I bought an apartment from a person on the basis that I would pay him the deposit, but then I decided not to buy it and I backed out of the purchase. The seller is demanding the deposit. Does he have the right to that?

The questioner : There is a second question, and we will conclude, if Allah wills, because your time is running out, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : I bought an apartment from one of our relatives, who is a lawyer. They encouraged me to buy this apartment. I am usually someone who thinks things over, but I did not have time to think over this apartment, my need for it, its price, and so on. It was very good. My sister says this because my wife said she agreed reluctantly when she saw me. She agreed and said, “I want a deposit.” I told her, “If Allah wills, the deposit will come to you.” I bought it. Frankly, I told her, “I bought it.” I was forced to think it over... I mean, I was hesitant about this purchase. But by custom, I had bought it. I told her, “I bought it.” Then I did not give her the deposit. The deposit remained with me. I sent my son to tell her, “I want the deposit to confirm the sale,” and she did not give it to me. She also did not give me the key to the apartment.

The Shaykh : It is empty.

The questioner : Yes?

The Shaykh : It is empty.

The questioner : It is empty. Yes. Then, after about a week or more, or two or three weeks, I told my son, “Tell her that I am done. I have annulled the sale. I do not want it.” She said, “You must pay one thousand dinars, because I asked you for one thousand dinars as a deposit.” I said, “Okay, let us ask the scholars. If you are going to hold me to it, I will pay you. I annulled the sale before I gave you the deposit. I am not telling you that I am hesitant. I am not saying it is not in my heart. I bought it. I am not telling you that I did not buy it. So, do we give him this amount, or how do I know?”

The Shaykh : The deposit is not permissible in the Shari'ah. The deposit is not permissible in the Shari'ah. But it is not permissible for you to back out, as long as you gave him the word, even if you did not advance him any part of the price. The believers are bound by their conditions, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. This is from one side. From another side, the sale was concluded between you and him by the ruling of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions): . So, if they separate, the sale is binding, except for the sale with the option to choose. I do not think an option to choose occurred between you and him, is that right?

The questioner : No, there is no option.

The Shaykh : What does mean? It means he tells you, “You have the choice now for two or three days.” Did that happen?

The questioner : It did not happen.

The Shaykh : Therefore, you are now religiously bound by the sale at the price you agreed upon, just as he is bound to hand over the key as soon as you pay him the price. As for the deposit, as we said, it is not permissible for him to keep it if you actually advanced him one thousand dinars and then you backed out. It is not permissible for him to keep the deposit. The deposit is forbidden.

The questioner : It will be returned to me.

The Shaykh : It will be returned to you. But what exists here? There are two matters regarding the seller, the owner of the apartment, in his capacity as a seller. He has the right in the Shari'ah to insist on your purchase from him and to demand the price from you. He has this right in the Shari'ah. But out of his perfection, he should excuse you. He should excuse you. Do you understand?

The questioner : He forgives me, meaning.

The Shaykh : He forgives you that you do not want it, as he (peace be upon him) said: . And in another wording: . But this is an exhortation, not a ruling. Keep that in mind.

The questioner : An exhortation.

The Shaykh : An exhortation for him. That is, if he waives it and says, “May Allah forgive you,” and so on, that would be him acting with generosity from the noble qualities of character. But this is not obligatory such that you would say to him, “You must forgive me.” No, he would say to you, “You must pay me.” This is the Shari'ah. So, here, as the jurists say, there is a fatwa here and there is scrupulousness here. As for the fatwa, he will hold you to it. He will oblige you to buy the apartment. As for the scrupulousness, he must look the other way. Do you understand?

The questioner : Okay, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Okay. It is not permissible for him to take the deposit that he was demanding from you, which you did not give him. But here is something, and with that the answer ends: if the man suffered material harm because of your backing out of the purchase, for example, if he sold it to you for ten thousand, and a person came and offered him eleven thousand, and he said, “I have sold it. I cannot sell it to you,” and that customer left, and the first customer, who is you, left. So, what happened to him? He suffered harm. So, you are now obligated to compensate him for the harm. But it is not so if everything is as it was, in your hands, as they say in Syria, meaning you bought it, you gave him the purchase contract, but no one came to him and he did not suffer any harm. In that case, he has no right to demand anything from you except that you buy it. If you say, “No, by Allah, I have stopped and I do not have the means to buy,” then mutual agreement comes into play here.

The questioner : Good, but there is one thing. When I bought it from him, he did not hand me the key. The house remained.

The Shaykh : No, that is not applicable, because he did not hand you the key, and you did not hand him the price.

The questioner : I did not hand him the price.

The Shaykh : One for one.

The questioner : One for one.

The Shaykh : If it were.

The questioner : May Allah forbid it, if the house suffered a disaster or collapsed or something like that...

The Shaykh : You, yes. Drink the tea, it will cool down.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, with the deficiency.