 In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Respected viewers, As-salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wa barakatuhum. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you. Welcome to the 33rd episode of the Treaties of Rights series with me or host Ali Jassim. Today we will discuss the right of the creditor. Regarding this Imam Sajjad Zain al-Abideen, peace and blessings be upon him has said, and the right of him to whom you owe is that you should pay him back if you have the means to do so. You should meet his need, make him rich and avoid putting him off and procrastinating. The Prophet may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and his holy household said, the procrastination of the rich is oppression. But if you are in hardship, you should satisfy him by using good words. You should gently ask him and send him away with gentleness. You should not take his property and mistreat him too. This is meanness. And there is no power but in-laws panna honataala. In short, Imam Sajjad peace and blessings be upon him said, one should pay back his debt if he can do so. It is not right to postpone the repayment of a debt. One should talk gently and be good tempered when dealing with the creditor. Otherwise, one is to blame more since he has taken the money and is rude to the creditor too. Our life has many vicissitudes. It is not always the same. At times we are rich, at other times we may be poor. We tried hard to maintain our dignity under all conditions. When rich, we should not become rebellious and sinful. In addition, when we are poor, we should not debase ourselves. An important issue in Islam is helping others during times when they need money by giving them a loan. We are also advised to give them more time to those who do not have money to pay back their loans to us. There are many verses in the Holy Quran that outline the value and importance of this issue. Charity is recommended in Islam. In addition, an important form of loan in Islam is an interest-free loan. This is considered by the Holy Quran to be loaning to God as we read in the following verse. If you loan to God a beautiful loan, he will double it to your credit and he will grant you forgiveness. For God is most ready to appreciate service, most forbearing. The Holy Quran chapter 64 verse 17. This implies that loaning to Allah will be rewarded by him and is a cause of forgiveness and divine appreciation. In another verse we read, Who is he that will loan to God a beautiful loan? For God will increase it manifold to his credit and he will have besides a liberal reward. The Holy Quran chapter 57 verse 11. In another verse the Holy Quran says, Some consider loaning to Allah to be just charity while others also include giving interest-free loans to believers. Who is he that will loan to God a beautiful loan which God will double onto his credit and multiply many times? It is God that giveth you want or plenty and to him shall be your return. The Holy Quran chapter 2 verse 245. Giving charity and interest-free loans were mentioned to be highly valued acts in Islam. In these acts only one considers the pleasure of Allah SWT and intends to help others. On the contrary, there is the question of usury that has extremely detrimental social effects. We read the following verse in the Holy Quran. O ye who believe, fear God and give up what remains of your demand for usury. If ye are indeed believers, if ye do it not, take notice of war from God and his apostle. But if ye turn back, ye shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly. The Holy Quran chapter 2 verses 278 and 279. Here we know that taking usury is against our beliefs and is considered to be like staging a war against Allah SWT and his pure prophet. If one repents from doing this heinous act, then he can take back his money without taking any interest. In another verse we read, those who devour usury will not stand except as stand one whom the evil one by his touch hath driven to madness. That is because they say trade is like usury but God hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. Those who after receiving direction from their Lord desist shall be pardoned for the past. Their case is for Allah to judge but those who repeat the offense are companions of the fire. They will abide therein forever. God will deprive usury of all blessings but will give increase for deeds for charity. For he loveth not creatures ungrateful and wicked. The Holy Quran chapter 2 verses 275 and 276. Here we see usurers depicted like insane men. This may refer to their social behavior since their deeds are similar to mad people. They do not care for sympathy, love, cooperation and the like. It may also refer to the way they will be resurrected in the hereafter since our looks in the hereafter portray our deeds in this world. Ma'am Sadaq alaihi salam says, A usurer shall not depart this world without Satan driving him insane. Time for a quick short break. Stay tuned. Welcome back my dear respected viewers. Some people question whether or not the roots of insanity are derived from Satan. As we know insanity is a form of psychological illness. Some believers say that it is a form of being touched by Satan. This belief was very popular among the Arabs. As we know following Satanic thoughts will cause one to think differently. Consequently, he will not be able to distinguish right from wrong. In this verse the state of usurers is presented both here and the hereafter. Usurers claim that their deed is similar to engaging in trade. They should be told that Allah SWT has allowed trade but he has forbidden usury. This is because in trade both sides are equally prone to lose or gain. While in usury the one who gives the loan never loses. Also note that in normal trade both sides help develop production and consumption. While a usurer helps neither. In addition our capital will be channeled into the wrong directions causing the economy to suffer when usury is practiced. While trade fosters the healthy flow of capital on the economy. Devouring usury will also result in animosities and class disputes while engaging in trade does not. Usury is discussed in the following verses of the Holy Quran as follows. O ye who believe devour not usury, doubled and multiplied but fear Allah SWT that ye may really prosper. The Holy Quran Chapter 3 verse 130. That they took usury though they were forbidden and that they devoured men's substance wrongfully. We have prepared for those among them who reject faith a grievous punishment. The Holy Quran Chapter 4 verse 160 to 161. Imam Sujal alaihi salam has recommended paying back one's debt if he can. However if one does not have enough money to pay it back the Imam recommends us to give him time to do so. We also read in the following verse in the Holy Quran if the debtor is in a difficulty grant him time to let it is easy for him to repay. But if ye remit it by way of charity that is best for you if ye only knew the Holy Quran Chapter 2 verse 280. The verses on charity interest free loans and forbidden usury were presented earlier. Here we see that the repayment of a loan is a duty. However we are also told that we should give the debtor time to repay if he is in difficulty. This is opposed to the common practice in the age of ignorance when debtors in a difficulty were charged more interest and put under more pressure to pay back. In Islamic law it is clearly stated that we cannot take back our loan by seizing living necessities of the debtor. We can only seize what he might have that is extra. This is a clear form of support for the weak classes of the society. Still a more important issue is presented here. We are told that a loftier act would be to remit the debt by way of charity if we can. This is a form of self-sacrifice that is highly valued. We can see this side by side with the advice to the debtor to talk gently with the creditor. The rights of both sides are clearly described here. Now let us take a look at some related material presented in volume 2 of Shafiyah by late faiz. In a tradition the reward for giving more time is mentioned. Ma'ma s.a says those who desire to be in the shade of God on the day of judgment on which there is no other shade should give time to debtors who are unable to pay back their debt or remit it. Ma'ma s.a narrated that once the Prophet climbed the pulpit and said oh people you who are present and can witness to what I say deliver my words to those who are absent. Beware God will reward the one who gives time to a debtor who cannot pay back his debt with the reward of charity on his loan for each day that the repayment of the loan is postponed. The ma'ma s.a narrated the following verse if the debtor is in difficulty grant him time till it is easy for him to repay but if you remit it by way of charity that is best for you if he only knew. Then he said he is a poor person so give charity to him from what he owes you and it will be better for you. Prophet said just as it is not permissible for your creditor to postpone the repayment of a loan if he is well-to-do similarly it is not permissible for you to demand your money back from him if you know that he is in harsh circumstances. Ma'ma s.a narrated that Abdulrahman bin Asiyab who had passed away had an unpaid debt to someone. They had asked the creditor to forgive his debt but he had not accepted to do so. The ma'ma s.a said woe to him and does he not know that for each dirhem that he forgives he shall be rewarded ten dirhems but if he does not forgive he can only receive one dirhem for each dirhem. We have reached the end of this episode stay tuned for another episode on the Treaties of Rights series. Thank you all for watching and may Allah hasten the reappearance of our beloved Ma'ma al-Mahdi. Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.