Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Someone who dies in debt and leaves no wealth

من مات وعليه ديون ولم يترك مالًا

A question about someone who dies in debt and leaves no wealth, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that debts are paid from the estate before it is divided, and that if there is no estate or it is not enough, the heirs are not obliged to pay from their own wealth but it is recommended for them. The Department answered that when someone dies owing rights to people, such as debts, they are paid from his estate before it is divided if he left wealth, and that settling debts comes before the heirs' right to inherit, relying on a hadith graded sound (hasan) by al-Tirmidhi that a believer's soul remains suspended by his debt until it is paid on his behalf. It said that if the deceased left no estate, or left wealth that does not cover the debts, the heirs are not obliged to pay them from their own wealth, but it is recommended for them, because the deceased remains burdened by the debt and it is not filial devotion for a son to leave his father so burdened. It added that all the children can contribute and cooperate to settle their father's debts, even in instalments according to their means.

Depth

At a glance

Review
Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Summary

A question about someone who dies in debt and leaves no wealth, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that debts are paid from the estate before it is divided, and that if there is no estate or it is not enough, the heirs are not obliged to pay from their own wealth but it is recommended for them. 1

The question

The questioner asked about someone who died in debt and left no wealth, and whether the heirs must pay the debts. 1

The answer

The Department answered that when someone dies owing rights to people, such as debts, they are paid from his estate before it is divided if he left wealth, and that settling debts comes before the heirs' right to inherit, relying on a hadith graded sound (hasan) by al-Tirmidhi that a believer's soul remains suspended by his debt until it is paid on his behalf. 1 It said that if the deceased left no estate, or left wealth that does not cover the debts, the heirs are not obliged to pay them from their own wealth, but it is recommended for them, because the deceased remains burdened by the debt and it is not filial devotion for a son to leave his father so burdened. 1 It added that all the children can contribute and cooperate to settle their father's debts, even in instalments according to their means. 1

About this record

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4277, dated 22 February 2026. 1 The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.

Connections

Explore the connections

About
Debt (dayn) in fiqh· Tarika (the estate of a deceased person)

People and things also explored

Late-payment fines in a cooperative's murabaha financing· Reclaiming a debt forgiven to a deceased uncle· Writing off a debt and counting it as zakat· Zakat on a dead man's wealth discovered years later· Zakat owed by a deceased father and held back by his heirs· Buying goods unseen, with payment deferred to the day of delivery· Intellectual property rights in research works after the author's death· Repaying a wife's gold sold at her husband's request: by weight or by value?

Sources

  1. Jordan's General Iftaa Department (aliftaa.jo) , fatwa 4277

Original page

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Someone who dies in debt and leaves no wealth”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/fatwa-aliftaa-jo-heirs-and-a-deceased-fathers-unpaid-debts/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Words

Qur'an, hadith, poetry, and the languages and scripts of Muslim peoples. Related

Late-payment fines in a cooperative's murabaha financing

A question about late-payment fines in a cooperative's murabaha financing, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that stipulating late-payment fines on a debtor is forbidden, while stipulating that all remaining instalments fall due if some are late is permitted, and the creditor may secure the debt with guarantors or a pledge. The Department answered that a debtor able to pay is forbidden to delay, citing a hadith narrated by al-Bukhari whose meaning is that a wealthy person's delay is wrongdoing, and one narrated by Abu Dawud that such delay makes him liable to censure and penalty; the creditor may claim his debt by proper means without taking anything beyond his right. It said that imposing late fines or compensation on the debtor runs against the purpose of the Shari'a, citing Surat al-Baqara 2:280, and quoted resolution no. 124 of Jordan's Iftaa Council that a penalty clause in debts is void and voids the contract, being the riba of the pre-Islamic era forbidden in Surat al-Baqara 2:275, referring to al-Qurtubi's Tafsir (3/275) on how the Arabs used to increase a debt when it fell due. It said the creditor may stipulate that all remaining instalments fall due if the debtor is late, citing a hadith narrated by al-Tirmidhi that Muslims are bound by their conditions except a condition that forbids the lawful or permits the forbidden, and resolution no. 51 (2/6) of the Islamic Fiqh Academy permitting such acceleration if the debtor agreed to it when contracting; the creditor may also secure the debt from the outset with guarantors or a pledge.