the judge; rather, he must grant the debtor respite.

Yet, Allah protect us, some people—those who neither fear Allah nor show mercy to His servants—hound the insolvent, tighten the pressure on them, haul them before the authorities, and have them jailed, harmed, and kept from their families and homes. All of this is sheer injustice. Once a judge is convinced of a person’s insolvency, he is duty-bound to remove that injustice and tell the creditors, “You have no claim against him.”

What is worse, there are those—again, may Allah protect us—who, when faced with an insolvent debtor, devise a new ploy: they lend him more money on ribā (usury). One of them will say, “Buy such-and-such an item from me at an inflated price and settle my debt,” or he conspires with a third party: “Go borrow from So-and-so and pay me back.” Thus the poor man ends up, between these two oppressors, like a ball tossed about by a child.

In short, whenever you see someone demanding payment from an insolvent debtor, make it clear to him that he is sinning, that such conduct is unlawful, and that he must grant the debtor time, for Allah the Exalted says, “And if the debtor is in hardship, then grant him time until ease” (Q 2:280). Tell him that if he constricts his Muslim brother, Allah is likely to constrict matters for him—whether in this life, the next, or in both—and that punishment may be hastened for him. Part of that punishment is that he keeps pursuing the insolvent man while he remains unable to pay, for every demand only adds to the creditor’s sin.

Conversely, some people—Allah’s refuge is sought—procrastinate in paying the rights they owe even though they are perfectly able to settle. Their creditor then comes to them