Ambiguity in business transactions
Q: My wife bought a painting from someone which was still to be painted. She was given a description of what the painting would look like but she didn’t see it. She also didn’t know what the size of the painting would be. Also, when my wife enquired regarding the price, she was told, ‘‘Don’t worry. You don’t need to pay me.’’ After a few days, my wife asked the lady if she had started with the painting. She said, ‘‘No’’. So my wife told her that she no longer wanted the painting.
Two weeks later, the lady brought the painting and asked her to pay for it. My wife paid her because she didn’t want to cause problems. Besides not liking the painting, it was also too expensive. My questions are:
1. What is the condition of this transaction?
2. If the transaction is not correct, what is the way out?
A: It was not binding upon your wife to accept the painting since she had cancelled the previous transaction. However, when the woman brought the painting and your wife accepted it and paid for it, a new transaction took place between both of them through mutual agreement. Dealing in this way, where the price of the commodity is not known, is not correct in Shari’ah as this leads to quarrels and disputes coming about.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
قال البيع ينعقد بالإيجاب والقبول إذا كانا بلفظي الماضي (الهداية 3/18)
هو مبادلة المال بالمال بالتراضي بطريق الاكتساب (العناية شرح الهداية 3/457)
ومنها أن يكون المبيع معلوما والثمن معلوما علما يمنع من المنازعة فبيع المجهول جهالة تفضي إليها غير صحيح كبيع شاة من هذا القطيع وبيع شيء بقيمته وبحكم فلان (الفتاوى الهندية 3/3)
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