Paying back debts from harām after repentance

Question:

A man used to consume qāt then he repented from it, but he has debts with the people of qāt, so how does he deal with these debts?

Answer:

The money which a person borrows from people and it’s origin is harām -perhaps they will engage in harām with it- adhering to repaying is obligatory;

والمسلمونَ على شروطِهمْ إلَّا شرطًا حرَّمَ حلالَا أوْ أحلَّ حرامًا

“The muslims must abide by their conditions except a condition that prohibits the halāl or permits the harām.”

And the Prophet ﷺ indeed had incurred a debt with a Jew and the Jews deal with usury and what Allāh prohibited, from alchol and other than it and the Prophet ﷺ gave his armour to a Jew in security as a trust, so when he passed away Ali bin Abī Tālib payed back on his behalf and took the armour from the Jew, and this is proof that a person that took money from a person even if this person deals with harām and he stipulates upon him to pay back that it is incumbent upon him to repay with advice if it is from haram;

(وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ)

“And they recommend one another with the truth, and recommend one another with patience.” [Al-‘Asr, 3]

Answered by: Shaykh, the Allamah, the Trustworthy Advisor, Abu Abdirrahman Yahya bin Ali Al-Hajuri – may Allah preserve him

Source: https://t.me/sh_yahia_duroos/7759

Translated by: Abū ‘Abdillāh ‘Omar bin Yahya Al-‘Akawi