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Allah (S.w.T.) will Forgive
If a person dies before he has repaid his debt and the creditor has not been compensated for it from the belongings left by him; the creditor has not forgiven him his debt and provided the debtor has not been negligient about repaying, nor was the loan taken for an illegal purpose and also the person had every intention of repaying but was unable to do so. Under these circumstances according to traditions Allah (S.w.T.) by His Grace will compensate the creditor on the Day of Judgement.
Muhammad Bin Bashir came to Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and told him that he owed a thousand Dinars to Shahab. He requested the Imam to persuade Shahab to respite him till the days of Hajj. So Imam (a.s.) summoned Shahab and said: “You know that Muhammad Bin Bashir is among our followers. He owes you a thousand Dinars. This amount was not spent by him on himself. Rather it remained as a debt upon some people and he had to bear the loss. I wish that you will forgo your thousand Dinars.”
Then he (a.s.) said, “Maybe you are under the impression that his good deeds will be given to you in return of your loan?”
Shahab said, “Yes, I am under this impression.” Imam (a.s.) told him, “The Almighty Allah is Merciful and Just. If someone, in order to achieve Allah’s nearness, worships Him on cold winter nights and fasts on hot summer days, circles the Holy Ka’ba. Then do you think after all this Allah will take away his good deeds and give them to you? It is not so, His mercy is much more. By His munificence He recompenses the good deeds of a believer.”
After listening to these words Shahab said that he has condoned his loan forever.
The Debtor Whose Good Deeds are Given to the Creditor
If the debtor is guilty of being lazy in repaying, or if he had taken the loan for an illegal purpose, or if he has delayed the repayment inspite of being capable of doing so, and if after his death his debt has not been paid nor has the creditor condoned him. Then on the Day of Qiyāma his good deeds equivalent to the loan amount shall be given to the creditor and if his good deeds are exhausted or insufficient to cover the amount, sins from the scroll of deeds of the creditor will be transferred to the scroll of the guilty debtor.
Some narrations have described this phenomena in clear words.
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has been recorded to have said: “The most difficult time on the Day of Qiyāma will be when those eligible to receive Khums and Zakat will rise up and besiege the one who has not paid it. They will complain to Allah that this person has not paid the amount due to them from Khums and Zakat. Then Allah will transfer the good deeds of that person and give them to those who were eligible (for Zakat and Khums).”
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has also said that on the Day of Qiyāma the creditor will complain against his debtor. Then if the debtor would have good deeds to his credit, they will be taken away for the creditor and if there are no good deeds for this purpose, the sins of the creditor will be added in the scroll of deeds of the debtor.
It is amply evident from the various traditions that if a person dies before fulfilling the rights of others upon him he will not achieve salvation till the rights are restored to the owner or the owner condones him. Or till his good deeds are given to the one who had the right upon him or if there are no good deeds for this purpose the sins of the latter are transferred to the scroll of deeds of the former. Or lastly, until the Ahl ul-Bayt (a.s.) intercede on his behalf.
Amount of Compensation
Exactly how many of the good deeds will be required to compensate for an unpaid debt is a matter known by Allah (S.w.T.) and the Holy Prophet (S). Neither we have any knowledge of it nor is it necessary for us to know. However, some traditions do mention some equivalents. For example in a tradition the Holy Prophet (S) said that in lieu of each dirham 600 prayers of the debtor will be paid to the creditor. (Layali Akhbār)
And if 1/6 Dirham is of silver, then seven hundred accepted prayers of the debtor will be transferred to the rightful owner. (Each silver dirham is equal to the weight of 18 grains of gram). Thus, one who departs from this world while yet in debt will be under very difficult circumstances. Everyone must be very particular to repay one’s debt as soon as possible. If a person is unable to repay his debts he must establish contact with Ahl ul-Bayt (a.s.) and seek their intercession to obtain the forgiveness of the creditor.
The Messenger of Allah (S) says, “Nothing is more serious after the Greater sins than the fact that a person dies while he is in debt to people and there is nothing to (sell to) repay his debt.” (Mustadrak ul-Wasa’il)
Moreover, the Prophet of Allah (S) told his companions after prayers one day: “Such and such person who was martyred is still waiting outside Paradise. He cannot enter it because he still owes Three dirhams to a Jew.”
Haste in Repaying Debt is Mustahab (Recommended)
It has been made amply clear that not repaying debt, or returning the rights is Harām and a Greater sin. Depending upon the demand of the creditor and the ability of the debtor it becomes obligatory to repay the debt as soon as possible. Too much divine reward is promised for this.
Allamah Nūri has quoted in his book Dārus Salām an incident from the book Nurul Uyūn. He writes that Sayyid Hashmi, the pious and well known scholar said that he had taken a hundred dinars as loan from a Jew and promised to return them within a period of twenty days. “I returned half the amount to him and then did not see him for some days. People told me that he had gone to Baghdad. One night I dreamt that it was the Day of Qiyāma. I was summoned with the other people to account for my deeds. And Allah (S.w.T.), in His Infinite Mercy allowed me to enter Paradise. So I decided to cross the bridge of Sirat as soon as possible. However, the scream of Hell made me fearful. While I was crossing the bridge, all of a sudden my Jew creditor leapt up from below the Hell, engulfed in flames of fire and blocked my way and said, ‘Give me 50 Dinar and I’ll let you go.’ I pleaded to him that I had always been on the look out for him to repay the amount but was unable to find him. He said, ‘You are right, but till you repay me you will not be able to traverse this bridge of Sirat.’ I said, ‘I don’t have anything to give.’ So in return for his debt he asked me to allow him to put a finger on my body. I gave him the permission and he put his finger on my chest. Just as his finger touched my chest I screamed due to the burning pain and awoke from the dream. The place where the Jew had touched my chest was burnt too.” After this he opened his chest to the audience and they saw that there was a terrible wound on it. He said that he was still having it treated, but it did not seem to be cured. When the audience heard all this, they began to wail loudly.
It is also narrated in the 17th volume of Bihār al-Anwār that the First Martyr (Shahīd al-Awwal) quoted Ahmad bin Abil Jawzi that he said: “It was my wish to see Abu Sulaiman Durrani, who was considered to be a pious and a God-fearing person. Thus, I saw him in a dream after a year of his death. I asked as to how Allah (S.w.T.) had dealt with him?” He said, “O Ahmed! When I was passing through Bābe Saghīr one day, I saw a camel laden with hay and grass, I plucked a twig from this and do not remember whether I picked eenth with it or threw it away just like that. But a year has passed and I am still occupied in accounting for that twig.”
The below Qur’anic verse also supports this fact: “O my son! Surely if it is the very weight of the grain of a mustard seed, even though it is in (the heart of) rock, or (high above) in the heaven or (deep down) in the earth, Allah will bring it (to light)...” (Surah Luqmān 31:16)
Thus one who has done an iota of good will see it and one who does an iota of evil will see it on the Day of Qiyāma. In the letter to Muhammad bin Abi Bakr, ‘Ali (a.s.) says, “O creatures of Allah (S.w.T.)! Know that Allah (S.w.T.) the Gracious shall question you about your every small and big deed.” The following verse is a sufficient proof for this: “Then one who does an iota of good shall see it and one who does an iota of evil shall see.” (Surah Zilzāl 99:7-8)
It is mentioned in Bihār al-Anwār that Sayyid Hasan bin Sayyid ‘Ali Isfahani said: “At the time of my father’s demise I was studying in Najaf al-Ashraf. The responsibilities of my father fell upon some of my brothers. I was unaware of this fact. Seven months after the death of my father, my mother also passed away at Isfahan. Her last remains were brought to Najaf al-Ashraf. On one of those nights I saw my father in dream. I asked him that he had died in Isfahan so how did he reach Najaf? He said, “Yes! Though I died in Isfahan, I was given a place in Najaf.” I asked if mother was also with him?
“She is in Najaf, but in a different house,” he replied. So, I surmised that she was not given a position equal to my father. Then I asked him as to how he was. He said that though previously he was in severe pain now by the grace of Almighty he is comfortable. I was surprised that how a pious and religious person like him could suffer pain. He said that it was due to the fact that he was in debt to Hāj Raza the son of Babajū alias Nālband. “Though he had demanded the payment I was unable to repay it. I was suffering torture for this default.” I awoke with a start. I wrote to my brother, the legatee of my father and told him about my dream so that he will make enquiries if my father owed some money to such a person. My brother wrote back that he had gone through all the books of account but could not locate a creditor by that name.
Again I wrote to my brother to find this person and ask him directly if he was having a debt upon my deceased father. My brother replied after sometime and said that he had found that person and questioned him about my father’s debt. He was told that my father did owe him 18 tomāns but except Allah (S.w.T.) no one knew about it. He said that after the death of father he had approached my brother and asked him if his name appeared in the list of my father’s creditors. When my brother told him that it was not so, he was perturbed as to how my father failed to note down his name among the creditors. Since he did not have any proof he did not see any way to acquire his money. Upon hearing this my brother offered him the amount of outstanding debt. But he refused to accept it. He said that he had already condoned the amount to my late father.
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) has said: “Oppression is of Three types. One that Allah will not forgive, second which is He will forgive and lastly one which he will ‘take away’.
1. The oppression Allah will never forgive is Shirk.
2. The oppression that Allah forgives is one that a person does upon himself and it is a sin between that person and Allah.
3. The oppression that Allah ‘takes away’ is that one that a person does by not repaying his debts. (Wasa’il ul-Shia)
The Holy Prophet (S) has remarked, “One who is able to satisfy (please) his creditors will certainly enter Paradise without any delay in accounting. He will be in the Garden, in the company of Ismail (a.s.) the son of Ibrahīm (a.s.).” (Mustadrak)
The Messenger of Allah (S) has also said, The debt which is returned by the debtor is more superior to the worship of a thousand years and the emancipation of a thousand slaves and performing Hajj and Umrah a thousand times.” (Mustadrak)
Prophet Muhammad (S) has also said, “If someone restores a single dirham to its rightful owner, the Almighty Allah will save him from the fire of Hell and for each Daniq (1/6 of a DIrham) he will get rewards of a prophet and for each Dirham he will get a palace of Red Pearls (in Paradise).” (Mustadrak)
He (S) has also said, “Returning a right to its owner is better than fasting during the day and the prayers of the night. If a person returns a debt an angel cries out from below the Arsh: O servant (of Allah) from the time you began this good deed, Allah has forgiven all your past sins.
Fulfillment of the Rights of People
When a person has something in his possession it can be one of two cases. The first case is the person knows that whatever he has is not fully his own, but a part of it belongs to someone else. The second case is that a person owes another person, but this person has no share in the actual goods or property in possession of the former. For example the thing he had borrowed is already used up but he is in debt to the one who had lent it. In the same way there are various types of sureties and compulsory maintenance that a person is responsible, for these should be disbursed with great care.
The first case includes the following four categories.
a) To know the quantity and the owner.
When it is known that a particular quantity of a thing rightfully belongs to such and such person, it is obligatory to return that same amount to whom it belongs and in case he is dead, to his successors.
b) When the quantity is known but not the owner.
If the exact quantity owed is known but there is a doubt regarding to whom it is owed to the extent that one feels the concerned quantity rightfully belongs to one of Three or five people. Then on the basis of precaution it is necessary to satisfy all of these people. If it is not possible to satisfy all of them, then there are Three rulings: 1. Lots should be drawn between them and one of them to be given that thing. 2. The goods should be equally distributed among all the possible owners. 3. If the doubt is with reference to a hundred and more people or if the owner is completely unknown then as a precautionary measure, by the permission of Marja al-Taqlīd the holder of these goods should give it away as charity. (Everyone has to follow his own Marja al-Taqlīd in this matter).
c) When the quantity is not known but the owner is.
Under the circumstances that a person knows that he owes some of the goods in his possession to a particular person, but does not know the exact quantity owed, it is incumbent upon him to give at least a third of the goods to the owner. As a precautionary measure he should give something more and satisfy the owner.
d) When both the owner and the exact quantity are unknown.
A person knows that he owes some of the goods he has to someone. It is Harām for him to use these goods, but he does not know the exact quantity of the goods prohibited for him nor its rightful owner. He may consider a few persons as probable owners but he is unaware as to how much of it belongs to whom. In these circumstances it is incumbent on him to give Khums (1/5) on the total goods. After this the rest of the goods or property becomes totally permissible. (For details refer to the section on Khums in the books of Practical Laws).
In the second condition something is owed by a person but it is not in the form of a tangible good or property. There are four circumstances of this type:
1) If the exact quantity and the rightful owner, are known, then without any doubt that quantity has to be returned to the owner.
2) If the exact quantity is known but not a particular owner, and there is doubt between some selected people that it could belong to anyone of them. In this case it is incumbent to satisfy each of them in the way described in the rules regarding tangible goods. But if the doubt is between a large number of people the value of the goods must be given to the Qazi or given as charity by his permission on behalf of the rightful owner.
3) If the value is not known but the person to whom it is owed is known; the duty of the one who owes it is to restore the minimum quantity supposed and also to persuade the owner to forgo the rest of it.
4) When neither the exact quantity nor the owner is known the law states that an estimate has to be made and the average of the minimum and the maximum amount paid as charity after the permission of the Qazi.
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