What is the ruling on a man who borrowed a sum of money from another man and delayed paying it, so the creditor said to him, “I will forgive you a portion of it, and give me the rest”?
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The questioner : I asked you a question yesterday, O Shaykh, in a hurry.
The Shaykh : Our discussion was that he was unable to pay it back by any means, yes.
The questioner : I asked you a question yesterday in a hurry, and the answer was given. Then one of the brothers told me today that he asked the same question, and the answer was different. The question is: if a man has, for example, one hundred dinars owed to him by another man, and the debtor is delaying payment and is well-off but delaying and not paying.
The Shaykh : He said to him, “Take seventy, and I will settle it.”
The questioner : No, a third party is not involved in the matter.
The Shaykh : That is it.
The questioner: Yes
The Shaykh : A third party said, “I will settle it.”
The questioner : He said, “Take these seventy, and I will settle it my own way.”
The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : So the other agreed to take the seventy. He said to you, “And no freebie, right?” Is this permissible?
The Shaykh : No
The questioner : It is not permissible, because I had appointed Abu Fares to ask, and he said, “I asked.”The Shaykh : The same question, and he said it is permissible.
The Shaykh : No, it is permissible between you and me. But the intermediary taking the extra profit in exchange for the reduced payment, that is not permissible. In other words, I borrowed one hundred dinars from you.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And I delayed paying you—and peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you—due to my delay in paying you, you got tired of it, so you offered to me, my brother, “I will forgive you fifteen percent of the hundred, and so on, just let me be done with it,” and you gave me what you were satisfied with. This occurred in the authentic hadith. But if an intermediary comes between you and me and buys the debt from me for less than its value, that is not permissible. Clear, okay.
The Shaykh : Our discussion was that he was unable to pay it back by any means, yes.
The questioner : I asked you a question yesterday in a hurry, and the answer was given. Then one of the brothers told me today that he asked the same question, and the answer was different. The question is: if a man has, for example, one hundred dinars owed to him by another man, and the debtor is delaying payment and is well-off but delaying and not paying.
The Shaykh : He said to him, “Take seventy, and I will settle it.”
The questioner : No, a third party is not involved in the matter.
The Shaykh : That is it.
The questioner: Yes
The Shaykh : A third party said, “I will settle it.”
The questioner : He said, “Take these seventy, and I will settle it my own way.”
The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : So the other agreed to take the seventy. He said to you, “And no freebie, right?” Is this permissible?
The Shaykh : No
The questioner : It is not permissible, because I had appointed Abu Fares to ask, and he said, “I asked.”The Shaykh : The same question, and he said it is permissible.
The Shaykh : No, it is permissible between you and me. But the intermediary taking the extra profit in exchange for the reduced payment, that is not permissible. In other words, I borrowed one hundred dinars from you.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And I delayed paying you—and peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you—due to my delay in paying you, you got tired of it, so you offered to me, my brother, “I will forgive you fifteen percent of the hundred, and so on, just let me be done with it,” and you gave me what you were satisfied with. This occurred in the authentic hadith. But if an intermediary comes between you and me and buys the debt from me for less than its value, that is not permissible. Clear, okay.
Source
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The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.