He Repented From Going To Night Clubs
But He Owes Money On His Bill – What Should He Do?
Islamic Rulings -
Living Shariah Verdicts
Islamic Questions & Answers
A person used to go a night club, but he did not
pay his bill because he left that place suddenly as
the result of a riot in the club. What should he do
now that he has repented and no longer goes to these
places at all?.
Praise be to Allaah.
We praise Allaah for having enabled you to repent, and
we ask Allaah to make your repentance sincere and
cause you to regret what you have done and make you
resolve never to go back to it.
If the money that a person owes is for something
permissible such as buying food or renting a house,
then he has to pay the money that he owes to those who
are entitled to it. But in your case, because what you
did was haraam, the owner of the nightclub has no
right to your wealth, and you should not benefit from
the money owed to him either.
Hence you should give this money in charity to other
people.
In the answer to question no. 4642 we stated that
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen issued a similar fatwa to one
who had his beard shaved – which is haraam – and did
not pay the barber for shaving his beard.
This is what you should do if it will not result in
harm for you. But if they know you and refer your case
to the courts and they make you pay them, then pay
them, and they will be the ones who are sinning
because of taking it from you, and you do not have to
give charity if they take it from you.
And Allaah knows best.
Righteous deeds do not expiate transgressions against
the rights of others
I heard that the Prophet (S) said that if one
keeps the fasts of Ramadan with emaan and in order to
get reward from Allah, Allah will forgive all his or
her past sins. Does this also include the sins one may
have knowingly committed against the rights of other
Muslim brothers and sisters which he or she now deeply
regrets doing but cannot admit his or her guilt to the
victims as this may create even more problems?.
Praise be to Allaah.
There are many things which expiate for sin, including
repentance, seeking forgiveness, doing acts of
worship, carrying out hadd punishments on those who
have done acts for which such punishments are due, and
so on.
But righteous deeds such as prayer, fasting, Hajj etc
only expiate for minor sins, according to the majority
of scholars, and they only expiate for transgressions
against the rights of Allaah.
With regard to sins that have to do with the rights of
other people, they can only be expiated by repenting
from them. One of the conditions of repenting from
them is restoring the rights of those who have been
wronged.
Muslim (1886) narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn
al-‘Aas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "The martyr will be forgiven for all
his sins except debt."
Al-Nawawi said in Sharh Muslim:
The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) "except debt" draw attention to
all rights owed to other people. Jihad, martyrdom and
other righteous deeds do not expiate for
transgressions against the rights of other people,
rather they only expiate for transgressions against
the rights of Allaah. End quote.
Ibn Muflih said in al-Furoo' (6/193):
Martyrdom expiates for everything except debt. Our
Shaykh (i.e., Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, may Allaah
have mercy on him) said: and except sins against other
people such as murder and oppression. End quote.
It says in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah (14/129):
Repentance in the sense of regretting what one has
done and resolving not to do it again is not
sufficient to waive the rights that are owed to other
people. Whoever has stolen another person's wealth, or
seized it by force, or has wronged him in any other
way, will not have finished with the matter by simply
regretting it, giving up the sin and resolving not to
do it again. Rather he has to restore those rights.
This is a principle on which the fuqaha' are
unanimously agreed. End quote.
This has to do with material possessions, such as
wealth that has been taken be force or by deceit. With
regard to intangible rights such as in cases of
slander and backbiting, if the person who has been
wronged knows about it, then it is essential to
apologize to him and ask for his forgiveness. If he
did not know, then he should not be told; rather the
one who wronged him should pray for him and pray for
forgiveness for him, because telling him may upset him
and create enmity and hatred between the two.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said:
According to the saheeh hadeeth: "Whoever has wronged
his brother with regard to his blood, his wealth or
his honour, let him come and set matters straight
before there comes a Day on which there will be no
dirhams and no dinars, only good deeds and bad deeds,
and if he has good deeds (they will be taken and given
to the one whom he wronged), otherwise some of the bad
deeds of the one whom he wronged will be taken and
added to his burden, then he will be thrown into the
Fire." This has to do with cases where the one who was
wronged was aware of it; but if he was gossiped about
or slandered and he does not know, then it was said
that one of the conditions of repentance is telling
him, or it was said that this is not essential, which
is the view of the majority; both views were narrated
from Ahmad, but his view on such matters is that one
should do good deeds for the one who was wronged, such
as praying for him, praying for forgiveness for him
and doing good deeds to be given to him, to take the
place of that backbiting and slander. Al-Hasan al-Basri
said: The expiation for gossip is to pray for
forgiveness for the person about whom you gossiped.
End quote.
Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 18/189
The scholars of the Standing Committee said,
concerning a man who stole money from a slave:
If he knows the slave or he knows someone who knows
him, he can tell him to look for him and give him the
money in silver or the equivalent, or whatever he
agrees upon with him. If he does not know who he is
and he thinks that he will never find him, he should
give it or the equivalent in cash money in charity on
behalf of its owner. If he finds him after that, he
should tell him what he did; if he accepts that, all
well and good, but if he objects and demands his
money, then he should give it to him, and the money he
gave in charity becomes an act of charity on his own
behalf. He also has to ask Allaah for forgiveness and
repent to Him, and pray for the other person.
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 4/165
And Allaah knows best.
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