price, the transaction would have been invalid and usurious according to the early generations of this Ummah—the Companions and Successors—and most Muslim imams. How much more so, then, when the seller was coerced! A sale made under wrongful coercion is not binding, by agreement of the Muslims. Even if it were further supposed that the purchaser had been compelled to purchase from him and had paid the price on his behalf, then, if the seller reimbursed him for what he had paid on his behalf, the property sold would have to be handed over to the seller, by agreement of the Muslims. How much more so when the purchaser was not compelled to purchase and the seller has offered to reimburse him for what he paid on his behalf! In these circumstances, the purchaser has no right to demand any additional amount, by agreement of the imams, nor to demand the return of the assets that belonged to the seller and are now in his possession, as stated.

He was asked:

A man’s mother died, and he inherited from her a house in which she had no co-owner. Someone wronged his father and coerced him until he entered into a written agreement with him concerning the house or sold it to him. Is that permissible, or must the house be restored to its owner?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. If he was wrongfully coerced into selling the house, the sale is invalid. The house must be restored to its owner, and the purchaser must be refunded the price taken from him. Allah knows best.