The sign that a debt has been forgiven wholeheartedly

Question

Question: If someone is in government service, and contract work and the like is carried on in his department, and there is a contractor for it, and that employee takes money from him in the form of a loan and later cannot repay it, and the contractor forgives it, saying “It doesn’t matter” — then he will not be called to account, will he? And how can one know the inner state of the contractor’s heart regarding his forgiving?

Answer

The one to whom the money belongs may forgive it. If there is no assurance of this, he may be tested in this way: money equal to the amount of the loan is taken from someone and given to the creditor; if he then takes it and gives it back, saying “I have given this to you yourself,” it will become known that he forgave wholeheartedly.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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