the person to whom the option was assigned decides, whether rejection or approval, the other party is entitled to do so. This is his position in al-Mudawwana concerning a buyer who stipulates an option for someone else. In one passage, he takes the same position concerning a seller who stipulates an option for someone else, for he says: “If so-and-so approves the sale, the sale stands.” This wording implies that if that person does not approve and instead rejects it, the sale is rescinded. The seller who stipulated that person’s approval or option has no say in the matter.

(The third opinion) is that this right belongs to both parties: to the seller if he wishes to confirm the sale to the buyer while the person to whom he assigned the option wishes to reject it; and to the buyer if the person to whom the seller assigned the option wishes to confirm the sale while the seller wishes to reject it. To explain this position: if the seller wishes to confirm the sale, it becomes binding on the buyer even if the person to whom the seller assigned the option wishes to reject it. If the person to whom the seller assigned the option wishes to confirm the sale, the buyer may take the goods, and the seller is bound, even if he objects and wishes to rescind. Thus, the seller’s approval makes the sale binding on the buyer even against his wishes, and the approval of the person assigned the option makes it binding on the seller even against his wishes—unless the buyer agrees to the rescission sought by the seller.

Likewise, if it is the buyer who stipulated an option for someone else and he wishes to take the goods, he is entitled to do so, even if the person to whom he assigned the option wishes to reject them. If the person for whom the option was stipulated wishes to approve the sale, the seller may hold the buyer to it. To explain this position: the buyer’s approval makes the sale binding on the seller even against his wishes, and the approval of the person assigned the option makes it binding on the buyer even against his wishes.

This is his position in one passage of al-Mudawwana concerning a seller who stipulates someone else’s approval, for he says: “If the seller or so-and-so approves the sale, the sale stands.” The same must apply to the buyer according to those who see no distinction in this matter between a stipulation made by the seller and one made by the buyer, and who regard his differing answers to the two questions as differing opinions, rather than as arising from a distinction between the two cases.

Abū Ishāq al-Tūnisī interpreted the passage in al-Mudawwana concerning a seller who assigns the option to someone else as a case of agency: whichever of the two acts first, whether rejecting or approving the sale, his action takes effect. He said: “This is what analogy dictates.” The same must then apply to the buyer, contrary to what is stated in al-Mudawwana.

(The fourth opinion) distinguishes between a stipulation made by the seller and one made by the buyer. This is how Ibn Abī Zayd, Abū Ishāq al-Tūnisī and Ibn Lubāba interpreted the statements in al-Mudawwana. They differed, however, in their interpretation when the seller makes the stipulation. Ibn Lubāba held that the seller’s approval makes the sale binding on the buyer, while the approval of the person assigned the option makes it binding on the seller. The same interpretation was adopted by Ibn