Chapter: Disagreement Between Buyer and Seller

If the two parties to a sale differ while the merchandise is still intact, then—according to the report of Ibn al-Qāsim from Mālik—they must take mutual oaths and the contract is annulled. It makes no difference whether the goods are in the buyer’s possession or the seller’s, provided they have not been altered through loss, increase in their substance, or a change in market prices. This is also the position of Aṣbagh.

In the narration of Ibn Wahb from Mālik, however, if the buyer has cut into the goods and appropriated them for himself, his word is accepted regarding the price, whether the goods are still present with him or have perished. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam and Sahnūn held the same view.

Ashhab maintained that, whether the commodity is extant or has been lost, and whether it is with the seller or the buyer, the two parties always take mutual oaths and the sale is rescinded whenever they dispute the price; if the goods have perished, they reimburse one another the item’s market value.

Whenever mutual oaths are required, the seller always begins. Thereafter, if the buyer wishes, he may accept the merchandise at the price upon which the seller swore; otherwise, the buyer himself must swear.

We have explained this matter, its various aspects, and the divergences of opinion concerning it in the book Disagreement in the Opinions of Mālik and His Companions. Praise be to Allah.