Conditions of Sale
⚖️ Conditions of Sale — The Rules That Protect Your Contracts
📖 Opening Scene: A Lesson at Kufa Mosque
Kufa Mosque... A circle of knowledge surrounds Imam Ibrahim an-Nakha'i, may Allah have mercy on him...
A young man rushes in... sits in the circle...
The Young Man: O Imam, I want to go to the market to trade!
Imam Ibrahim: Have you learned the rules of buying and selling?
The Young Man: No... I'll learn through practice!
The Imam stands up and says firmly:
Imam Ibrahim: "Whoever enters the market without knowledge of fiqh will consume riba (usury), whether he wants to or not!"
Silence in the circle... then the Imam continues:
Imam Ibrahim: "Learn the conditions of sale before you sell... for how many contracts appear valid but are corrupt inside!"
This lesson will teach you the conditions that make your contracts valid in this world and the Hereafter.
📖 Introduction: Why Conditions?
📜 The Foundational Hadith
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Muslims are bound by their conditions, except a condition that makes lawful what is unlawful or makes unlawful what is lawful."
(Narrated by Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi)
Conditions in sale have two functions:
- Protecting Rights — Preventing injustice and fraud
- Ensuring Consent — Guaranteeing true mutual agreement
📋 Categories of Sale Conditions
⚖️ Categories of Sale Conditions
What the contract's existence depends on
What the production of effects depends on
What the firmness of contract depends on
👥 Conditions of the Contracting Parties (Seller and Buyer)
First Condition: Sanity 🧠
📖 Scene: At the Store
A man unconscious due to intoxication enters a store...
He points to an item and hands over money...
The Store Owner: Is this a valid sale?
Answer: ❌ No, because sanity is a condition for the contracting party.
| State | Ruling |
|---|---|
| The insane | ❌ His contract is absolutely invalid |
| The intoxicated | ❌ His contract is invalid according to the correct view |
| The sleeper | ❌ His contract is invalid |
| The unconscious | ❌ His contract is invalid |
Second Condition: Discernment and Maturity 👦
📊 The Child's Dispositions
under 7 years
7-15 years
over 15
📖 Scene: The Child and the Grocery Store
Ahmad (10 years old) goes to the grocery store with his father's permission to buy bread...
Question: Is this sale valid?
Answer: ✅ Yes, because he is a discerning child and the transaction is minor and authorized.
Third Condition: Financial Maturity 💰
📜 The Verse of Maturity
Allah تعالى said:
﴿Test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage. If you find maturity in them, hand over their wealth to them﴾
[An-Nisa: 6]
Maturity (rushd): Good management of wealth.
The Spendthrift (safih): One who wastes his wealth — he is prevented from disposing of it.
Fourth Condition: Free Will (Consent) 🤝
📜 The Verse of Mutual Consent
Allah تعالى said:
﴿Unless it is a trade by mutual consent﴾
[An-Nisa: 29]
Types of Coercion:
| Type | Definition | Example | Ruling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute Coercion | Threat of death or mutilation | "Sell or I'll kill you!" | ❌ Nullifies the contract |
| Relative Coercion | Threat of beating or imprisonment | "Sell or I'll imprison you!" | ❌ Nullifies according to the majority |
📦 Conditions of the Merchandise (Subject of Contract)
First Condition: Existence 🔍
📖 Scene: Sale of the Non-Existent
The Seller: I'll sell you the fetus in this cow's womb for a thousand!
The Buyer: When will it be born?
The Seller: I don't know... maybe in a month or two!
Answer: ❌ Invalid — This is selling what doesn't exist.
What cannot be sold:
- ❌ The fetus in the womb (before birth)
- ❌ What has not yet been created
- ❌ Fruits before they ripen (except with condition of picking)
Exception: Salam Sale
📜 Hadith of Salam
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Whoever makes an advance payment, let him make it for a known measure, a known weight, to a known term."
(Agreed upon)
Second Condition: Being Lawful Property 💎
Lawful Property (mutaqawwam): What is legally permissible to use.
🚫 What Cannot Be Sold (Unlawful)
📜 Hadith on Price Prohibition
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"When Allah forbids a thing, He forbids its price."
(Narrated by Ahmad and Abu Dawud)
Third Condition: Seller's Ownership 🔑
📜 Hadith Forbidding Selling What One Doesn't Own
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Do not sell what you do not own."
(Narrated by Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi)
Exception: The agent and guardian — they sell with authorization.
Fourth Condition: Ability to Deliver 🚚
📖 Scene: Sale of the Undeliverable
The Seller: I'll sell you this pigeon flying in the sky!
The Buyer: How can I catch it?!
The Seller: That's your problem!
Answer: ❌ Void — One cannot sell what cannot be delivered.
Examples of Invalidity:
| Item Sold | Reason |
|---|---|
| Bird in the sky | Cannot be caught |
| Fish in the water | Cannot be captured |
| The runaway slave | Cannot be found |
| Usurped property | Cannot be recovered |
Fifth Condition: Knowledge of the Merchandise 📋
📜 Hadith Forbidding Uncertainty
The Prophet ﷺ said:
He forbade the pebble sale and the sale of uncertainty (gharar).
(Narrated by Muslim)
Ways to Know the Merchandise:
| Method | Example |
|---|---|
| Direct Viewing | I saw and inspected the car |
| Precise Description | Detailed description of specifications |
| Sample | Sample of the merchandise |
Forbidden Sales of Jahiliyyah (Due to Ignorance):
| Sale | Description |
|---|---|
| Pebble Sale | Throw the pebble, whatever it lands on is yours |
| Touch Sale | Whatever you touch is yours for this price |
| Toss Sale | Whatever I throw at you is yours |
💵 Conditions of the Price
💰 Conditions of the Price
type, quantity, quality
ability to pay
Ignorance of the price vitiates the sale!
📖 Scene: The Unknown Price
The Seller: I'll sell you the car for whatever price you think is fair!
The Buyer: So I pay whatever I want?
Answer: ❌ Invalid — The price is unknown.
📝 Conditions of the Formula
1. Correspondence Between Offer and Acceptance
Offer-Acceptance Correspondence
✅ Correspondence
= Valid sale
Seller: I sell you the car for 50,000
Buyer: I accept for 50,000
❌ Discrepancy
= No contract
Seller: I sell you the car for 50,000
Buyer: I accept for 40,000
2. Continuity Between Offer and Acceptance
- No long interval between them
- A short interval is not harmful
3. No Suspension on a Future Condition
- The principle in sale is immediacy
- Suspension on an unknown condition: scholars disagree
📋 Conditions Within the Sale (What a Party Stipulates)
📋 Types of Conditions in Sale
binding — must be fulfilled
void themselves — sale remains
The sale is void
Valid Conditions ✅
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Implicit Condition | Seller guarantees merchandise before delivery |
| Beneficial Condition | Requiring collateral or a guarantor |
| Quality Condition | Requiring a specific color for the car |
| Service Condition | Requiring home delivery |
Defective Conditions ❌
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Contradictory Condition | Forbidding the buyer from reselling or gifting |
| Unlawful Condition | Stipulating usury or uncertainty |
| Impossible Condition | Stipulating the impossible |
📊 Effect of Missing Conditions
| Missing Condition | Effect on Contract | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Condition of Conclusion | Sale is void from the start | Sale by an insane person |
| Condition of Validity | Sale is defective (fixable) | Sale of the unknown |
| Condition of Execution | Sale is suspended (awaits approval) | Sale by a non-owner |
| Condition of Bindingness | Sale is valid but revocable | Sale with option |
📖 Stories from the Righteous Predecessors: Imam Ahmad's Piety
📖 Story: Honesty in Conditions
A man came to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him...
The Man: O Imam, I bought goods from a man, then discovered he was coerced into selling by his creditor!
Imam Ahmad: "The sale of the coerced is not valid, because consent is a condition. Return his property and take back your money."
The Man: But I didn't know he was coerced at the time of purchase!
Imam Ahmad: "Does it harm you to return the right to its owner? The Prophet ﷺ said: Fulfill the trust of one who entrusted you, and do not betray one who betrayed you."
The Lesson: The conditions of sale were established to protect rights. The Muslim merchant ensures the validity of his contracts, not just their appearance.
🎯 Contemporary Cases — Test Your Understanding!
Case 1: Purchase by a Child
A father sent his son (10 years old) to buy bread from the grocery store.
Question: Is this sale valid?
Answer: ✅ Yes, because:
- The child is discerning
- The transaction is minor
- It is customarily authorized by the guardian
Case 2: The Earnest Money Sale
Zayd paid earnest money (5000) to reserve an apartment for 200,000.
Then he backed out and didn't complete the purchase.
Question: Is he entitled to get the earnest money back?
Answer: ❌ No, according to the preponderant view.
📜 Earnest Money Rule
- Earnest money is permissible according to the Hanbalis and the Islamic Fiqh Council
- The majority forbid earnest money (Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is) due to the hadith forbidding earnest money sales (reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud), though its chain is weak
- The preponderant contemporary view: Permissibility due to need, adopted by the Fiqh Council
- If the sale is completed: it's deducted from the price
- Otherwise: the seller keeps it (compensation for reserving the item)
Case 3: Sale of a Mortgaged Car
Ali sold his car while it was mortgaged to the bank without informing the buyer.
Question: What is the ruling?
Answer: ❌ The sale is defective.
Reason:
- The mortgaged property is encumbered by another's right
- The seller cannot complete delivery
Solution: Remove the mortgage first or inform the buyer.
Case 4: Installment Purchase at a Higher Price
Phone price cash: $1000
Price on installment: $1200
Question: Is this usury?
Answer: ✅ No, it's permissible — if the price is determined at the time of contract.
📜 What Is Forbidden:
Saying: "Take it for 1000 cash or 1200 on installment" without specifying which one — because this is two sales in one.
Case 5: Selling What You Don't Own
The merchant promised the customer to sell him goods tomorrow when he has not yet purchased them from the supplier.
Question: What is the ruling?
Answer: ❌ Forbidden — selling before owning.
Correct Alternatives:
- Non-binding promise — then he buys then he sells
- Salam Contract — with its conditions
💎 Lesson Summary
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Conditions of Contractors | Sanity, discernment, maturity, free will |
| Conditions of Merchandise | Existence, lawfulness, ownership, deliverability, knowledge |
| Conditions of Price | Knowledge, deliverability, ownership |
| Conditions of Formula | Correspondence, continuity, no suspension |
| Effect of Absence | Nullity, defect, or suspension |
🤔 Pause and Reflect
Question to Ponder:
If you know the contract you're entering has a legal defect but is legally valid...
Do you proceed with it?
📜 Always Remember
- Religious ruling takes precedence over positive law
- "Muslims are bound by their conditions except one that makes lawful what is unlawful or unlawful what is lawful"
- Learn the conditions before entering into contracts
- Among the righteous predecessors, some learned the rules of sale before entering the market
O Lord, increase me in knowledge! 📖