Chapter on Options (1)
Options are of several kinds:
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The Option of the Session (khiyār al-majlis). It applies to a sale and to transactions comparable to sale, as well as to leases, currency exchange, and the like, but not to marriage, endowment, share-cropping, and similar contracts. It remains in force until the two parties physically part company in the manner customarily recognized. If both parties waive the option, or if they contract the sale on the condition that there be no option, it lapses. Should only one of them renounce it, it continues to belong to the other (6).
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The Stipulated Option. The parties may insert a clause in the contract granting the option to both of them, or to either one, for a specified period—no matter how long. The period begins from the moment of contract; once it expires, or they mutually rescind it, the sale becomes binding.
This option may be attached to a sale and to what resembles it (7), though not to currency exchange. It is also valid in a lease that rests on liability, or for a term that does not commence immediately after the contract. One may stipulate it “until tomorrow” or “until nightfall,” but it lapses with the first moment of the stated term.
Whoever enjoys the option may annul the contract even if the other party is absent or displeased.
Ownership during either of these two options rests with the buyer: he is entitled to any increase or earnings, and he must bear any diminution or loss if he has undertaken the liability (8).