My friend asked me to invest. I did so. He asked me to recommend others. I did. Now he has cheated all of us and disappeared. Those whom I recommended are harassing me for money. I am in total depression and have no peace of mind. They are accusing me, some even calling me a conman. I am performing many prayers to overcome this problem. I am very, very sure I didn’t cheat anyone. But I can’t take the accusation. I beg ALLAH for forgiveness if I’m in the wrong. Four years have passed, but I am still in depression without peace of mind. Please advise. Do I need to pay all those I recommended?

If you had encouraged some people to invest and then they lost their money along with your investment then it’s not a problem and you are not responsible for their investment or loss.

A person doesn’t become responsible merely by encouraging someone unless he took full responsibility of protection etc., in essence people should clarify themselves after encouraging people that they are only encouraging and nothing else.

Even though you didn’t abide by the principles but you would not be liable because what is worst than that is that you dealt with someone without any writing. These types of issues come a lot in businesses but you are not responsible for them and you can go to hajj.