Chapter on Murābaḥa and Tawliya

Murābaḥa is the transfer of property acquired under the first contract for the original price plus an agreed profit.

Tawliya is the transfer of property acquired under the first contract for the original price with no profit added.

Neither a murābaḥa nor a tawliya is valid unless the subject-matter is a fungible commodity. It is permissible to add to the capital outlay the wages of the washer, the dyer, the embroiderer, the spinner, and the cost of transporting grain, but the seller must say, “It has cost me so-and-so,” and not, “I bought it for so-and-so.”

If, in a murābaḥa, the buyer uncovers deceit, Abū Ḥanīfa rules that the buyer has a choice: he may either keep the item for the full price or return it. If deceit is discovered in a tawliya, the buyer deducts the amount of the deceit from the price. Abū Yūsuf holds that a deduction is made in both cases, whereas Muḥammad maintains that no deduction is made in either.

Whoever buys a movable good may not sell it before taking possession of it. According to Abū Ḥanīfa and Abū Yūsuf, it is permissible to sell real estate before possession, whereas Muḥammad deems this impermissible.

When a person purchases a commodity sold by measure or by weight, then measures or weighs it himself and sells it again by measure or weight, the new buyer may neither resell nor consume it until he has repeated the measuring or weighing. Disposing of the price itself before taking possession of it is, however, permissible.

The buyer may increase the price, the seller may increase the quantity of goods, and the parties may agree to a reduction in price; entitlement attaches to all such changes.

If someone sells for an immediate price and then defers that price to a specified term, it becomes a deferred debt. Likewise, every debt currently due becomes deferred when its creditor grants a delay—except for a loan, for postponing repayment of a loan is not valid.