Repaying the debt of a deceased debtor to a deceased creditor


Question:

I am a fourteen-year-old young man and my father died ten years ago. He borrowed 40 Arabian Riyals from an old woman who is now dead. He died before he could repay this debt. There is a man in our village who always dreams of my father saying to him that if his family truly wishes Allah (Exalted be He) to forgive him, they have to repay his debt. How could this debt be repaid when both the creditor and the debtor are dead? How can I calculate the value of the forty Arabian Riyals in Saudi riyals?

Answer:

If your father is proved to have died without repaying the debt, you have to repay it on his behalf from the estate which is yet to be distributed to the inheritors. If it has been distributed, each of the inheritors has to deduct a sum of money in proportion to the shares they have received. The debt has to be paid to the inheritors of the old woman. If there is no one to inherit her or if you do not know them, the money should be given away in charity to the poor. You are required to change the value of these forty Riyals in banknotes before distribution.

May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.

Muftis
  • Shaykh Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz , Shaykh Abdul-Razzaq al-Afify , Shaykh Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan
  • Estimated reading time :
    1 Min read
  • Source:
    Fatawa Al-Lajnah Ad-Da'imah no. 9341-1
  • Inheritance
  • Updated :
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