Reclaiming a debt forgiven to a deceased uncle

A question about reclaiming a debt forgiven to a deceased uncle, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that once a creditor releases his debtor from a debt by any wording that conveys it, and the conditions of release are met, he may not later go back and claim the debt, since what has been dropped does not return. ¹

The heirs asked about a man who was owed 15,000 dinars by his uncle; when the uncle died, he announced publicly at the condolence gathering, before witnesses, that he forgave the whole debt. They accepted the forgiveness and divided the estate, but five years later he began demanding the money. Must they collect it for him? ¹

The Department answered that if a creditor releases his debtor from a debt by any wording that conveys this, whether forgiving it or releasing it, he has no right to go back and claim the debt he has dropped. ¹ It said that a valid release requires the person releasing to know the amount of the debt in detail, to be legally responsible and competent to make gifts, and not to be joking or acting under coercion; if these conditions are met, the release is valid. ¹ It relied on the legal maxim that what has been dropped does not return, quoting Durar al-Hukkam fi Sharh Majallat al-Ahkam (1/54) that whoever drops a right he is entitled to drop loses it for good, so if someone forgives a debt and later regrets it, he may not claim it from the debtor, whose liability has been discharged. ¹ It concluded that if the matter is as described in the question, the creditor has no right to go back on the debts he forgave his uncle. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3651, dated 21 October 2021. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.