752 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would be presented with a deceased man who still owed a debt. He would ask, “Has he left anything with which to repay his debt?” If he was told that the deceased had left enough to cover it, he would perform the funeral prayer for him; otherwise he would say, “Pray over your companion.” When Allah later granted him the conquests, he declared, “I am nearer to the believers than they are to themselves. Whoever dies while owing a debt, its settlement is upon me.” Agreed upon.

In another wording recorded by al-Bukhari: “Whoever dies and leaves nothing with which to discharge it …” (1).

Vocabulary of the ḥadīth
– “while owing a debt”: a circumstantial clause.
– “anything with which to repay it”: i.e., did he leave an amount beyond the cost of his preparation for burial that would suffice to clear his debt?
– “otherwise”: meaning, if he left no sufficient means, he would say, “Pray over your companion.”
– “the conquests”: i.e., when the Muslim armies conquered the lands of the unbelievers and revenues from the spoils entered the Public Treasury.
– “I am nearer to the believers than they are to themselves”: i.e., he ﷺ has a stronger and closer claim over them than their own selves, his ruling authority over them being binding; likewise, he guarantees the repayment of their debts when they are excused and insolvent.

Points derived from the two ḥadīths
1 – The grave danger of debt and that it is among the most urgent obligations upon the deceased, for martyrdom in the path of Allah expiates every sin, major and minor, except debt, as is stated in the Ṣaḥīḥ