Chapter on the Option in Sales

He was asked—may Allah have mercy upon him:

“Two men concluded a sale of a specific item, stipulating that each would have the right to rescind or affirm the sale within a period recognized as valid under Islamic law. Does this option apply to both affirmation and rescission, or only to rescission, making the mention of affirmation legally redundant? Or are the two not given effect together?

“If mentioning affirmation is legally redundant, there is nothing further to discuss. But if both are given effect, and each expression has a legal consequence, then, if one party chooses affirmation and the other rescission, does the choice of the party seeking rescission prevail, or that of whichever party acted first? Please give us a ruling; may you be rewarded.”

He replied:

“Praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds. If the circumstances are as described and one party chooses to rescind the sale, he may do so without the other’s consent, even if the other was first to affirm it.

“Affirmation, when mentioned alongside rescission, means refraining from rescission: that is, each party may either rescind the sale or refrain from doing so. For, if neither rescinds it before the period expires, affirmation is not intended to bind the other party to the contract, since interpreting it in this way would be incompatible with