Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

i have taken a interest free loan .i wanted to know that why we should repay the loan ?

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Answer:

Why pay back Interest free loan

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 58:

58 Allah doth Command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due; and when ye judge between man and man that ye judge with justice. Verily how excellent is the teaching which He giveth you! For Allah is He Who Hears and Sees all things.

Beloved brother, if someone has loaned you something from his property, then it is a trust that person has entrusted in you and it is obligatory for one who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day to fulfill his trust and repay what one has borrowed from his fellow human being.

If one who borrows something from another in the life of this world, and having the ability to repay the loan does not pay it back, Allah Subhanah will take the person to severe account on the Inevitable Day of Judgement! On that Inevitable Day, the person who broke the trust and did not repay the loan to his fellow human being will have to compensate the person in full in the ‘currency’ of the Hereafter, and the ‘currency’ of the Hereafter is ‘deeds’! According to the value of the debt, Allah Subhanah will command that the good deeds done by the borrower be credited to the account of the person who lent him the money, and if the borrower does not have enough good deeds, he will have to take on the evil deeds of the person who lent him the money in the life of this world!

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6251 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) asked: ‘Do you know who is a ‘muflis’ (an absolute and abject pauper)?’ They (the Companions of the Prophet (saws)) said: ‘A ‘muflis’ amongst us is one who has neither dirham with him nor wealth.’ He (the Prophet (saws)) said: ‘The ‘muflis’ (or absolute pauper) of my Ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers and fasts and Zakat but (he would find himself bankrupt on that day as he would have exhausted his funds of virtues) since he hurled abuses upon others, brought calumny against others, unlawfully consumed the wealth of others, shed the blood of others, and beat others, and his virtues would be credited to the account of one (who suffered at his hand). And if his good deeds fall short to clear the account, then the person’s sins would be entered in (his account) and he would be thrown in the Hell-Fire!’

Thus in conclusion, it would be better to fulfill the trust and repay the loan one has taken from another in the life of this world, rather than pay the person with one’s prayers, and fasts, and other good deeds in the Supreme and Just Court of the Majestic Lord of the Hereafter. Allah is our witness, every person will be absolutely desperate in counting his good deeds on that Inevitable Day, for it is the scale of ‘deeds’ that Day which will determine whether the person enters the Eternal Paradise or the Everlasting Hell Fire. If one who has taken a paltry loan in the life of this world and having the ability to repay does not repay his loan, he will indeed be in a very sorry and desperate state on the Day of Accounting when he will witness that his invaluable prayers, and his fasts, and his good deeds are being taken away because he unlawfully consumed the paltry wealth of another in the transitory and short stay of the world! Allah is our witness, there would be no one more desperate and more bankrupt on that Day than one who comes with mountains of good deeds, and they are taken away from him and given to others, because he unlawfully abused the rights of others in the short and transitory life of the world!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and sincere well wisher in Islam,

Burhan