such as retaining the right to live in the house that was sold for a month; and may the buyer, in turn, stipulate a specific benefit for himself in the purchased item, for example that the seller transport the goods to a certain place, or sew the garment he has bought, and so forth?
The three Imams—Abu Ḥanīfah, Mālik, and al-Shāfiʿī—hold that it is impermissible to attach such conditions, citing the report of Abū Dāwūd 3405 and al-Tirmidhī 1290 from Jābir: “The Prophet ﷺ forbade conditional retention (thunyā) unless the condition is clearly defined.”
Imām Aḥmad allows only one such condition; if two are combined, the sale is void. His view is shared by Isḥāq, al-Awzāʿī, and Ibn al-Mundhir.
A second report from Imām Aḥmad states that the sale remains valid even when the seller or the buyer stipulates known, specific benefits—whether in the commodity or in the price—and that it remains valid for the buyer even if his conditions are numerous. This opinion was adopted by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and our teacher ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī—may Allah have mercy on them all.
Shaykh al-Islām said: “The default ruling regarding contracts and conditions is validity and permissibility; nothing is prohibited or invalidated except what the Law has declared forbidden or void.” Ibn al-Qayyim added: “Every condition that does not contradict the Book of Allah Most High is binding.”
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī observed: “The two conditions whose combination produces a recognised legal harm are the cases of ʿīnah (back-to-back sale and buy-back).”
The evidence cited by these scholars includes:
- The ḥadith of Jābir under discussion in this chapter.
- The wording, “He forbade conditional retention except when it is specified,” which itself speaks of known conditions and exceptions.
- His ﷺ statement: “Muslims are bound by their conditions, unless a condition makes lawful what Allah has prohibited or prohibits what He has made lawful,” along with other scriptural texts and legally relevant considerations.