Being in debt is not itself sinful

This is the most practically useful correction in the whole course, and a lot of Muslims have never had it made to them.

Borrowing is permitted. The Prophet, peace be upon him, borrowed. The longest verse in the Qur'an is a set of instructions about how to document a debt properly, which is not how a scripture treats something forbidden.

Three things get run together and they need separating.

Whether a particular contract is permitted is one question, and it is a scholar's question. Whether unpaid debt is serious is a second question, and the answer is yes. Whether owing money is in itself a sin is a third question, and the answer is no.

This matters because of what the belief does. A person who thinks that being in debt is itself a sin will not open the letter, will not ask, and will not tell anyone, because every one of those actions means looking directly at the thing they think condemns them. The belief produces the avoidance, and the avoidance is what makes the debt worse.