Question

Assalaamualaikum wa Rahmatullah, Mufti Abdur Rahman,

I am one of three siblings; I have an older brother and an older sister. I have a question regarding an outstanding amount of a loan. We (my husband and I) had taken a loan of NZD65,000 from my father in 2013 with the verbal understanding that we will start paying it back when he needed the money. He asked for these repayments to start and so we started paying $500 per month from Oct 2015, but then stopped the payments in January 2017 when my father was hospitalised. My father passed away due to cancer in February 2017 after being in the hospital for 4 weeks. His instructions to me, in a handwritten letter written by my father, which he left addressed to me and my husband (attached) (and which he had written in December 2016) was for us to pay the same amount of $500 per month to my mother once he was no more. We have been doing so, as much as we can, to my mother with her knowledge and consent. She lives with my older sister and her family, Alhamdulillah.
There is still NZD53,966 outstanding to be repaid. My question is: What should we do with the remaining debt amount, Insha’Allah?

Answer

The note that your grandfather left would be classed as a bequest (wasiyya) in Islamic law. This is when an individual makes particular stipulations about their wealth in the event of their death.

Generally, an inheritor cannot become the beneficiary of a bequest, and such bequests are invalid. The Prophet ﷺ said: “There is no bequeathing to an inheritor”. The only exception to this rule is if the remaining inheritors permit the bequest, thus relinquishing their right.[1] Your mother is a valid inheritor of your father’s estate as wife to the deceased. Thus, this bequest would be invalid without the consent of other inheritors, which would include yourself and your siblings.

If the inheritors do not consent to the bequest, this debt would be owed to your father’s estate, to be distributed according to the shar‘i stipulated shares. If the inheritors choose to respect your father’s wishes to collectively relinquish their rights, this would be valid. Alternatively, if some inheritors consent to relinquish their rights, and others do not, then the portion of the consenters would be valid.[2]

Lastly, consent is only considered after death; consent to a bequest before the death of the bequeather is inconsequential. This means that while you might have agreed to this decision while your father was alive, this consent was not binding. If you do not consent to this bequest following your father’s death, this would be valid and binding.[3]

You are within your rights to deny this bequest, thus lowering your debts owed to your father’s estate. However, if you decide to go down this path, proceed with caution and tact in relaying the consequences of this decision with your mother. Ensure all parties understand the shar‘i status of the bequest. If beneficial, consider involving a local scholar or elder who can help disseminate this information to your family.

I hope this clarifies the matter.

[1]              شرح مختصر الطحاوي للجصاص» (4/ 153): قال أبو جعفر: (ولا وصية لوارث، إلا أن يجيزها الورثة بعد موت الوصي، وهم أصحاء بالغون) […]فأما وجه بطلان الوصية للوارث: فما رواه ابن عباس، وعمرو بن خارجة، وأبو أمامة وغيرهم عن النبي صلي الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: “لا وصية لوارث، إلا أن يجيزها الورثة”. في لفظ حيث ابن عباس وعمرو بن خارجة

[2]              حاشية ابن عابدين = رد المحتار ط الحلبي» (6/ 656): (إلَّا بِإِجَازَةِ وَرَثَتِهِ) لِقَوْلِهِ – عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ – «‌لَا ‌وَصِيَّةَ ‌لِوَارِثٍ ‌إلَّا ‌أَنْ ‌يُجِيزَهَا ‌الْوَرَثَةُ» يَعْنِي عِنْدَ وُجُودِ وَارِثٍ آخَرَ كَمَا يُفِيدُهُ آخِرُ الْحَدِيثِ وَسَنُحَقِّقُهُ (وَهُمْ كِبَارٌ) عُقَلَاءُ فَلَمْ تَجُزْ إجَازَةُ صَغِيرٍ وَمَجْنُونٍ وَإِجَازَةُ الْمَرِيضِ كَابْتِدَاءِ وَصِيَّةٍ وَلَوْ أَجَازَ الْبَعْضُ وَرَّدَ الْبَعْضُ جَازَ عَلَى الْمُجِيزِ بِقَدْرِ حِصَّتِهِ … (قَوْلُهُ جَازَ عَلَى الْمُجِيزِ إلَخْ) بِأَنْ يُقَدَّرَ فِي حَقِّ الْمُجِيزِ كَأَنَّ كُلَّهُمْ أَجَازُوا وَفِي حَقِّ غَيْرِهِ كَأَنَّ كُلَّهُمْ لَمْ يُجِيزُوا وَقَدَّمْنَا بَيَانَهُ عَنْ الْمَقْدِسِيَّ

اللباب في شرح الكتاب» (4/ 168): ولا تجوز الوصية لوارث) لقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: “إن الله قد أعطى كل ذي حق حقه؛ فلا وصية لوارث”. ويعتبر كونه وارثاً عند الموت لا عند الوصية: فمن كان وارثاً عند الوصية غير وارث عند الموت صحت له الوصية، وإن كان بالعكس لم تصح (إلا أن يجيزها الورثة) بعد موته وهم كبار؛ لأن الامتناع كان لحقهم، فتجوز بإجازتهم، وإن أجاز بعضهم دون بعض ‌جاز ‌على ‌المجيز بقدر حصته»

[3]              العقود الدرية في تنقيح الفتاوى الحامدية» (2/ 286): لَا تَصِحُّ إجَازَتُهُمْ فِي حَيَاةِ الْمُوصِي وَتَصِحُّ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهِ وَلَيْسَ لَهُمْ أَنْ يَرْجِعُوا بَعْدَ الْإِجَازَةِ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَقْبِضْ الْمُوصَى لَهُ وَصِيَّتَهُ لِأَنَّ الْوَصِيَّةَ قَبْلَ مَوْتِ الْمُوصِي غَيْرُ لَازِمَةٍ لِأَنَّهَا تَمْلِيكٌ مُضَافٌ إلَى مَا بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِ فَبِالْإِجَازَةِ لَا تَصِيرُ لَازِمَةً مُنْبَرِمَةً فَيَجِبُ أَنْ تَكُونَ الْإِجَازَةُ بِمَثَابَتِهَا غَيْرَ لَازِمَةٍ يُمْكِنُ لِلْوَرَثَةِ الرُّجُوعُ عَنْهَا كَأَصْلِ الْعَقْدِ بِخِلَافِ مَا بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِ لِأَنَّهَا صَارَتْ لَازِمَةً مُنْبَرِمَةً وَكَذَلِكَ الْإِجَازَةُ الصَّادِرَةُ مِنْ الْوَرَثَةِ تَصِيرُ لَازِمَةً وَلِأَنَّ الْإِجَازَةَ قَبْلَ مَوْتِ الْمُوصِي صَدَرَتْ مِنْ غَيْرِ الْمَالِكِ حَقِيقَةً وَحَقًّا لِأَنَّ الْوَرَثَةَ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ التَّرِكَةَ قَبْلَ مَوْتِ الْمُوَرِّثِ حَقِيقَةً وَحَقًّا بِدَلِيلِ أَنَّ الْمُوَرِّثَ يَمْلِكُ التَّصَرُّفَ فِيهِ بَيْعًا وَوَطْئًا وَاسْتِمْتَاعًا وَاسْتِخْدَامًا وَاسْتِغْلَالًا، وَالْإِجَازَةُ الصَّادِرَةُ مِمَّنْ لَيْسَ لَهُ حَقِيقَةُ الْمِلْكِ وَلَا حَقُّ الْمِلْكِ لَا تَصِحُّ بِخِلَافِ مَا بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِ»

Answered by:
Maulana Ikramul Hoque Miah

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel