he fulfills it, whether the obligation concerns a debt he owes, a deposit entrusted to him, property he has usurped, a borrowed item, property belonging to the Muslims, or an act he must perform, such as a wife allowing her husband intimacy with her, or a hired worker providing the services required of him.

This is established by the Quran, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus. Allah Most High says:

“As for those women whose disobedience you fear, admonish them, forsake them in bed, and strike them.”

Thus Allah, glorified be He, has permitted a man to strike his wife if she refuses to fulfill her binding obligation regarding intimacy and the marital bed. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Delay in payment by one who can afford to pay is injustice.”

Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim recorded this in their Sahīh collections. He also said:

“Delaying payment when one has the means makes it permissible to speak ill of him and punish him.”

This was reported by the compilers of the Sunan collections. Here, delay means postponing payment, and having the means means being able to pay. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, thus stated that delay in payment by one who can afford to pay is injustice, and that this makes it permissible to speak ill of him and punish him. It is therefore established that punishing someone who delays payment is permissible.

Al-Bukhārī narrated in his Sahīh:

“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made peace with the people of Khaybar in return for their gold, silver, and weapons. He asked Huyayy ibn Akhtab’s uncle about his treasure. He replied, ‘O Muhammad, expenses have consumed it.’ He then said to al-Zubayr, ‘Take charge of this man.’ Al-Zubayr took him and subjected him to some torture. He then said, ‘I saw him going to these ruins.’ It was in an oxhide.”

When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, learned that this man, who knew the whereabouts of the wealth to which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was entitled,