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Exemptions from Debt

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Exemptions from Debt (Arabic: مستثنیات الدین, Mustathnayāt al-dayn) is a jurisprudential and legal term referring to assets that do not need to be sold to pay off a debt, such as a house, clothes, vehicle, and other necessary needs, the lack of which would cause great hardship and difficulty for the debtor. Jurists have introduced these assets as "exemptions from debt" to prevent hardship (al-'usr wa l-haraj) and preserve the debtor's dignity.

According to jurists, debt exemptions are established to prevent pressure and hardship on the debtor, and it is forbidden for the creditor to force him to sell these assets. However, if the debtor voluntarily sells assets such as his house to pay the debt, this act is not problematic from a religious point of view and can even be a sign of his piety.

In jurisprudence, the validity of debt exemptions is considered to last as long as the debtor is alive, but after his death, these exemptions are not transferred to the heirs. Therefore, if the debtor dies and only his residential house remains, or the debt is such that it includes the house, the house will be sold to settle the debt.

Jurists say that the Rule of No Harm (Lā Ḍarar) and the Rule of Negation of Hardship (Nafy al-'Usr wa l-haraj) were established to prevent hardship for the debtor, not for the comfort of the creditor. Therefore, the creditor's hardship is not considered against the debtor's hardship, and there is no conflict between the two parties.

Conceptology

Exemptions from Debt (Mustathnayat al-dayn) refers to the amount of the debtor's assets that cannot be forcibly taken or sold to collect the debt.[1] In law, debt exemptions are the same assets that, according to the law, cannot be seized and sold during the execution of a judgment or an official document and are not taken from the debtor to preserve the minimum necessities of life.[2]

In jurisprudential books, many narrations have been cited about debt exemptions, including the narration of Muhammad b. Abi 'Umayr, who quotes Imam al-Sadiq (a) stating that a debtor cannot be evicted from his residence due to inability to pay his debt.[3]

Although in Imami jurisprudence, selling the debtor's assets is necessary to pay the debt, according to the consensus of Imami jurists, debt exemptions are excluded from this ruling.[4] In contrast, Sl-Shahid al-Awwal in the book al-Lum'a reported that Ibn Junayd al-Iskafi[5], a jurist of the 4th/10th century, did not accept this ruling and believed that even assets usually necessary for the dignity of a person's life are sold to settle the debt.[6] Muhammad Hasan Najafi, the author of Jawahir al-kalam, considered Ibn Junayd's statement as Ijtihad against the text and fatwa, and even contrary to consensus.[7]

What Assets Are Debt Exemptions?

Debt exemptions are considered assets that are customarily part of the essential necessities of life and befitting the debtor's dignity (such as clothes, car, and house), meaning that less than that amount would put him in great hardship or cause him embarrassment.[8] Therefore, jurists have considered scholarly books of a person who has scholarly competence as debt exemptions, provided that the amount of books is according to the need and appropriate to his scholarly rank.[9]

According to jurists, as long as the debtor is alive, the house he resides in is not sold to pay his debt,[10] even if he has several houses and needs all of them for residence.[11] But if another house or houses are surplus to his needs, that house is saleable,[12] such as if an endowed house is at his disposal that meets his needs, in which case he must sell his own house,[13] because paying debt is obligatory[14] and the evidence for exemption does not include such a case.[15]

The ruling regarding debt exemptions does not apply to collateral; therefore, if the debtor has placed his house or necessary furniture as collateral with the creditor, the creditor can sell the pledged property and take his claim.[16] Also, if the debtor dies and has no estate other than the residential house—or if he has but his debt is such that it includes the house as well—in this case, the house is sold and used to pay the debt.[17]

Evidence for Debt Exemptions

Jurists have cited various principles and evidence to state which of the debtor's assets are excluded from sale for debt repayment:

Consensus: Regarding assets that the debtor urgently needs and whose sale causes severe hardship, jurists believe that even if they are not named in narrations,[18] they are exempted from sale for debt payment.[19]

Rule of No Hardship (La Haraj): According to Sahib al-Jawahir, the criterion for identifying instances of debt exemptions is the same Rule of No Hardship.[20] Some jurists, by presenting a general criterion based on the negation of hardship, have defended the theory of non-exclusivity of debt exemptions to the cases mentioned in narrations and words of jurists and have considered all necessary assets of the debtor—because their sale causes hardship—as part of debt exemptions.[21] But whenever there is doubt about the realization of hardship regarding some matters, that doubtful case is not considered part of debt exemptions and must be sold.[22] However, some other jurists have considered consensus as the main reason for this ruling and believe that the rules of Negation of Hardship and No Harm are the wisdom of the ruling, not its cause.[23]

Rule of No Harm (La Darar): Sayyid Muhammad Tabataba'i Mujahid, a Shi'a jurist in the 12th/18th and 13th/19th centuries, has cited the Rule of No Harm for this ruling.[24] According to Yusuf al-Bahrani, a Shi'a jurist in the 12th/18th century, in narrations, except for the residential house, other instances of debt exemptions are not mentioned,[25] while Imami jurists have also counted vehicles, maintenance, and clothes needed and appropriate to personal status and others as debt exemptions. Al-Bahrani has considered it probable that Imami jurists have made necessity and need their main document and have thus added to the number and instances of debt exemptions.[26]

Nature of Debt Exemptions

According to jurists, debt exemptions are established for leniency and tolerance with the debtor and to prevent harshness towards him.[27] Based on this, whenever it is proven that the debtor is unable to pay the debt, it is obligatory for the creditor to give him time; therefore, prosecuting, trying, imprisoning, or forcing him to sell debt exemptions is haram.[28] However, according to Sayyid Muhammad Sa'id al-Hakim, whenever the creditor stipulates in the loan contract or another contract that all or some of the exemptions be sold in fulfillment of the obligation, this condition is valid and binding.[29] Also, if the debtor himself voluntarily sells his residential house and suffers hardship to pay the debt, there is no obstacle to this act; rather, it can be considered a praiseworthy moral trait and a sign of perfect piety.[30]

According to some jurisprudential researchers, the rules related to debt exemptions are of the type of ruling (hukm), not financial right,[31][32] because debt exemptions are applied only during the debtor's lifetime and this ruling does not apply after his death, whereas if they were financial rights, this ruling would be transferred to the heirs; therefore, according to some jurists such as Sabzawari[33] and Musawi Bujnurdi,[34] if only one residential house remains from the deceased, that house is sold and the creditor's claim is paid, even if no property reaches the heirs.

Jurists respond to the objection that the rule of "No Harm" and "Negation of Hardship" are established to prevent hardship, but in debt exemptions they work in favor of the debtor and conflict with the creditor's interests—because the debtor finds relief, while the creditor suffers hardship due to delay in collecting the debt—by saying: Facilitation in these two rules is the wisdom of the ruling, not its cause. Moreover, "hardship" in these rules is personal, not generic. Therefore, if the debtor is in distress, the Lawgiver considers only his hardship valid, and the creditor's hardship is not considered against it, because he is obliged to be patient. Therefore, no real conflict is formed between the parties.[35]

Notes

  1. ↑ Fatḥ Allāh, Muʿjam alfāẓ al-fiqh al-Jaʿfarī, p. 383.
  2. ↑ Jaʿfarī Langarūdī, Terminologī-yi ḥuqūq, vol. 2, p. 674.
  3. ↑ Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, vol. 6, p. 198.
  4. ↑ ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ, vol. 13, p. 14; Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 20, p. 195; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 25, p. 334.
  5. ↑ Ishtihārdī, Majmūʿat fatāwā Ibn Junayd, p. 198.
  6. ↑ Shahīd al-Awwal, al-Lumʿa al-dimashqiyya, p. 126.
  7. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 25, p. 337.
  8. ↑ Sabzawārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 21, p. 24; "Fatāwā-yi Āyatullāh al-ʿUẓmā Bahjat", Anhar Portal; Rūḥānī, Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn, vol. 2, p. 191; Sīstānī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil, p. 475, problem 2285; "Risāla-yi āmūzishī", Khamenei.ir; Khūʾī, Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn, vol. 2, p. 102.
  9. ↑ Sabzawārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 2, p. 24; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, p. 204.
  10. ↑ Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 617.
  11. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 25, p. 340; Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 617.
  12. ↑ Fāḍil Lankarānī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, p. 204.
  13. ↑ See for example: Sabzawārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 21, p. 27; Sīstānī, Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn, vol. 2, p. 280; Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Hidāyat al-ʿibād, vol. 2, p. 91.
  14. ↑ Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 617; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, p. 204.
  15. ↑ See for example: Sabzawārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 21, p. 27; Sīstānī, Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn, vol. 2, p. 280; Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Hidāyat al-ʿibād, vol. 2, p. 91.
  16. ↑ Iṣfahānī, Wasīlat al-najāt, p. 480; Arākī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil, p. 425, problem 2324.
  17. ↑ Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 617.
  18. ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 13, p. 94; Ṭabāṭabāʾī Burūjirdī, Jāmiʿ aḥādīth al-Shīʿa, vol. 18, p. 339.
  19. ↑ Zayn al-Dīn, Kalimat al-taqwā, vol. 6, p. 11; Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, al-Fiqh, vol. 50, p. 115.
  20. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 25, p. 335.
  21. ↑ Zayn al-Dīn, Kalimat al-taqwā, vol. 6, p. 11.
  22. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 25, p. 335.
  23. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, al-Fiqh, vol. 50, p. 112.
  24. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Mujāhid, al-Manāhil, p. 35.
  25. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 20, p. 198.
  26. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 20, p. 198.
  27. ↑ Sabzawārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 21, pp. 25–28; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, p. 206.
  28. ↑ Mishkīnī, Wājibāt wa muḥarramāt dar sharʿ-i Islām, p. 28; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, p. 208.
  29. ↑ Ḥakīm, Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn, vol. 2, p. 204.
  30. ↑ See for example: Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, al-Qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya, vol. 6, p. 57.
  31. ↑ Mīr Dādāshī, "Taʾammulī dar mustathnayāt-i dayn", p. 161.
  32. ↑ Hukm consists of the commands and prohibitions of the legislator which either directly make an act permissible, obligatory, or forbidden, or impose specific legal effects on people's actions, while right is the authority and dominance created for a person in his relations with others. (Kātūziyān, Muqaddama-yi ʿilm-i ḥuqūq, p. 250.)
  33. ↑ Sabzawārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 21, p. 28.
  34. ↑ Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, al-Qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya, vol. 7, p. 207.
  35. ↑ Sabzawārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 21, p. 25; Khomeinī, Kitāb al-bayʿ, vol. 1, p. 526.

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