the causes of blessing, while lying is among the causes that strip a trade of blessing; for a small profit earned with honesty is blessed by Allah, whereas a large profit gained through deceit is devoid of blessing and brings no good.

Fifth: The option due to defect (khiyār al-ʿayb). This is the right granted to the buyer when a flaw in the merchandise is discovered that the seller either failed to disclose or was unaware of, even though the defect existed before the sale. A defect that triggers this option is anything that customarily diminishes the item’s market value or impairs the item itself. Determining what counts as a defect is referred to recognized merchants: whatever they deem a defect establishes the buyer’s option; whatever they do not regard as a value-reducing flaw is not considered. Once the buyer learns of the defect after the contract, he may either: 1) uphold the sale and demand compensation for the defect—namely, the difference between the item’s value when sound and its value when defective; or 2) rescind the sale entirely, return the goods, and reclaim the price he paid to the seller.

Sixth: The option tied to disclosure of cost price (khiyār al-takhbīr bi’l-thaman). It applies when a seller states that he is selling the commodity for the same amount he paid for it, and names that amount, but it later emerges that his statement was untrue—whether the original cost was higher or lower than he claimed. The same ruling holds if he says, “I have made you my partner in this item at my cost price,” or, “I have sold you this item for a profit of such-and-such over my cost price,” and so on.