Accordingly, the stronger view—the one that must be adopted—is that pre-emption may be exercised without immediate haste, and is not forfeited except by something indicating consent.

If the buyer says, “How long am I to wait? I do not know when he will consent or whether he will not consent,” then in this case we set him an appropriate time limit. The co-owner entitled to pre-emption may be told: “You have three days,” or “You have two days,” or “You have four days,” depending on the circumstances. For if we were to say, “You have two or three months, until you decide,” this would harm the buyer.

Thus, the stronger view is that it need not be exercised immediately; rather, it may be exercised without immediate haste and is not forfeited except by something indicating consent. The basis of this view is that it is a right which the Lawgiver has granted to the co-owner, and it is not forfeited except with his consent.

Moreover, the co-owner himself may need time to consider, because the difficulty is that he must take it at the price for which it was sold. If the price is payable immediately, he must take it for immediate payment, and he may not have the money at that time. He may therefore need to seek it from one source or another, borrow it, or something similar.

The author, may Allah have mercy on him, said—on the basis that it must be exercised immediately:

“If he does not claim it”: the pronoun “it” refers to pre-emption, and the subject is the co-owner who is entitled to pre-emption.

His statement, “then, upon learning of it, without excuse, it is invalidated,” means: upon learning of it.

It is understood from his words, “without excuse,” that if he has an excuse for not claiming it immediately, then once his excuse has ceased, he must claim it at once. Thus, if news reaches him while he is in bed and wishes to sleep, should we say, “You must go to the buyer and say: ‘I am asserting my right of pre-emption’”? No; this is an excuse. But whoever