Buying and Selling: Ruling on Payment Dispute in Instalment Sale with Conflicting Records

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Buying and Selling: Ruling on Payment Dispute in Instalment Sale with Conflicting Records

English:

Question #1578:

A business deal was concluded between two parties. Both the vendor and the buyer agreed that the buyer should settle the price of the goods by instalments. As a mechanism of bookkeeping, both agreed that each of them should maintain a book whereby such payments were to be duly recorded and signed by both. After a while, it transpired that there were discrepancies between the two registers. The difference between the two was in respect of one payment where the buyer claimed that he settled it and the vendor denying it. It is worth mentioning that the entry did not appear to have been made in either book. What is the ruling in this matter?

Answer #1578:

If it is proved that the buyer paid what he claims to have paid, there is nothing one can ask him to do. Otherwise, the priority is given to the vendor’s say, who denies receiving the amount.

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