Ruling 2297 — Loan (Qarḍ)

If a person has no access to his lender and has no hope of finding him or his heirs in the future, he must give what he owes to a poor person (faqīr) on behalf of the lender. The obligatory precaution here is that he must obtain authorisation from a fully qualified jurist (al‑ḥākim al‑sharʿī). However, if he has hope of finding his lender or his heirs, he must wait and search for him/them. In the event that he does not find him/them, he must make a will (waṣiyyah) to the effect that if he dies and his lender or his heirs are found, he/they must be paid from his estate what he/they are owed.