This may be needed because a person does not have enough money to pay both of them; or because one of the two partners is difficult to live with while the other is agreeable; or because he wishes to harm the other partner by depriving him of the land; or for any other reason. He is entitled to do so.

His statement, “or the reverse,” means that one person purchases the right of two people. Thus, the land is owned by three parties, and two of them sell their respective shares to one person. The pre-emptor may exercise pre-emption with respect to the share of one of his partners but not the other. Here, the plurality is on the side of the sellers, so he may take the share of either one of them.

His statement, “or if one person purchases two portions from two plots of land in a single transaction, the pre-emptor may take one of them”: an example is two plots of land jointly owned by two people, one of whom sells his shares in both plots to one person. The pre-emptor may take one of the two portions, because here the subject matter of the transaction is multiple. In the two preceding cases, the plurality lay in the purchasers or the sellers. This differs from the case in which two people share the right of pre-emption, for we say: either both of you take all of it by pre-emption, or else the right of one of you lapses. This is a shared entitlement involving competing claims.

In summary, this issue has four cases:

The first: the seller, purchaser, and property sold are each single. If the pre-emptor seeks to take only part of it, he is not permitted to do so, and his right of pre-emption lapses according to the established position of the madhhab.

The second: there are multiple sellers—for example, two men sell their respective shares in one plot of land to one man. Here, the pre-emptor may take the share of one of them.

The third: there are multiple purchasers—for example, a person sells his share in one plot of land to two people. The pre-emptor may take the share of either one of them.