if he chooses to keep it, he is entitled to the allowance; if he returns it, he must also compensate for the reduction in value caused by breaking it. Yet if the item was like a hen’s egg, he may recover the whole price.

The option based on defect may be exercised at any time so long as no indication of acceptance is shown. It requires neither a court ruling, nor the seller’s consent, nor even his presence. Should they dispute over when or in whose possession the defect arose, the buyer’s statement prevails provided he swears an oath; but if the circumstances admit only one of the two versions, that version is accepted without an oath.

Sixth: the option arising from a misstatement of the cost price—whenever it later proves to be lower or higher. This option applies to tawliyah (resale at cost), mushārakah (sale of a share at its share of the cost), murābaḥah (resale at cost plus an agreed profit), and muwaḍaʿah (resale at cost minus an agreed discount). In all of them the purchaser must know the seller’s actual capital outlay.

If the seller himself had bought the goods on deferred terms, or from someone whose testimony for him would be inadmissible, or had paid more than he now claims by way of stratagem, or if he sold part of a lot for its proportionate share of the cost without disclosing that fact when stating the price, the buyer may either keep the deal or rescind it.

Any sum added to or deducted from the cost price during the option period, and any allowance taken for a defect or for injury to the item, is considered part of the cost price and must be disclosed. If such an adjustment occurs after the sale has become binding, it is not attached to the cost price—though informing the buyer of the situation is praiseworthy.

Seventh: the option triggered by disagreement between the two contracting parties. If they differ over the amount of the price, both must swear an oath. The seller swears first: “I did not sell it for such-and-such; I sold it only for such-and-such.” The buyer then swears: “I did not buy it for such-and-such; I bought it only for such-and-such.” Either party may annul the sale if he is not satisfied with the other’s claim. If the commodity has perished, they revert to the value of its like; and if they disagree over its description, the buyer’s word is accepted. When the contract is annulled—