Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (9/286)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

long ago; that is, we do not give precedence to the earlier debt over the later one.

The method is to calculate the ratio of the available assets to the total debt. Whatever that ratio is, each creditor receives that proportion of what he is owed.

For example, if the total debt is ten thousand riyals and the available assets are eight thousand, then the ratio of eight to ten is four-fifths. Each creditor is therefore given four-fifths of what he is owed: whoever is owed one thousand is given eight hundred; whoever is owed one hundred is given eighty; and if one of them is owed five riyals, we give him four riyals—and so on—because this is the applicable ratio.

“No deferred debt falls due by reason of insolvency, nor by death if his heirs provide security by a pledge or a solvent guarantor. If a creditor appears after the distribution, he may recover from the creditors his proportional share. The restriction may be lifted only by a judge.”

His statement, “No deferred debt falls due by reason of insolvency,” means that if a person owes a deferred debt and is placed under restriction, does the debt fall due, or does it remain deferred until its appointed term?

The author says that it does not fall due; rather, it remains deferred, and payment may be demanded when its term arrives.

An example of this is a person who borrows a sum from another person for one year. During that year, the debtor is placed under restriction, and the creditor comes to claim alongside the other creditors. We say: You have no claim, because your deferred debt has not yet fallen due. The term is the debtor’s right, and the debtor’s right is not forfeited by his insolvency.

If the creditor whose debt is deferred says, “Since you have placed him under restriction, you will sell his property, and nothing will remain for me,” we say: No, for you have no present claim to it. Rather, your entitlement remains intact, and perhaps, by the time your debt falls due, Allah Most High will bring provision.

His statement, “nor by death,” likewise means that a deferred debt does not fall due upon the debtor’s death, except that the author makes an exception, saying:

بعيداً، بمعنى أننا لا نقدم الدين الأول، على الدين الثاني. وكيفية ذلك أن تَنْسِبَ الموجود للدين، فما حصل من النسبة فهو لكل واحد من دينه بقدر تلك النسبة. مثال ذلك: الدَّيْنُ عشرة آلاف ريال والموجود ثمانية، انسب الثمانية إلى العشرة تكن أربعة أخماس، فلكل واحد من الغرماء أربعة أخماس ماله، فمن له ألف نعطيه ثمانمائة، ومن له مائة نعطيه ثمانين، وإذا كان دين أحدهم خمسة ريالات فإننا نعطيه أربعة ريالات وهلم جرّاً؛ لأن النسبة هكذا تكون. وَلَا يَحِلُّ مُؤَجَّلٌ بِفَلَسٍ وَلَا بِمَوْتٍ إِنْ وَثَّقَ وَرَثَتُهُ بِرَهْنٍ أَوْ كَفِيلٍ مَلِيءٍ وَإنْ ظَهَر غَرِيمٌ بَعْدَ القِسْمَةِ رَجَعَ عَلَى الغُرَمَاءِ بقِسْطِهِ وَلَا يَفُكُّ حَجْرَهُ إِلاَّ حَاكِمٌ. قوله: «ولا يحل مؤجل بفلس» يعني إذا كان على الإنسان دين مؤجل وحجر عليه فهل يحل الدين أو يبقى على أجله؟ يقول المؤلف: إنه لا يحل فيبقى على أجله ويطالب إذا حل الأجل. مثال هذا: إنسان استدان من شخص ديناً لمدة سنة، وفي أثناء السنة حجر على المدين، فجاء صاحب الدين ليطالب مع الغرماء، فنقول: لا حق لك؛ لأنه لم يحل دينك المؤجل؛ لأن الأجل حق للمدين، وحق المدين لا يسقط بفلسه. فإذا قال صاحب الدين المؤجل: أنتم لما حجرتم عليه سوف تبيعون ماله، ولا يبقى لي شيء، فإننا نقول: لا؛ لأنه لا حق لك فيه، بل أنت على حقك، وربما إذا حل دينك يأتي الله تعالى برزق. قوله: «ولا بموت» كذلك لا يحل المؤجل بموت، أي موت المدين إلا أن المؤلف استثنى فقال: