every form of dishonesty in a murābaḥa transaction: if the seller withholds any fact he is obliged to disclose because it would reduce the price, he is deemed fraudulent, and the buyer’s allegation of such fraud is not accepted unless it is supported by the testimony of upright witnesses.
If a person sells a commodity by murābaḥa for a stated price and then informs the buyer that its actual cost was lower than he first declared—claiming that he made a mistake—and the buyer refuses to accept the originally agreed profit, the contract is annulled unless both parties mutually agree to new terms, in which case the sale stands. Should the commodity meanwhile have perished or been disposed of while in the buyer’s possession, the buyer must pay its value provided that this value is not less than the seller’s capital now restored to him. The profit is to be calculated proportionately, and the amount payable may not exceed the price to which they had first agreed.
Conversely, if the seller later claims that the cost price was higher than he initially stated, his word is not accepted without proof. If he produces reliable evidence while the commodity is still intact, the sale is rescinded unless they freely settle upon new terms. Should the commodity already have passed from the buyer’s hands, the buyer is liable for its value, so long as that value does not exceed the second, higher figure the seller now maintains; the profit is then reckoned in proportion, on the condition that the established cost does not fall below the first figure he had given, in which case the profit is likewise adjusted proportionately.
A trader may not charge against the goods the cost of his own living expenses, whether the capital is his or supplied to him under a qirad (silent-partnership) arrangement. He may likewise not include the broker’s commission, the cost of tying and wrapping, or the rent of the shop or warehouse. By contrast, the hire of pack animals, the transport of merchandise from one town to another, and the upkeep of slaves are all added to the principal cost, though no profit may be taken on those expenses unless he stipulates it after disclosing them to the buyer, in which case the agreed profit is permissible. Some scholars have held that the broker’s fee may also be counted among the costs, and a number of Mālik’s students supported this view, but the former opinion is the one that best reflects his school.
The expenses of dyeing, tailoring, fulling, and embroidery are counted as part of the cost price.