Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 390
The Teaching of Justice and Kindness Regarding Relatives 381 deal with this. The Holy Prophet sa has made it abundantly clear that if parents die during the lifetime of their children while they still owe debts, it is the duty of the children to repay the unpaid debts as fully as possible. It is tragic that nowadays many children do not respect this admonition. Some children, when they are approached by those who come to demand their unpaid debts, reply insolently by way of stupid joke 'go and demand what is owed to you from the person who has died without paying his debts. We have no obligation to pay them!' This is an affront to the aforementioned admonitions of the Holy Prophet sa. Ibni Abb a s ra narrates that the mother of Sa‘d bin ‘Ub a dah ra died during his absence. When he returned home, he approached the Holy Prophet sa and inquired from him, 'If I want to give anything by way of alms on her behalf, will she benefit from it?' The Holy Prophet sa answered 'yes', she would. At this, he respectfully answered, 'You may be my witness that on her behalf I dedicate such and such garden of mine for the service of the poor. ' 65 To Seek Forgiveness on Behalf of Deceased Parents A tradition is narrated in Sunan Ibni M a jah from Hadrat Ab u Hurairah ra that the spiritual status of some parents will be raised in the heavens and in surprise they would ask 'what is this for?' They will be