He said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Chapter on hastening to pay off the debt of the deceased and rushing to prepare his body, unless he dies suddenly, in which case he is left until his death is confirmed"

The reciter: He said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Chapter on hastening to pay off the debt of the deceased and rushing to prepare his body, unless he dies suddenly, in which case he is left until his death is confirmed. It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said:

The believer's soul is suspended by his debt until it is settled for him.

نفس المؤمن معلقة بدينه حتى يقضى عنه

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1078Hasan (Darussalam)

Al-Tirmidhi narrated it and said: It is a good hadith. And it was narrated from Husayn ibn Wahwah (may Allah be pleased with him) that Talhah ibn al-Bara' ibn 'Azib (may Allah be pleased with them both) fell ill, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to visit him and said:

Verily, I think that Talhah is about to die. So inform me when he is dead and make haste (in burying him). Indeed, it is improper for the corpse of a Muslim to be kept lying unburied among his family members.

إني لا أرى طلحة إلا قد حدث فيه الموت فآذنوني به وعجلوا به فإنه لا ينبغي لجيفة مسلم أن تحبس بين ظهراني أهله

Riyad as-Salihin 944

Abu Dawud narrated it".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author said, may Allah have mercy on him, in the book *Riyad al-Salihin*: "Chapter on hastening to pay off the debt of the deceased and rushing to prepare his body, unless he dies suddenly, in which case one waits until his death is confirmed". The first phrase of the title means that when a person dies, it is obligatory for his family to hasten to pay off his debt if he has one, and it is not permissible for them to delay it, because the wealth they inherited from him is his, and they have no right in it until the debt is settled. That is, the heirs have no right to a single dirham of the estate until the debt is paid. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said in the verses of inheritance: So the heirs have no right to take anything from the estate until the debt of the deceased is taken. And they must hasten to pay off the debt, unless it is deferred, in which case they should ask the creditors for a delay. If they refuse, it should be paid to them immediately, unless the heirs secure it with a pledge that is safe or a solvent guarantor. People have been negligent in paying off the debts of the deceased. You will find a person dies with a debt, and the heirs play with the estate and delay paying the debt. It may be hundreds of thousands, and he left many properties. The heirs say: We will not sell the properties; we will wait until the properties increase in value and then sell them. This is forbidden. It is obligatory for them to hasten, even if they sell the item for half its price, because the wealth is not theirs; the wealth belongs to the deceased. Also, if a person had borrowed from the Real Estate Development Fund and did not pay the installments, you will find the heirs playing and not paying the fund. Perhaps Satan will suggest to them that they apply to the government for a pardon. Then they say: We will wait for the response; perhaps it will be rejected, or perhaps they will be pardoned. But they do not know, so it is not permissible for them to do that. It is obligatory for them to hasten to pay off the debt of the deceased. However, if the deceased had paid the installments that were due during his lifetime and the house remained pledged to the Real Estate Development Fund, the deceased is absolved of it, and nothing follows him. Some people of scrupulousness, when a person dies and he had borrowed from the Real Estate Development Fund and had paid all the installments that were due on him during his lifetime, think that the soul of the deceased is suspended by this debt. That is not the case. As long as there is a pledge, the deceased is absolved of it. This is indicated by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) died with a debt to a man from the Jews, and he had given him his armor as a pledge. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him his armor as a pledge. Do we say that the soul of the Messenger is suspended by the debt? No, because he pledged something from which the creditor could recover his right. Then the author mentioned, may Allah have mercy on him, the hadith of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Meaning: that his soul, while he is in his grave, is suspended by the debt. As if, may Allah know best, he suffers from the delay of the debt and does not rejoice in pleasure or feel at ease, because he has a debt. And therefore we said that it is obligatory for the heirs to hasten to pay off the debt. As for the hadith that follows it, the discussion of it has already been mentioned, which is that it is a strongly recommended practice to hasten with the funeral. For this reason he said: But if it is detained for an hour or two to wait for a large gathering, as if he died at the beginning of the day, for example, on Friday, and they say we will wait until the prayer for the large gathering, then there is no harm in that, if Allah wills, because it is a delay that does not cause harm. And success is from Allah.