Buying and Selling: Ruling on Conflicting Property Sales and Validity of Ownership Transfer

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Buying and Selling: Ruling on Conflicting Property Sales and Validity of Ownership Transfer

English:

Question #1531:

I bought property from a person and sold it to a third party. Having snatched the sale paper from me, the first vendor sold it to another person. On the assumption that I cannot prove that he snatched the sale paper from me, which of the two transactions is valid — his or mine?

Answer #1531:

On the assumption that the purchase of property from the owner was materialised in a shar‘ī and correct way, the buyer has the right of disposal in the property and should, therefore, have the right to sell it to whomever he wishes. Thus, the first vendor has no right of disposal in the property in any way, including the right of sale. Indeed, any sale by the latter is considered fuḍūlī and should be dependent on the permission of the first buyer.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Buying and Selling