Buying and Selling: Ruling on Validity of Sale Versus Vendor’s Cancellation Due to Procrastination

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Buying and Selling: Ruling on Validity of Sale Versus Vendor’s Cancellation Due to Procrastination

English:

Question #1568:

A group of people jointly bought some property from a person. They paid the vendor a sum of money in instalments. The remaining amount of the sale price was to be settled upon the official transfer of the property in the buyers’ names. However, the vendor procrastinated and eventually refused to exchange contract, claiming that he cancelled the agreement. Which of the two is valid, the sale or the cancellation of the contract?

Answer #1568:

As long as the vendor has no right of annulment — e.g., due to a provision or a wide gap between sale and market prices — his canceling the contract should not stand. Accordingly, the sale is valid. He has to do according to the contract and is held responsible for officially transferring the property into the names of the buyers.

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