The Other Side | Barzakh and Beyond
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"You Owe Me." Free Yourself from Riba and Debt | The Other Side: Barzakh and Beyond Ep. 18
Debt doesn’t leave with your body—it follows you into the Barzakh. The soul remains suspended until its dues are settled, held back from its final destination. If unpaid debts weigh so heavily, what about the burden of riba (interest)? The Prophet ﷺ saw its punishment—people drowning in a river of blood, never reaching the shore. Meanwhile, charity multiplies your wealth in this life and builds your home in the next.
Will you be held back by debt, or propelled forward by your sadaqah?
NOTE: All depictions of Barzakh are purely conceptual and only vocals were used in the making of the soundtrack.
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References
- The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, one of the worst forms of riba is to violate the honor of a Muslim unjustly.” [Sunan Abi Dawud #4876]
- Muhammad ibn Jahsh (ra) said: “We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he raised his head towards the sky, then he put his palm on his forehead and said: “SubhanAllah! A serious issue has been revealed to me!” We remained silent and were afraid. The following morning I asked him, “O Messenger of Allah, what is this serious issue that has been revealed?” He said, “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if a man were killed in battle for the sake of Allah, then brought back to life, then killed and brought back to life again, then killed, and he owed a debt, he would not enter Paradise until his debt was paid off.” [Sunan an-Nasa’i #4684]
- Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ refrained from offering the funeral prayer for one who had died owing two dinars, until Abu Qatadah (ra) promised to pay it off for him. So the Prophet ﷺ led the funeral prayer. The next day, the Prophet ﷺ asked, “What happened with the two dinars?” Abu Qatadah replied, “O Messenger of Allah, he only died yesterday.” The following day, the Prophet ﷺ asked again, and Abu Qatadah responded, “I have paid them off.” Upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Now his skin has become cool for him.” [Musnad Ahmad]
- Aishah (ra) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ used to say in his prayer: “O Allah, I seek refuge with You from sin and debt.” Someone said, “O Allah's Messenger, how often it is that you seek refuge from debt!” He replied, “When a person is in debt, he ends up telling lies and breaking promises.” [Sahih al-Bukhari #2397; Sahih Muslim #589]
- The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “There was a man who used to lend money to people. He would say to his servant, ‘If you come across someone in difficulty, be lenient with them—perhaps Allah will be lenient with us.’ So he met Allah, and Allah forgave him.” [Sahih al-Bukhari #3293; Sahih Muslim #1562]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: "Last night two persons came to me (in a dream), woke me up, and said to me, 'Proceed!' … So we set out until we came upon a river that was red like blood. In the river, there was a man swimming, and on the riverbank stood another man who had gathered a large pile of stones. Each time the swimmer moved through the water, he would come to the man on the bank, who would force a stone into his mouth. The swimmer would then continue on, only to return, whereupon the man would again open his mouth and force another stone into it. I asked, ‘Who are these two?’ … [They replied,] The one you saw swimming in the river and given a stone to swallow is the one who used to consume interest (riba).’” [Sahih al-Bukhari #7047]
- The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, one of the worst forms of riba is to violate the honor of a Muslim unjustly.” [Sunan Abi Dawud #4876]
- Muhammad ibn Jahsh (ra) said: “We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he raised his head towards the sky, then he put his palm on his forehead and said: “SubhanAllah! A serious issue has been revealed to me!” We remained silent and were afraid. The following morning I asked him, “O Messenger of Allah, what is this serious issue that has been revealed?” He said, “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if a man were killed in battle for the sake of Allah, then brought back to life, then killed and brought back to life again, then killed, and he owed a debt, he would not enter Paradise until his debt was paid off.” [Sunan an-Nasa’i #4684]
- Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ refrained from offering the funeral prayer for one who had died owing two dinars, until Abu Qatadah (ra) promised to pay it off for him. So the Prophet ﷺ led the funeral prayer. The next day, the Prophet ﷺ asked, “What happened with the two dinars?” Abu Qatadah replied, “O Messenger of Allah, he only died yesterday.” The following day, the Prophet ﷺ asked again, and Abu Qatadah responded, “I have paid them off.” Upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Now his skin has become cool for him.” [Musnad Ahmad]
- Aishah (ra) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ used to say in his prayer: “O Allah, I seek refuge with You from sin and debt.” Someone said, “O Allah's Messenger, how often it is that you seek refuge from debt!” He replied, “When a person is in debt, he ends up telling lies and breaking promises.” [Sahih al-Bukhari #2397; Sahih Muslim #589]
- The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “There was a man who used to lend money to people. He would say to his servant, ‘If you come across someone in difficulty, be lenient with them—perhaps Allah will be lenient with us.’ So he met Allah, and Allah forgave him.” [Sahih al-Bukhari #3293; Sahih Muslim #1562]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: "Last night two persons came to me (in a dream), woke me up, and said to me, 'Proceed!' … So we set out until we came upon a river that was red like blood. In the river, there was a man swimming, and on the riverbank stood another man who had gathered a large pile of stones. Each time the swimmer moved through the water, he would come to the man on the bank, who would force a stone into his mouth. The swimmer would then continue on, only to return, whereupon the man would again open his mouth and force another stone into it. I asked, ‘Who are these two?’ … [They replied,] The one you saw swimming in the river and given a stone to swallow is the one who used to consume interest (riba).’” [Sahih al-Bukhari #7047]
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.Your debts don't disappear when you die. Your soul will be held ransom until your balance is settled. Is it ever worth it for you to get ahead by trampling the honor, the rights, or the property of others? And if you get ahead here using what Allah hasn't actually permitted you to take, what does it look like when Allah settles that debt in the barzakh? The Prophet (ﷺ) said, verily the worst act of riba is to indulge in attacking the reputation of a Muslim without just cause. If you let your tongue consume the honor of people without care for them, what about their property? And it doesn't take much to see that predatory financial systems are killing our world. They're perpetuating war, poverty, recklessness, and they're making the most disgusting of human behaviors profitable. Firstly, the order for the believer is to live within his means and not take from this dunya except what he needs. Then to make sure that he doesn't bury others in debt by his growing greed. Let's start with the whole notion of debt first. Muhammad ibn Jahsh (رضي الله عنه) says, we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when he raised his head towards the sky. Then he put his palm on his forehead and he said, subhanAllah, a serious issue has been revealed to me. So we remain silent and we're afraid. The following morning, I asked the Prophet (ﷺ), ya Rasulullah, what is this serious issue that has been revealed? He said, by the one in whose hand is my soul,
if a man were killed in battle for the sake of Allah, then brought back to life, then killed, and brought back to life again, then killed, and he owed a debt, he would not enter paradise until his debt was paid off. One of the most dangerous things to leave behind in this world is a debt that you owe someone. It can be a means of punishment or being prevented from your reward. A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, ya Rasulullah, my brother left behind 300 dirhams. Should I just distribute all of that between his children? And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, your brother is being detained by his debt. So go and pay off his debts first. So I went and I paid off his debts and then I came back and I said, ya Rasulullah, I've paid them all off except for two dinars, which a woman claimed, but she didn't have any proof. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, give them to her for she's telling the truth. But what does it mean when he says (ﷺ) that the soul of the believer is suspended? And Imam al-Suyuti (رحمه الله) said, it means is detained and kept from reaching its noble destination. Al-Hafidh al-Iraqi (رحمه الله) said, it means that no judgment is passed as to whether it will be saved or doomed until his debt is paid. So a soul can be detained for decades or even until the day of judgment for an unpaid debt. SubhanAllah, how many parents wait for their kids to pay their debts or friends wait for their friends to help them out. So when someone stands up at a janazah and says, if my loved one owes anyone any money, please tell us. It's a serious matter. Now the companions would know just based on whether or not the Prophet (ﷺ) would pray on someone. So in one situation, the Prophet (ﷺ) refrained from offering the janazah prayer for someone who died owing two dinars until Abu Qatada (رضي الله عنه) promised to pay it on his behalf. Then when he saw him the following day, he said, have you paid it? Abu Qatada said, yes. The Prophet (ﷺ)
said, now his skin has cooled down from the heat of that debt. The Prophet (ﷺ) himself would consistently seek refuge from being in debt. Aisha (رضي الله عنها) says that of the prayers she heard from the Prophet (ﷺ) regularly was, Allahumma inni a'udhu bika minal ma'tham wal maghram. Oh Allah, I seek refuge with you from sin and debt. And someone said to him, how often it is that you seek refuge from debt? And he said, because when a man gets into debt, he ends up telling lies and then also breaking promises. So many of the ways of hypocrisy could arise if you really get desperate with your debt. Imam Ibn Hajar (رحمه الله) comments on this and he says, that's why it's so important to live within your means and avoid debt unless you need it. Now it's important to say these hadiths are condemning someone who gets greedy or reckless, not someone who gets into a hard situation. That's the community's responsibility. Hence the idea of a beautiful loan in our deen. The whole idea of a good loan in our deen is that it's a form of charity, not a way of making money off of someone else's desperation. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that of the nations of the past, there was a man who used to give loans to the people and he would say to his servant, if the debtor is in hardship, forgive his debt so that perhaps Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will relieve us. So when he met Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then Allah indeed relieved him. Imagine coming to your grave with burden upon burden and worry upon worry about the debt of your sins. But just as you relieved someone who is indebted to you, Allah will relieve all of your burdens in exchange. Now the other side of that is the one that's far more serious, which is the predatory system of riba, of usury. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that
I saw in a dream a man that was swimming in a river of blood and on the bank of that river, there was another man with stones in front of him. So every time the man in the river would swim a little, he would make it close to the bank and then the man that was standing on the river bank would throw a stone into his mouth and that would throw the swimmer all the way back to where he started. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said this continues to happen over and over and over again. So I asked Jibreel (عليه السلام), who is that man? And Jibreel (عليه السلام) said, that's a man who used to consume riba. Now in the equation of riba, you have the one who's charging other people riba and you have the one that's engaging it. As for the one that's charging the people, then just as he used to drown people in debt that they could never seemingly get out of, he's now drowning in a river of blood. And his greed causes him to do this over and over again in this life. And there's a profound connection to the hadith where the Prophet (ﷺ) says that if the son of Adam was to be given a mountain of gold, he's not satisfied until he can turn it into two. And if he's given two, he wants three. And nothing stops his greedy pursuit except for dirt in his mouth, meaning his grave. Now in this situation, it's not just dirt in his mouth. It's also the stone because of how he used to pursue that greed with riba. But this hadith is also referring to someone who consumes riba because to be content in a system of riba is to be complicit with it. And when you consume riba, it's just like you're swimming in debt and never trying to actually reach the riverbank of self-sufficiency. So now you keep getting pushed right back into it every time you try to get out. He's called aakila riba, the one who eats riba, because the wealth he's eating from isn't actually his. Someone might say, but I'm not the one taking riba. I'm the one paying it.
It doesn't matter. You're perpetuating it when you willingly engage it. Now I want to be clear here. Again, I'm not talking about the extreme necessity for which a fatwa may exist, but just someone who says it is what it is. This is how the world works. And by the way, some of the scholars said the representation of blood actually speaks to how the world works. That the blood might be due to the connection between economic injustice and political instability. Umar ibn al-Khattab used to say, beware of debt, where it starts with worry and it ends with war. And that's why we always say, follow the money. For almost every single corruption on earth, you can see a financial gain behind it. Someone is profiting from someone else's misery and Allah hates that. And that's why that person that would be willing to sell wars for profit, awakens on the day of judgment with an announcement of what? Harbin min Allah, a war from Allah and his messenger, where the one who consumes riba is told, take your weapons as you go to war with the all-powerful. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us all. Now compare all of this to sadaqah, to charity. The person who wanted to better the world instead. And the person who lived within their means and gave whatever portion they could of charity. Imam al-Ghazali (رحمه الله), this great scholar, was seen in a dream after his death. And one of his students says to him, what did Allah do with you? Which book earned you his mercy? Because Imam al-Ghazali (رحمه الله) wrote so many books. And Imam al-Ghazali (رحمه الله) responds and he says, none of that. Rather it was one night that I was writing and a fly landed on my ink pot. And I decided to let that fly drink as much as it wanted from my ink and then it flew away. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgave me for that. That's with a fly. So what about with a human
being? And so we curb our desire for wealth by donating it regularly because we're not willing to use riba for square footage here. We'd much rather enlarge our property there. And as you're ensuring that your desire for more wealth or a nicer car or a bigger house doesn't lead you to hurt others or lead you straight into the arms of debt and riba, beware of your other desires that may be leading you to another dark place. Barzakhun ila yawmi yub'athun
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