A man who had a debt, and after a considerable period of time, forgot whether he had paid this creditor his right or not; what must he do?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : There is a person, O honorable Shaykh, who had a debt, and after a considerable period of time, this person forgot whether he had paid this debt to its creditors or not? What should this person do? We want the answer to this question?
The Shaykh : If a person has a debt and is in doubt about whether he has paid it, the original ruling is that it remains due until he is certain that he has paid it. However, reaching certainty in this matter is easy. He should contact the creditors who have the right and ask them: Did he pay them or not? And then he should act according to their answer. But perhaps he is certain that he owes a debt to a person, but he has forgotten this person and forgotten that he paid him. In this case, he should give this debt as charity to the poor, or as a contribution to building a mosque, or in other forms of good. Then, if it happens that the creditor comes to him to inform him, he should say to him: The debt you have on me, I have spent it on such and such, because I despaired of finding you. If you wish, it is valid and the reward is yours. If you do not wish, I will give you this debt, and the reward will be mine.
The Shaykh : If a person has a debt and is in doubt about whether he has paid it, the original ruling is that it remains due until he is certain that he has paid it. However, reaching certainty in this matter is easy. He should contact the creditors who have the right and ask them: Did he pay them or not? And then he should act according to their answer. But perhaps he is certain that he owes a debt to a person, but he has forgotten this person and forgotten that he paid him. In this case, he should give this debt as charity to the poor, or as a contribution to building a mosque, or in other forms of good. Then, if it happens that the creditor comes to him to inform him, he should say to him: The debt you have on me, I have spent it on such and such, because I despaired of finding you. If you wish, it is valid and the reward is yours. If you do not wish, I will give you this debt, and the reward will be mine.