- Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Procrastination in payment by a solvent debtor is injustice. If any of you is referred to a solvent person, let him accept the referral.” Agreed upon. In another wording recorded by Ahmad: “Whoever is transferred, let him accept the transfer.” (1)
Glossary of the ḥadith:
• “M a ṭl al-ghani”: a verbal noun annexed to its doer. In language, maṭl means elongation; one says maṭala the piece of iron, i.e., hammered it to make it longer. Here it refers to delaying payment of a due debt without excuse.
• “al-ghani”: from ghaniya yaghna ghinan, like raḍiya yarḍā riḍan; plural aghniyāʾ. Its original sense is sufficiency; here it denotes a person able to pay.
• “Utbia”: with ḍamma on the hamzah, sukūn on the tāʾ, and kasra on the bāʾ, in the passive form. Al-Khaṭṭābī said: the ḥadith scholars often vocalise it with a shaddah, but the correct form keeps the tāʾ silent, on the pattern of “akrama.”
• “Malīʾ”: with hamzah, derived from malāʾ (“fullness”); one says malaʾa ar-rajul, meaning he became solvent. The word malīʾ is hamzated on the pattern faʿīl, though people commonly drop the hamzah and double the yāʾ. It means a wealthy person able to discharge the debt.
• “Falyatbaʿ”: with fatḥah on the yāʾ; it means, “If he is given a transfer, let him accept it,” as in the other narration.
Points derived from the ḥadith:
- This noble ḥadith lays down an ethic of fair dealing by instructing the debtor