Chapter: The Prohibition of a Wealthy Person’s Delaying Payment When the Rightful Owner Demands It

Allah, the Exalted, says: “Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due” (Qur’an 4:58). He also says: “If one of you entrusts another, then let him who is entrusted discharge his trust” (Qur’an 2:283).

1611 – Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “A rich man’s procrastination is injustice, and if any of you is referred to a solvent person, let him accept the referral.” Agreed upon.

(The phrase ‘if he is referred’ [utbiʿa] means: if he is directed to someone else who can pay on his behalf.)

[Explanation]

In his book Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) opens this chapter with the ruling that it is forbidden for a person of means to delay settling a debt that is due to someone else. Procrastination (maṭl) here means postponing payment; it is an act of oppression. Therefore, when a debt has fallen due and its owner asks for it, any stalling on the debtor’s part is unjust, unlawful, and an act of aggression.

A practical example is what some sponsors (kafīl) do to their workers. They, Allah protect us, drag their feet, torment them, and fail to pay them. You see the poor labourer who has left his family and homeland in search of a morsel of livelihood, yet four months, five months, or even longer go by while the sponsor continues to postpone payment—Allah protect us—and even threatens to deport him if he dares to speak. Do such people not realize that Allah is above them, that He is mightier than they are, and that He may well unleash upon them, before they die, someone who will make them taste severe punishment?