I was awarded the court costs as I won the case. But despite the court
order, my ex-husband has not paidme anything and he has declared
bankruptcy. My question is: is he still in debt to me before Allah,
may He be glorified and exalted? Does he still owe me other money that
has accumulated?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
In the answer to question 127179 we stated that the fuqaha' of the
Muslims are unanimously agreed that being Muslim is an essential
condition of the judge who judges cases among the Muslims, because
servingas a judge is a kind of wilaayah (authority), and there is no
wilaayahfor a kaafir over a Muslim.
We also stated that a concession is granted allowing one to refer to
the court that is based on the man-made law ofthe land, when doing so
becomes a means of getting one's rights or warding off wrongdoing in a
land that is not ruled by sharee'ah, on condition that those who have
knowledge of sharee'ah be consulted to determine the shar'i ruling
that is applicable to a given case, and that the demand be limited
only to seeking what sharee'ah allows and trying to implement it.
But if the court that is based on kaafir, man-made laws has issued a
verdict in favour of one of the twodisputing parties over the other,
awarding himmore than he is entitled to (according to sharee'ah), it
is not permissible for him to take more than he is entitled to, and he
has toreturn the rest to the rightful owner.
If the court has awardedhim his rights, then he may take it; if it has
awarded him less than his due, then he has the right to ask for the
rest of what he is entitled to, and it remains a debt owed by his
opponent; the ruling of the court does not absolve him of that debt.
Something similar may be said concerning otherrights, if you are still
entitled to some rights from him, such as maintenance, clothing, money
that he borrowed from you, andso on. None of these can be waived if he
declares bankruptcy or if the court does not instruct him to give
them; rather he still owes them to youand whenever he can afford to,
he must fulfil the duties that he owes.
If the law of that land waives debts for the bankrupt person if he
declares his bankruptcy, then it is a law that is contrary to
sharee'ah and it does not carry anyweight.
Please see the answer to question no. 127591
Based on that, you should examine the ruling of this Canadian court;
if it is in accordance with the ruling of Allah, then it may be
followed and implemented. But if it is contrary to that, it should be
rejected and should not be implemented, and you should refer to the
nearest Islamic centre to your place of residence in that country, to
find out about that and act accordingly.
Secondly:
It is clear from the abovethat the money that has been awarded by the
court is permissible for you to take if it is what you are entitled to
as determined by the Islamic judge (qaadi). If it is more than that,
you do not have the right to take more than the amount determined by
sharee'ah; if there is anything more than that, it is not
permissibleto you to take it.
But if it is less than what you are entitled to, you have the right to
take it, and the rest remains a debt that he owes and it is not
waived; wheneverhe can afford it, he should pay it off.
If he is really poor and infinancial difficulty, then you have to wait
until heis able to pay it off.
But he has resorted to declaring bankruptcy, aspeople often do in the
West, this does not meanthat your shar'i rights are waived for him;
rather it remains a debt that he owes. If he is notreally in financial
difficulty, then you can try to ask for it, put pressure on him, and
complain about him, until you get what you are entitled to from him.
If he really is in financial difficulty, then you have to give him
time until hecan afford to pay off his debt.
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