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:

Assalamualaykum
I have a few questions regarding my cousin'sfather who just passed away recently. He had business dealing with others, and some of those deals are not complete. Some people still owe him money, and some of those people claim he owes them money. Others have come after he passed away and claimed he owed them money. I would like to know the ins and outs of debt.
What can/should be done about this?

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Answer:

Settle collect debt of deceased

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 4646 Narrated by Abu Qatadah

The Messenger of Allah (saws) stood up amongst his companions to deliver his sermon, in which he (saws) told them that Jihad in the Cause of Allah and belief in Allah (with all His Attributes) were the most meritorious of acts. A man stood up and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah (saws), do you think that if I am killed in the Cause of Allah, (all) my sins will be blotted out from me?” The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘Yes, if you were patient and sincere, and always fought facing the enemy, never turning your back upon him, (all your sins shall be forgiven) except debt.’

Sahih Muslim Hadith 4649 Narrated by Amr ibn al-'As

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘All the sins of a martyr in the Cause of Allah are forgiven, except debt.’

Such is the sanctity of the honoring of one’s debts in Islam that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said that Allah Subhanah might forgive all the sins of a believer, except their unpaid debts….even for the martyr who gave his life for the Cause of Allah Subhanah!

If one’s loved one has died and some people owe him money, it is the moral responsibility of those who owed money to the deceased to come to the legal heirs of the deceased and pay their debts unto them. If the deceased had left documented proof regarding the debts which people owed him, the legal heirs are well within their rights in Shariah to take legal action against those who refuse to fulfill the debts of their deceased loved one’s unto them.

If one’s loved one has died and it is he who owed debts to people, it is the moral responsibility of the legal heirs of the deceased to fulfill his unpaid debts. If someone comes after the death of their loved one and claims that the deceased owed them some debt, and the legal heirs have no reason not to believe the claimant, they should fear Allah, and fulfill the unpaid debts of their loved one from the wealth left behind by their deceased loved one. If the unpaid debts are larger than the wealth left behind by the deceased, the heirs (or even some of amongst the believers) are well within their rights to pay the unpaid debts from themselves….and if that is beyond their means, they should implore the debtor to forgive the debt of their deceased loved one.

But if they have genuine reason not to believe the claimant that their deceased loved one owed them the debt, they are well within their rights to ask the claimant to provide evidence or documented proof for his claim of the unpaid debts of their deceased loved one.

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 well wisher in Islam,

Burhan