Loans & Debts

Q: Person A gave a person B a loan of R100 000. Person B also purchased a car from person A to the agreed value of R250 000 on a pay off basis. 

Person A decided after a few months he wants his R100 000 back and full payment of the car. By this point, person A was already paid R200 000 for the car. 

Person A then took the car back because person B could not meet the deadline for payment. 

This all transpired over 8 months. So person A is sitting with the R200 000 plus the car and never wanted to give person B a cent back claiming usage charges, insurance charges, wear and tear cost, etc. 

After much back and forth person A gave person B R25 000 back. Was this fair in the eyes of Islam ?

Q: My brother passed away a few years ago. I knew he had a debt when he was abroad. But I don't know the whereabouts. What can we do for that? 

It's not really possible for us to re-pay his debt as we are not a wealthy family. What can we do for my brother to save him from the hell fire? Sometimes my brother comes in my dream suffering from pain or as tortured telling me to save him. What can I do for him?

Q: If I had a credit card debt with Woolworths and I couldn't afford to pay it at the time so the debt was ceded by a company called nimble against my will at the time, do I have to pay nimble anything. Woolworths is not saying that I owe them anymore. How do I make sure that no one has a claim against me on qiyaamat?

Q: I was told that on the day of Qiyaamah we will have to pay for our outstanding debts by giving our good deeds to that person. What if the person we owe money to is a non-Muslim? Will our good deeds go to him? What benefit will he get by getting our good deeds?

Q: A person asked me to make a credit card and provide him, he would be responsible for all credit card matters i.e. fees/charges and in return, he would pay me an amount of 1000 dollars. And I will pay 1000 dollars back in 12 equal monthly installments. I will not use the credit card benefits. Is this deal ok in the light of Islam?

Q: A member of our community as an heir would like to know if it's permissible to pay off gambling debts accrued by the deceased to pay off multiple gambling debts accrued to Muslims and non Muslims. 

Notes: 

1. A member of family has come forward to assist with these debts as they too want to rid of their unwanted interest income in order to assist with paying off these debts. 

2. The deceased does have an income deriving property asset in his estate but the income is little to none and will take years to save and accumulate the funds required to pay off the gambling debts.

Q: I am currently working and looking to buy a car. I am unable to buy it in cash. I have made many attempts for Muslim car dealers to try and purchase the car on credit without interest or going through bank finance. All of them rejected. 

I have even proved that I am able to pay it off comfortably with my salary. 

I have went to almost every Muslim dealership and all have rejected. 

I am able to get a car on bank finance but I do not wish to because of the interest. 

Is there any other way of doing it? Is there any other alternative to this?

Q: We have a credit card account with FNB which hasn't been paid for about 1 and a half years. Over the period that the account was not paid, interest was levied to the account. I'm not to sure of the exact amount of interest which was levied on the account, but I have requested the amount. I'm awaiting their response. 

The account is currently handled by the banks attorneys and they have recently emailed us stating that the bank is willing to give us a settlement discount of 40% if the account is paid by the 29th of this month (November). 

Will it be fine for us to accept the settlement discount and settle this account as we don't have the money to pay the entire balance on the account and ان شاء الله a few friends will be willing to help us pay the account if we can settle with the settlement discount amount. 

Q: I live with my parents, and over the past few months, I've made some online purchases using my father's credit card (with his permission). Since there have been quite a few transactions, I’d like to repay him but it would take a bit of time to track every individual purchase. 

Is it permissible if I give my father an amount that is more than the total of my purchases, ensuring I cover the minimum amount I owe him? 

For example, if the purchases total $1000, I would return something like $1200 to cover any uncertainty.