must wait until the option is exercised: if he chooses to let the sale stand, it stands; if he chooses to annul it, it is annulled. His right of option is forfeited only by (a) affirming the sale, (b) the expiration of the option period, or (c) his making a voluntary disposition of the commodity.

If a purchaser buys goods on the understanding that he will first seek advice and consultation, without naming any particular adviser, he may cancel the contract before consulting, and the cancellation is valid. However, if he assigns the option to a specific person whom he can realistically consult within the option period, he may not annul the sale until that person has made his choice—unless the person dies, in which case the option reverts to the buyer himself, not to the deceased’s heirs.

Whoever buys something subject to an option and brings it back only a short time after the option period has lapsed may still return it; but if the delay is prolonged, he must keep it.

When both seller and buyer retain the option for themselves and one of them elects to confirm the sale while the other elects to revoke it, the word of the one who opts for revocation prevails.

If goods purchased with an option perish while in the buyer’s possession during the option period, the case is examined: when the loss concerns something obvious and unmistakable—of a kind that cannot remain hidden—the loss is borne by the seller. If the loss is hidden and not immediately evident, liability rests with the buyer who has taken possession, unless he produces proof of its destruction, in which case his liability is removed. Any loss that occurs while the goods are still in the seller’s possession, or in someone else’s hand but not the buyer’s, is always deemed the seller’s loss and never the buyer’s. This is the view upheld by Mālik and al-Layth.