Question:
Is it obligatory to pay a loan given by a non-Muslim?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the many countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Loan is a form of an agreement between a debtor and creditor of which Allah SWT commanded us to fulfil. Allah SWT state:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ
“O you who have believed, fulfil [all] contracts.”
Surah al-Maidah (1)
Sighah (word) of command in the verse state the absolute and general commandment of fulfilling any form of agreement or contract among Muslims and non-Muslims.
Fulfilling one’s promise is an attribute of a true believer:
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ
“And they (the believers) are those who are to their trusts and their promises attentive.”
Surah al-Mu’minin (8)
Furthermore, there are numerous hadiths that warn anyone who does not pay off his debts, one of them is:
يُغْفَرُ لِلشَّهِيدِ كُلُّ ذَنْبٍ إِلاَّ الدَّيْنَ
“All the sins of a Shahid (martyr) are forgiven except debt.”
Sahih Muslim (1886)
There is also a narration that mentioned the Prophet PBUH himself once made a transaction with a Jew. Saidatina Aisyah R.Anha said:
اشْتَرَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم طَعَامًا مِنْ يَهُودِيٍّ بِنَسِيئَةٍ، وَرَهَنَهُ دِرْعًا لَهُ مِنْ حَدِيدٍ
“Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) bought some foodstuff (barley) from a Jew on credit and mortgaged his iron armor to him (the armor stands for a guarantor).”
Sahih al-Bukhari (2251) and Sahih Muslim (1603)
The same was mentioned in another narration where the Prophet PBUH take out a loan from a Jew named Zaid bin Sa’nah where the Prophet PBUH quickly pay off his debts when Zaid came to claim it, even when it was before it was due:
أَنَّ زَيْدَ بْنَ سَعْنَةَ، كَانَ مِنْ أَحْبَارِ الْيَهُودِ أَتَى النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَتَقَاضَاهُ، فَجَبَذَ ثَوْبَهُ عَنْ مَنْكِبِهِ الْأَيْمَنِ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: إِنَّكُمْ يَا بَنِي عَبْدِ الْمُطَّلِبِ أَصْحَابُ مَطْلٍ، وَإِنِّي بِكُمْ لَعَارِفٌ، قَالَ: فَانْتَهَرَهُ عُمَرُ فَقَالَ لَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «يَا عُمَرُ أَنَا وَهُوَ كُنَّا إِلَى غَيْرِ هَذَا مِنْكَ أَحْوَجَ، أَنْ تَأْمُرَنِي بِحُسْنِ الْقَضَاءِ، وَتَأْمُرَهُ بِحُسْنِ التَّقَاضِي، انْطَلِقْ يَا عُمَرُ أَوْفِهِ حَقَّهُ، أَمَا إِنَّهُ قَدْ بَقِيَ مِنْ أَجَلِهِ ثَلَاثٌ فَزِدْهُ ثَلَاثِينَ صَاعًا لِتَزْوِيرِكَ عَلَيْهِ
Indeed, Zaid bin San’ah – Jew priest – came to meet the Prophet PBUH and ask the Prophet to pay the loan he had given to the Prophet PBUH and pull on right side of the Prophet PBUH’s shirt, saying: “Indeed, the people from Bani Muthalib are from among those who delay their debt payment and I know it. Umar is angry at his actions, but the Prophet PBUH said to him: O Umar, between me and him are our matter, you should not interfere. The best you should do is to advise me to pay my debt properly and to advise him to claim his loan properly. Umar, go and fulfil his right, even though there are still three days left before the debt is due and add thirty saa’, for you have scared him.”
(Refer Al-Mustadrak ‘ala al-Sahihain by Al-Hakim al-Naisaburi, numbered as 2237 and 6547. According to him, the sanad for the narration is authentic, however, it is not narrated by Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim; it is also narrated in Sahih Ibn Hibban, 288)
Furthermore, the scholars explained that debt and agreement with the disbelievers is an obligation to be fulfilled. Imam al-Ramli state that even if a disbeliever is captured as prisoner of war and taken as a slave, but a Muslim took a loan from him, it is obligatory to be paid. (Refer Fatawa al-Ramli 3/216)
Thus, the rights of disbelievers and prisoners of war is also an obligation to be respected and fulfilled. Hence, it is a given for us to fulfil and respect any agreement with a non-Muslim who is a citizen and live peacefully among us.
Wallahua’lam.