The Ruling on Conditioning a Sale on a Realized Condition

The questioner : Among these cases is if he appointed an agent to purchase a slave girl, and the agent bought her for him, then the principal denied the agency, and the agent wanted to buy her from him. The principal did not acknowledge ownership, then said to him, “If I had authorized you to buy her, then I have sold her to you.” Is this valid or not? There are two views: one is that it is not valid, because a sale cannot be conditioned, which is the view of al-Qadi and Ibn Aqil. The second is that it is valid, as mentioned in *al-Kuhf* by Kamil, because it is a condition attached to a realized matter that they both know, so mentioning it in the contract does not affect it, just as if he said, “I have sold you this if it is a slave girl.” Supporting this is Ahmad’s text in the narration of Ibn Mansur regarding the validity of selling an absent item if it is sound. If this is the implication of the general contract, then conditioning the sale on it does not harm.

The Shaykh : Yes, the correct view in this issue is that it is valid. Because if he says, “If I did not authorize you, then I have sold her to you,” then if it becomes clear that he had authorized him, his sale is after the execution. And if it does not become clear that it belongs to him, then she belongs to the agent in the first contract. So, in any case, it is for the agent. And regarding the statement that a sale cannot be conditioned, the correct view is that it can be conditioned, and that every contract can be conditioned, because the default for conditions is validity, except for what evidence proves to be invalid. The default for conditions in contracts is validity, except for what evidence proves to be invalid.
I say that the correct view is the permissibility of conditioning a sale on a condition, because the default for conditions is validity, except for what evidence proves to be invalid. As for his statement, “If he sent this absent item, if it is sound,” this is clearly a condition attached to what the sale is not valid without, because the sale does not take place unless it is sound.