The Ruling on the Earnest Money in Sales
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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 reserve these goods for you, and when you come with the rest of the price, I will give you the goods." It is understood 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:
I want to be brief. If the item being sold is specific, and he bought a specific item that is in the possession of the seller, and it is in the seller's custody, and he said to him, "You have the option for a period of time," but the seller asked him to give him an earnest money (‘arabun) such that if he decides to take the item, it is deducted from the price, and if he leaves the item, it belongs to the seller as compensation for holding the item, this is permissible. This is the sale of earnest money, this is the sale of earnest money, this is for a specific item, a specific item, in the possession of the seller, and he said to him, "The option is for a period of time," and he said, "If you do not comply, you gave the earnest money or it is lost to the owner of the item," this is permissible in paying the earnest money. Welcome.
According to Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), and not according to the three Imams, the sale of earnest money is not permissible, but according to Imam Ahmad it is permissible. This is because ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), when he bought a house in the prison, meaning his agent bought a house in the prison, and gave the seller some of the price, the agent gave the seller some of the price, and said, "Until ‘Umar is pleased or consults ‘Umar, if he is pleased, I will complete it." So ‘Umar approved this. This is the sale of goods, for a specific, known item.
As for the sale in the debt, the sale of the described item in the debt, the sale of the item described by its attributes, this is permissible because its ruling is the ruling of a forward sale (salam), but it is necessary to take possession of the entire price in the session of the contract, otherwise it becomes a sale of debt for 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 reserve these goods for you, and when you come with the rest of the price, I will give you the goods." It is understood 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:
I want to be brief. If the item being sold is specific, and he bought a specific item that is in the possession of the seller, and it is in the seller's custody, and he said to him, "You have the option for a period of time," but the seller asked him to give him an earnest money (‘arabun) such that if he decides to take the item, it is deducted from the price, and if he leaves the item, it belongs to the seller as compensation for holding the item, this is permissible. This is the sale of earnest money, this is the sale of earnest money, this is for a specific item, a specific item, in the possession of the seller, and he said to him, "The option is for a period of time," and he said, "If you do not comply, you gave the earnest money or it is lost to the owner of the item," this is permissible in paying the earnest money. Welcome.
According to Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), and not according to the three Imams, the sale of earnest money is not permissible, but according to Imam Ahmad it is permissible. This is because ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), when he bought a house in the prison, meaning his agent bought a house in the prison, and gave the seller some of the price, the agent gave the seller some of the price, and said, "Until ‘Umar is pleased or consults ‘Umar, if he is pleased, I will complete it." So ‘Umar approved this. This is the sale of goods, for a specific, known item.
As for the sale in the debt, the sale of the described item in the debt, the sale of the item described by its attributes, this is permissible because its ruling is the ruling of a forward sale (salam), but it is necessary to take possession of the entire price in the session of the contract, otherwise it becomes a sale of debt for debt, and this is not permissible.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، اللقاء الأسبوعي-23 من 32-لفضيلة الشيخ صالح بن فوزان الفوزان -حفظه الله- مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com (45:10)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.