Disposing of a debt when the credit...

Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta

Disposing of a debt when the creditor's whereabouts are unknown

Question

ign: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed; direction: ltr">We reviewed request no. 1113 for the year 2004 which includes the following:
My father passed away five years ago and before his death he informed me that he was indebted to a person I do not know. I looked for this person (my father only mentioned his first name) but could not find him during the [past] five years.
Is it permissible to spend the money to meet my needs? If this person shows up, I will give him the money.

Answer

If the case is as mentioned in the question, there is no objection in Islamic law to the inquirer spending the money on his needs. Nevertheless, he is obliged to return it when the creditor shows up and demands his money.
The above answers the question and Allah Almighty knows best.    
 
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