Al-Isṭakhri, one of the Shāfiʿī jurists, said: “Were a judge to rule contrary to this, his judgement would have to be overturned.”

2. The “owner of the goods” mentioned in the ḥadith is not limited to the seller; it equally covers the lender, the depositor, and anyone else engaged in contracts of exchange. The general wording embraces them all, and the fact that some reports explicitly name the seller does not detract from that generality.

3. The bankrupt person’s assets must be insufficient to meet his debts; this condition is derived from the very term muflis (bankrupt) in the Law.

4. The article of merchandise must still be physically present in the buyer’s possession; this is the express wording of the ḥadith before us and others like it.

5. The price must not yet have been received from the buyer. If all or part of it has been collected, the original owner may no longer reclaim the article itself. This condition is drawn from the understood intent of the texts as well as from certain phrasing found in other aḥādīth.

6. The outward sense of the ḥadith indicates that even if the other creditors offer the seller the full price of his merchandise, that does not nullify his right to repossess it. I (the author) submit, however, that if we return to the Legislator’s aim—safeguarding the right of the owner—we should oblige him to accept the price when the creditors tender it, especially when doing so benefits the general body of creditors and lightens the bankrupt’s burdens, which the Law is keen to alleviate. Ibn Rushd said: the goods are to be appraised; if their value equals or is less than the sale price, they are handed over to the seller. If their value exceeds the price, the seller is given the amount of the price and the surplus is shared proportionally among the creditors. A number of tradition-minded scholars have adopted this view.

7. The commodity must remain intact: nothing of it may have perished, nor may its characteristics have changed so as to remove its original designation—for example, spun cotton that has been woven into cloth, grain that has been baked into bread, or timber that has been fashioned into a door. Should its characteristics change or part of it perish, the owner becomes like any other creditor.

8. No third-party right must have attached to the item, such as the right of pre-emption (shufʿa) or a pledge; and a fortiori it must not have been sold, gifted, or made a charitable endowment.