Buying and Selling: Ruling on Seller’s Right to Revoke Sale Due to Buyer’s Payment Delay and Price Increase

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Buying and Selling: Ruling on Seller’s Right to Revoke Sale Due to Buyer’s Payment Delay and Price Increase

English:

Question #1545:

The buyer delayed the payment for the goods he purchased beyond the agreed date. As a result of market forces the goods’ price has gone up. Has the seller the right of withdrawal because of unfairness, or has he the right to do so because of the delay in paying on time?

Answer #1545:

The criterion, which could give rise to the right of revocation because of unfairness, is that such loss should be related to the unfair price on the date of sale, for example, selling the goods at such a knockdown price that it is unacceptable in the common view. As for the increase in the price after the sale agreement has been concluded, it is not a cause for such a right. Likewise, delaying the payment beyond the agreed date should not necessarily lead to exercising the right of revocation by the vendor.

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