What is the ruling on paying a symbolic amount to reserve a specific item?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah guide you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: A man wanted to buy some goods, so the seller said to him, "You must pay a symbolic amount so that I can obtain these goods for you. When you bring the rest of the price, I will give you the goods." It is known that if the buyer is unable to pay the price of the goods, the seller does not return the symbolic amount he gave at the beginning. What is the ruling on this transaction in Islam?
Answer:
The ruling is that if the item sold is specific, and he buys a specific item that is in the possession of the seller, and he says, "I have the option to buy it for a certain period," but the seller asks him to give him a deposit, such that if he intends to take the item, it is counted toward the price, and if the item is not taken, he says to the seller, "This is compensation for holding the item," this is permissible. This is the sale of a deposit (‘arabun). This is the sale of a deposit. This applies to a specific item, a specific item in the possession of the seller, where he says, "I have the option for such and such a period," and he does not contradict this. So the deposit is forfeited, and the item is held. Is this permissible in paying the deposit? There is no sin in it. Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), or according to the three Imams, the sale of a penalty is not permissible, but according to Imam Ahmad, it is permissible, because ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did it when he bought a house in the prison. The agent gave the seller part of the price and said, "Until ‘Umar is satisfied or consults with ‘Umar. If he is satisfied, he will pay the rest." So ‘Umar approved that. This is the sale of goods, for a specific, known item.
As for the sale of a described item in the debt, the sale of the item described in the debt that is defined by its description, this is permissible because its ruling is the ruling of a forward sale (salam). However, it is necessary to retain the entire price in the session of the contract. It is necessary to take possession of the entire price in the session of the transaction, otherwise it becomes a sale of a debt for a debt, and this is not permissible.
May Allah guide you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: A man wanted to buy some goods, so the seller said to him, "You must pay a symbolic amount so that I can obtain these goods for you. When you bring the rest of the price, I will give you the goods." It is known that if the buyer is unable to pay the price of the goods, the seller does not return the symbolic amount he gave at the beginning. What is the ruling on this transaction in Islam?
Answer:
The ruling is that if the item sold is specific, and he buys a specific item that is in the possession of the seller, and he says, "I have the option to buy it for a certain period," but the seller asks him to give him a deposit, such that if he intends to take the item, it is counted toward the price, and if the item is not taken, he says to the seller, "This is compensation for holding the item," this is permissible. This is the sale of a deposit (‘arabun). This is the sale of a deposit. This applies to a specific item, a specific item in the possession of the seller, where he says, "I have the option for such and such a period," and he does not contradict this. So the deposit is forfeited, and the item is held. Is this permissible in paying the deposit? There is no sin in it. Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), or according to the three Imams, the sale of a penalty is not permissible, but according to Imam Ahmad, it is permissible, because ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did it when he bought a house in the prison. The agent gave the seller part of the price and said, "Until ‘Umar is satisfied or consults with ‘Umar. If he is satisfied, he will pay the rest." So ‘Umar approved that. This is the sale of goods, for a specific, known item.
As for the sale of a described item in the debt, the sale of the item described in the debt that is defined by its description, this is permissible because its ruling is the ruling of a forward sale (salam). However, it is necessary to retain the entire price in the session of the contract. It is necessary to take possession of the entire price in the session of the transaction, otherwise it becomes a sale of a debt for a debt, and this is not permissible.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم دفع مبلغ رمزي من أجل حجز بضاعة معينة؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.