Conditions (Shurooṭ) of a Correct Sale and Purchase

Conditions (Shurooṭ) of a Correct Sale and Purchase

Allah has set conditions that are a must for a transaction to be correct—and they are as follows:

  1. The attributes that both parties in the contract must possess: adulthood, intellect, freedom (not-slaves), and awareness.
  2. Both parties must have possession of the items they are exchanging because it is not permissible to sell what you do not own. Therefore, Drop-shipping is not permitted. What is Drop-shipping? Drop-shipping is when a person, or company, sells goods on their website that they do not keep in stock or own. When an order is received (and payment is made), they send those orders to another company to ship the goods directly to the buyer.
  3. The seller must be able to turn over the item to the buyer (i.e., give it to him). It is not permissible (for example) to sell a bird that is flying in the sky. That transaction is void.
  4. It is a must that the transacted items (commodities) are permissible and of benefit to people such as a house, a shop, a car, clothes, furniture, plants, food, etc. It is not permitted to sell that which is insubstantial, inconsequential and of no benefit; and it is not permissible to trade in that which Allah or His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) have prohibited, such as alcohol, narcotics, swine, cats and dogs.
  5. There should be no harm to the seller due to his selling the goods. For example: It is not possible for a seller to sell a piece of clothing and leave the rest (such as the arm of a shirt) because what remains of the garment is wasted.
  6. It is not allowed to put a time limit on a transaction such as selling a garment for a month to the buyer. This opposes the essence of a transaction which is a permanent transaction and exchange of possession. That is because complete possession is the essence of that thing and a time limit is not acceptable.[1]
  7. There must not be fraud or false description (al-gharar) when selling. The intent here is misdescribing a commodity such as a person who sells a cow on the basis that it can be milked, then later the buyer finds out [after the purchase] that it does not offer milk.
  8. There must not be compulsion in trade—neither party can be forced to buy or sell such as with threats of beating, imprisonment, killing, cutting off ties of kinship, etc. This opposes the pleasure and freedom of a permissible transaction. So, if this takes place that transaction is voided.
  9. It is not allowed to introduce a false or prohibited condition into a sale contract that nullifies or opposes the origin of the contract. This includes any condition that brings benefit to either party that is not allowed in the Shareeʿah or otherwise is not in line with the custom of the people. For example: once you buy an item, you must participate in a selfie picture outside the store.
  10. There must be no ambiguity in the sale—the sale items must be clearly known and identifiable by both the seller and buyer, and the cost must also be clear (without doubt or ambiguity), so that no differing occurs afterwards.

[1] Rental and lease agreements are a different part of the Shareeʿah Law.

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