsible for? What does she deserve to be wronged because you deferred the mahr? And perhaps this is an opportunity to mention what we always and forever talk about, and this is among the virtues of the Sunnah: dividing the mahr into two parts and making it a system in the marriage of the man to the woman. It must be that there is a prompt and a deferred portion. This is an innovation in Islam with no basis whatsoever, and... from the legal aspect, it is one of the factors that make the relationship between the spouses a hellish mahr relationship. Often, neither spouse suits the other, and they want to break free, but the man is bound, bound, and what a heavy bond is written on him: five thousand and ten thousand, but... on our way, the brother, the weight of which is five thousand, ten thousand. Today, what does he do? Allah is greater, where will he get this? The man who wrote this amount on himself? ... He lives with her reluctantly. Where did this problem come from? From our commitment to what is not necessary, from our division of the mahr into prompt and deferred, and then "a bundle of straw on a camel's back today". And this is from the corruption of society; the ruler becomes lenient with the prompt mahr and expensive with the deferred mahr, what? The deferred, increasing the burden, what? The yoke on the neck of this husband.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : They said,