The Ruling on Buying Apartments Based on a Plan and Buying Land Before It Is Divided
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you. This person says: Some people working in real estate have become accustomed to presenting a complete building plan and selling it before a single brick is laid. They sell it in the form of apartments. Is it permissible to buy apartments based on the plan? And is it permissible to buy land before it is divided and cut up, and before its title deeds are issued?
Answer:
Selling planned apartments. This is considered a contract of istisna' (manufacturing), which is known to jurists. It is a contract where one builds a building or an apartment for you, or constructs it with specific details. According to the majority of scholars, this is not permissible because it is a sale of something known, and it is not permissible. According to the Hanafis, there is no harm in it because it is defined by its description, so there is no harm. However, the position of the majority, which is the correct view, is that it is invalid because it is a sale of something that does not exist, even if it is known. Disputes may arise, or there may be a difference in the design from what was requested. So one should wait until the building is completed and then buy it. After its completion, one will be fully informed. As for selling undivided land, where you buy a shared portion of it, there is no harm in that. You may buy one-third, one-quarter, one-fifth, or a specific number of meters of this land, and there is no harm in that as long as it exists and is owned by the seller. The important thing is that it must be owned by the seller.
So there is no harm in buying a shared portion of it for a specific number of meters or a specific area, because there is no ambiguity in this. However, the seller must have full ownership of it and have taken possession of it by vacating it, so that it is under his control.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
May Allah reward you. This person says: Some people working in real estate have become accustomed to presenting a complete building plan and selling it before a single brick is laid. They sell it in the form of apartments. Is it permissible to buy apartments based on the plan? And is it permissible to buy land before it is divided and cut up, and before its title deeds are issued?
Answer:
Selling planned apartments. This is considered a contract of istisna' (manufacturing), which is known to jurists. It is a contract where one builds a building or an apartment for you, or constructs it with specific details. According to the majority of scholars, this is not permissible because it is a sale of something known, and it is not permissible. According to the Hanafis, there is no harm in it because it is defined by its description, so there is no harm. However, the position of the majority, which is the correct view, is that it is invalid because it is a sale of something that does not exist, even if it is known. Disputes may arise, or there may be a difference in the design from what was requested. So one should wait until the building is completed and then buy it. After its completion, one will be fully informed. As for selling undivided land, where you buy a shared portion of it, there is no harm in that. You may buy one-third, one-quarter, one-fifth, or a specific number of meters of this land, and there is no harm in that as long as it exists and is owned by the seller. The important thing is that it must be owned by the seller.
So there is no harm in buying a shared portion of it for a specific number of meters or a specific area, because there is no ambiguity in this. However, the seller must have full ownership of it and have taken possession of it by vacating it, so that it is under his control.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
لقاء مفتوح [الزلفي] — alfawzan.live (25:10)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.