al-Jīzī (1) narrated to us; Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣam narrated to us; al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān narrated to us; al-Shāfiʿī—on the authority of Mālik, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar—who reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The two parties to a sale, each of them holds the right of option with respect to the other so long as they have not yet separated, save in a sale that already includes a stipulated option (2).”
Al-Bukhārī recorded it through Ibn Yūsuf; Muslim through Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā; and Abū Dāwūd through al-Qaʿnabī—every one of them transmitting from Mālik. In our first route the chain is musalsal, consisting exclusively of jurists all the way to its end.
We also received it through an elevated chain from Aḥmad ibn Hibat Allāh ibn Tāj al-Umnāʾ, by recitation; from al-Muʾayyad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī; who informed us Hibat Allāh ibn Sahl; who informed us Abū ʿUthmān Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad; who informed us Zāhir ibn Aḥmad the jurist; who informed us Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad; who related to us Abū Muṣʿab al-Zuhrī; who related to us Mālik ibn Anas.
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Khāliq ibn ʿAbd al-Salām in Baʿlabakk likewise informed us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ibrāhīm informed us; Shuhdah bint … informed us.
(1) A nisba meaning “from al-Jizah,” a small town west of Fustat in Egypt.
(2) Its isnad (chain of transmission) is sound. The hadith is found in: Musnad al-Shafiʿi 2/162; al-Muwattaʾ 2/671, Book of Sales, chapter “Bayʿ al-khiyar” (sale with an option of withdrawal); al-Bukhari 4/276, Book of Sales, chapters “The two parties to a sale retain the option until they part,” “How long may the option last?,” “If no time-limit is set for the option, is the sale valid?,” and “If the seller alone keeps the option, is the sale valid?”; Muslim (1531), Book of Sales, chapter “The option of the session for the two contracting parties”; and Abu Dawud (3454), Book of Sales, chapter “The option of the two parties to a sale.”
It is also reported by al-Tirmidhi (1245) through Fudayl, from Yahya ibn Saʿid, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, and by Ibn Majah (2181) through al-Layth ibn Saʿd, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar.
Regarding the wording “except a sale in which the khiyar (option) has been waived,” al-Baghawi explains in Sharh al-Sunnah 8/41: it means that one party says to the other, “Choose,” and the latter replies, “I have chosen,” which immediately renders the sale binding for both of them—even while they are still in the same session—and cancels their mutual option.
Some scholars interpreted it as referring to khiyar al-shart (a stipulated option) and held that the exception relates to the duration of that option: each party may withdraw until they separate, after which the sale becomes binding unless they agreed beforehand on a three-day option, in which case the stipulated option remains in force after their separation. This construction, however, has been judged improbable, and the first explanation is preferred, because it is stated explicitly in the version recorded by al-Bukhari 4/274.