Conditions of Sale.
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The Shaykh : Selling, buying, leasing, deferring payment, hiring, endowments, and the like are all among the blessings of Allah upon His servants. If selling were not permissible, people would fall into difficulty. I am in need of clothing, I have dirhams, and the clothing is with the shopkeeper. If selling were not permissible, how would I obtain the clothing? Answer me? It is not possible, except by fighting. The shopkeeper is in need of the dirhams; he wants to clear his stock so that he can buy other goods. Without this, it would not be easy for him to clear his stock. Therefore, selling, and the permissibility of selling, is among the blessings of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) upon His servants, among the blessings of Allah upon His servants. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah 2:275] But selling has conditions and it has impediments. It has conditions without which it is not valid, and it has impediments that prevent its validity even when the conditions are present. Among the conditions is that the seller must be the owner of the item or have authority over it. That is to say, the sale must necessarily take place from an owner or from one who acts in his place. Pay attention: the sale must necessarily take place from an owner or from one who acts in his place. Repeat it for me? You, yes? Repeat it while you are standing. Stand up, man. Among the conditions of selling is that it be? Where are you going? Rest. That it be? Yes...
The questioner : That the sale take place from an owner or from one who acts in his place.
The Shaykh : Well done. That it be from an owner or from one who acts in his place. If I seized your bag, your school bag, and sold it to someone, is the sale permissible? It is not permissible, because I am not the owner nor one acting in the place of the owner. Now, if I knew that you wanted to sell this item and I sold it based on my assumption that you wanted to sell it, and when I informed you, you approved me and said, "May Allah reward you with good, I was looking for someone to buy it," is the sale valid or not? The conditions, my brothers, are that it be from an owner or from one who acts in his place. I am not the owner, nor do I act in his place, because you did not appoint me as an agent. Scholars have differed on this issue; some said it is permissible, and some said it is not permissible. Another example: A man I know wants to sell his car, I am certain of this. A man passed by me and asked, "Do you know anyone who has a car?" I said, "Yes, this car." The man did not appoint me as an agent, so he bought it for its market price, paid the price in cash, left, and took the car. Is it permissible or not? Let us see. It must be from an owner or from one who acts in his place, from an owner or from one who acts in his place. And I am not the owner, nor one acting in the place of the owner. But some scholars say: That is permissible even if the owner of the car did not appoint me, even if he did not appoint me, if he approved me, then the objective has been achieved. And this opinion is the correct one. But if he did not approve me and said, "Why did you sell it? I did not appoint you, and I originally wanted to sell it, but I changed my mind," what is the ruling? The sale is not valid, unanimously. The sale is not valid, unanimously. Now, I have disposed of it and sold it to the man, so what do I do? I search for the man anywhere and I retrieve the car and give him his money. If I am unable to do so? I am liable to guarantee the car to its owner. So if it happens that I sold it for ten thousand, and it is worth twenty thousand, do I guarantee him twenty thousand or not? Yes, I guarantee him twenty thousand. But the ten thousand I have, I hand it over to him and I add ten thousand.
But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest
وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّباThe questioner : That the sale take place from an owner or from one who acts in his place.
The Shaykh : Well done. That it be from an owner or from one who acts in his place. If I seized your bag, your school bag, and sold it to someone, is the sale permissible? It is not permissible, because I am not the owner nor one acting in the place of the owner. Now, if I knew that you wanted to sell this item and I sold it based on my assumption that you wanted to sell it, and when I informed you, you approved me and said, "May Allah reward you with good, I was looking for someone to buy it," is the sale valid or not? The conditions, my brothers, are that it be from an owner or from one who acts in his place. I am not the owner, nor do I act in his place, because you did not appoint me as an agent. Scholars have differed on this issue; some said it is permissible, and some said it is not permissible. Another example: A man I know wants to sell his car, I am certain of this. A man passed by me and asked, "Do you know anyone who has a car?" I said, "Yes, this car." The man did not appoint me as an agent, so he bought it for its market price, paid the price in cash, left, and took the car. Is it permissible or not? Let us see. It must be from an owner or from one who acts in his place, from an owner or from one who acts in his place. And I am not the owner, nor one acting in the place of the owner. But some scholars say: That is permissible even if the owner of the car did not appoint me, even if he did not appoint me, if he approved me, then the objective has been achieved. And this opinion is the correct one. But if he did not approve me and said, "Why did you sell it? I did not appoint you, and I originally wanted to sell it, but I changed my mind," what is the ruling? The sale is not valid, unanimously. The sale is not valid, unanimously. Now, I have disposed of it and sold it to the man, so what do I do? I search for the man anywhere and I retrieve the car and give him his money. If I am unable to do so? I am liable to guarantee the car to its owner. So if it happens that I sold it for ten thousand, and it is worth twenty thousand, do I guarantee him twenty thousand or not? Yes, I guarantee him twenty thousand. But the ten thousand I have, I hand it over to him and I add ten thousand.