DEBT

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

I wud like to know more about the stance that Islam takes as far as debt is concerned. Of course I am aware that being in debt or borrowing money is not reccomended in Islam , but wht if u genuinely cannot pay it back ,plz cud sum1 quote from hadess or the quran- sorry i knw its sumthing very basic that im asking mayb even stupid, but i wud like to know a bit more about it :slight_smile:

2

Re: DEBT

Who said that taking loan is haraam .. One thing that prophet told us is that when take loan and pay it back, have two witnesses their. This is to save both parties ..

A signed legal paper work now a days also serves the same purpose.

Are you talking about loan or Interest that you have to give on loan ..

or are you refereing to bankruptcy

3

Re: DEBT

yeh i knw that it isnt haraam, but i knw sum1 who keeps taking more and more debt, cant pay the interest he is a gud person, but his mounting debts means that he keeps lying abt them, infact abt everything, and in teh process of not being able to pay it, he's losing so much- brokien realtionships, no house e.t.c...

4

Re: DEBT

May Allah help him .. but that has nothing to do with loan .. that person , it seems to me .. is bad in money management

and that is something he will be accountable for .. we will be asked, where and how we spent our money ..

That person needs debt counseling .. there are many good ones in USA.

is he/she in USA?

5

Re: DEBT

I agree its bad money management no he's in the UK, but its a nytmare trying to get him 2 even go see a debt counciller, he seems to be in denial that its him that in the fault but puts it dwn to bad kismat and bad luck , which thr is ane lement, he has alot of bad luck :(

6

Re: DEBT

^ I think you mentioned he got it on interest? well thats pure sin... maybe he should view it as such instead of blaming it on bad luck...

I have read a few Ahadith on not returning stuff so will post those if i find them inshAllah.

7

Re: DEBT

thts wud b great pinks, thnks :)

8

Re: DEBT

Ask him to recite one day Sura Taghabun and one day Sura Waqia after Isha prayers and ask Allah to be out of this situation ..

9

Re: DEBT

Peace

If you know anyone who has some zakat to give ... get them to give it to him to pay off or towards his interest bearing loans, that is a start.

10

Re: DEBT

If he owns more than 7.5 tola gold, no matter how much debt he is in , zakat is not valid to be given to him Psyah bhai

One can give him non-zakat sadiqa though

No Matter what everyone thinks..
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Re: DEBT

Can we please be very serious about these issues. A woman doesn't wear a piece of cotton on her head and everyone cries foul. But these things you describe are "not recommended"????

So you get off that easy by taking people's money and irresponsibly behaving about it? No, kiddo, this is VERY frowned upon. VERY VERY. Its not "not recommended". Its downright shameful.

He/she needs to stop lying about his/her debt, and first start paying off the loans they have taken out before taking out any further loans. Secondly, in such a situation, the muslim community needs to come together and provide some financial relief to this person and their dependents, and maybe, just MAYBE, he/she needs a good financial planning lesson.

Its a friggin' plague in our community. How many families will keep suffering for people's stupid mistakes?

12

Re: DEBT

here is the link.

http://farhathashmi.com/dn/Portals/0/E-Library/books/husne-akhlaq.pdf

the set of hadith you are looking for is under the Title “Trustworthiness” are on page 37 (page 47 actually as it is a PDF file).

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Re: DEBT

I dont know if I should bring this topic here, but anyway here goes..

I have a friend who is professional money lender (not a muslim). He had a muslim client who used to take loans from him on a personal guarantee. Recently the client attended some session from a maulvi and decided unilaterally that he would not pay any interest on the loans that he has taken from my friend.
My friend can go the legal way but does not want to. Does not want to get entangled in a case involving communal overtones.
My friend is in a dicey situation. Money lending is his profession and he cannot survive without getting interest. He has several other muslim clients. He is worried if the other guys also adopt the same attitude...
My question is -- Is this a valid attitude...

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Re: DEBT

Valid attitude? I’d say not. because he shouldn’t have taken the money on interest in the first place. Now he must repay.

There is a hadith:

A man came asking rudely of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to return the debt. The sahabas got enraged because of the tone of the voice he adopted. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stopped them and said ‘He has the right to demand, even harshly’. Sahaba were ordered to buy a camel and give it to him as repayment. They argued that the camel they’re about to purchase is older and hence more valuable. So the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, Give it to him, for you should return your debt handsomely. (Sahih Al-Bukhari: Hadith 2260)
http://www.sunnipath.com/library/Hadith/H0002P0046.aspx

Although, that doesn’t advocate paying interest. But you can see it is okay to repay a higher amount to show appreciation for the orignial favor.

Since this is a known interest deal that both parties were and usually are aware of, i’m sure. If muslim client decide to go interest-free or demand that, it would not be wrong of them either. Because the religion encourages to trade evenly. Don’t give interest, don’t take interest.

All the previous payments must be made as agreed upon though. Because a promise and a verbal contract was made. The damage’s already done. If the lender decides to give him a break for being in good business previously, and reduces the interest, that would be best. A compromise is best for both parties.

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Re: DEBT

^^

The only problem is that if my friend decides to give him a break for being in good business previously, this would set a very wrong preceedent. Other clients would also want to forego paying interest. Also you should remember that he is a profressional money lender and banks on interest for his livelihood.

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Re: DEBT

^ That particular "Muslim" guy who attended some session with a molvi should stop seeing that molvi. The guy who borrowed the loan needs to repay on the same conditions he got the loan with. That "Muslim" guy should abstain from interest-based loans in FUTURE dealings.

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Re: DEBT

^^

That is a good attitude, but would not help in this case. What I am asking is there something that my friend can say to this particular muslim person. Some scripture or Hadith which says "Do not break your word" kind of a situation..

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Re: DEBT

That would trigger an ego streak in that person, you know the Do you know more Islam than me sort of attitude (since your friend is non-muslim). I agree with Ehtasab. The person is bound to the contract he made. Your friend could entice him to lessen the interest if paid up early however that may not help. As for your friend, it seems personal guarantee implies he did not do legal paper work for this amount he lended. Bad move for someone who does business. He should atleast get the principal amount back even if he ends up forfeiting his interest so he does not loose his money. I think the best option would be to return what he agreed to return and then abstain from taking further such loans if he really means to live by it. Your friend has a hard decision to make that will affect his client base.

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Re: DEBT

^^

He has his legal work done. But you know how courts are. Moreover this would be a case with communal overtones. Good news is that this guy returned all the money along with the interest. My friend was pleased as punch to say the least. Only problem is that he begining to get weary of loaning money to muslims.

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Re: DEBT

i can't say if he's "religiously" in the right, but from what i see..he made one deal and is now backing out on it and is hurting someone else's livelihood. I think the bigger issue is not of interest, but of turning around and betraying the deal that two people had set.