A merchant with debts and incoming funds: should he pay his debts first or trade first?
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The questioner : This is the situation of merchants; they are in debt, but... they hope that the trade will be profitable. This is not just one case, but dozens of merchants are in this state, especially in the current circumstances.
The Shaykh : Do you mean to say that my previous statement is incorrect?
The questioner : That it is not conceivable. It is conceivable.
The Shaykh : Strange.
The questioner : He may have goods worth fifty thousand dinars and owe as much or more, and years may pass in this state: he takes from here, spends and repays, and gives there, and so on. He considers himself among the rich, yet if we checked his actual cash, he would turn out poorer than me...
The Shaykh : No, what you are saying can happen, and what he is saying can happen. But this matter contains something forbidden in Islam, and I know that merchants fall into this. That is, he has debts he is able to pay but does not, and instead deals with that money. In this case, he is dealing with the money of others. Therefore, I draw your attention to the fact that this is not permissible. This person needs to remember the hadith of the three men in the cave who were trapped by a rock. One of them was a large farmer who said: "I hired a worker for a measure of rice. When he finished his work, I offered him the agreed measure, but he refused it. So I kept farming until I gathered from it a herd of cattle and sheep. Then he came to me, may Allah know, after five or ten years, and said to me: 'O servant of Allah, fear Allah and give me my right.' I said to him: 'Look at those cattle, go and take them.' He said: 'O servant of Allah, do not mock me; I only have a measure of rice with you.' I said: 'Go and take them, for those cattle are from that measure of rice.'" Our rich people must remember this generous rich man. Although this is not like them; this is not like these people. That is, he offered the agreed wage to the worker, who refused it for a reason, so he invested it and Allah blessed him. After a long time, the one in need of the measure came, so he gave him cattle in place of the measure. But these rich people know they owe a thousand dinars and the agreed term has arrived, yet they continue to invest it for their personal interests. It is obligatory for him to pay it to its owner. This exists, unfortunately, and it is forbidden and not permissible.
The Shaykh : Do you mean to say that my previous statement is incorrect?
The questioner : That it is not conceivable. It is conceivable.
The Shaykh : Strange.
The questioner : He may have goods worth fifty thousand dinars and owe as much or more, and years may pass in this state: he takes from here, spends and repays, and gives there, and so on. He considers himself among the rich, yet if we checked his actual cash, he would turn out poorer than me...
The Shaykh : No, what you are saying can happen, and what he is saying can happen. But this matter contains something forbidden in Islam, and I know that merchants fall into this. That is, he has debts he is able to pay but does not, and instead deals with that money. In this case, he is dealing with the money of others. Therefore, I draw your attention to the fact that this is not permissible. This person needs to remember the hadith of the three men in the cave who were trapped by a rock. One of them was a large farmer who said: "I hired a worker for a measure of rice. When he finished his work, I offered him the agreed measure, but he refused it. So I kept farming until I gathered from it a herd of cattle and sheep. Then he came to me, may Allah know, after five or ten years, and said to me: 'O servant of Allah, fear Allah and give me my right.' I said to him: 'Look at those cattle, go and take them.' He said: 'O servant of Allah, do not mock me; I only have a measure of rice with you.' I said: 'Go and take them, for those cattle are from that measure of rice.'" Our rich people must remember this generous rich man. Although this is not like them; this is not like these people. That is, he offered the agreed wage to the worker, who refused it for a reason, so he invested it and Allah blessed him. After a long time, the one in need of the measure came, so he gave him cattle in place of the measure. But these rich people know they owe a thousand dinars and the agreed term has arrived, yet they continue to invest it for their personal interests. It is obligatory for him to pay it to its owner. This exists, unfortunately, and it is forbidden and not permissible.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.