Valid stipulations fall into two kinds:

1. A condition that serves the interest of the contract itself, thereby strengthening it and benefiting the party who imposes it. Examples include stipulating documentation by means of a rahn (pledge) or requiring a guarantor—both of which reassure the seller—or deferring the price, or part of it, to a specified date, which benefits the buyer. Once such a stipulation is fulfilled, the sale becomes binding. The same ruling applies if the buyer stipulates a quality in the merchandise, such as that it be of superior grade, of a particular manufacture, or from a certain production line, for people’s preferences differ in these respects. If the item delivered matches the stipulated description, the sale is binding; if it does not, the buyer may either rescind the sale or keep the item while receiving compensation for the missing condition. In that case the commodity is appraised twice—first as though the stipulated attribute were present, then without it—and the seller must pay the difference between the two valuations whenever the buyer demands it.

2. A valid stipulation may also involve one of the contracting parties requiring the other to provide a lawful benefit in the sold item itself. Thus the seller may stipulate the right to live in the house sold for a set period, or to be transported on the sold animal or vehicle to a specified place. Jābir reported that “the Prophet ﷺ sold a camel and stipulated its back (the right to ride it) until he reached Madinah,” agreed upon. This ḥadith proves the permissibility of selling a mount while excepting the right to ride it to a particular destination, and analogous cases are judged the same way. Likewise, the buyer may stipulate that the seller perform some work on the sold item, such as