Resale Before Possession, Re-measurement and Price Adjustments

1. Ownership, possession and onward sale

Sale contract and possession are not identical. A valid contract produces ownership consequences, while possession concerns the buyer acquiring legally effective control over the object. The distinction matters when a buyer attempts another sale before receiving the first purchase.

Quduri separates movable property from real estate. Their classical Hanafi treatment differs because possession and the risk of destruction operate differently.

2. No onward sale of movables before possession

ومن اشترى شيئا مما ينقل ويحول لم يجز له بيعه حتى يقبضه
Translation: Whoever buys a movable item may not sell it before taking possession.

Movables are items capable of being transferred from place to place, such as cloth, grain or machinery. Despite a concluded first sale, the purchaser may not resell such items before obtaining the relevant possession.

Example: a buyer purchases 20 sacks of rice that remain undelivered in the seller’s control. The buyer must first take legally effective possession; merely signing the initial sale does not authorize resale.

3. Why movable resale is restricted

The classical reasoning stresses risk of rescission through loss: before delivery, the first transaction may be undone if the goods perish. A second purchaser would then rely on an unstable chain of sale.

Obtaining ownership does not by itself establish permission for every form of onward disposal. Some transactions remain subject to conditions of possession, and that distinction is central to the Hanafi discussion.

4. Real estate: Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf

ويجوز بيع العقار قبل القبض عند أبي حنيفة وأبي يوسف
Translation: Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf permit resale of real estate before possession.

Real estate—land or permanently fixed property—may, according to Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf, be resold before physical possession. Their reasoning is that destruction of ordinary real property in a way that would dissolve the first contract is comparatively rare.

This presumes an actual completed first sale conveying ownership. A mere booking deposit, future promise or uncompleted acquisition is not automatically equivalent to the legal case under discussion.

5. Muhammad al-Shaybani’s different ruling

وقال محمد: لا يجوز
Translation: Muhammad held that it is not permissible.

Muhammad al-Shaybani does not permit resale of real estate before possession. His reasoning applies the broader prohibition and analogy with movables.

Accordingly, the claim that all Hanafi authorities permit pre-possession resale of land is inaccurate. Quduri explicitly preserves the dissent of Muhammad alongside the views of Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf.

6. Real estate exposed to extraordinary risk

The permission regarding land rests on the usual absence of a destructive event that would unravel the first sale. Commentaries discuss exceptional cases such as property seriously threatened by river erosion or a structurally endangered upper floor. The ordinary rationale cannot simply be transferred to every such case.

The distinction illustrates a legal effective cause: one must examine the relevant risk, not merely label an asset “land.” Contemporary title and registration requirements are a separate inquiry.

7. Measured and weighed goods

ومن اشترى مكيلا مكايلة أو موزونا موازنة
Translation: And whoever buys measured goods by measure or weighed goods by weight.

Measured goods are sold by a prescribed capacity measure in the transaction; weighed goods are sold by weight, such as kilograms.

Quduri addresses a case where the original purchase and the onward sale are both specified through measurement or weighing. It is a particular delivery-and-quantification problem, not a blanket assertion that every kind of item must always be measured again.

8. First buyer’s measurement and resale

فاكتاله أو أتزنه ثم باعه مكايلة أو موازنة
Translation: Then he measures or weighs it and resells it on the basis of measure or weight.

Suppose the first buyer purchases 100 kilograms of grain and has it weighed, then sells it onward as 100 kilograms to a second purchaser. That second bargain has a distinct delivery and quantity-determination requirement.

The initial weighing served the first buyer’s acquisition. For a second measured sale, the second purchaser must receive the required renewed ascertainment; “it was weighed earlier” is not enough.

9. The second buyer must remeasure

لم يجز للمشتري منه أن يبيعه ولا يأكله حتى يعيد الكيل والوزن
Translation: The subsequent buyer may neither resell nor eat it before repeating the measure or weight.

Repeated measurement or weighing is not merely bookkeeping. It secures the contracted quantity and the legally effective delivery to the second purchaser. Commentaries also discuss the possibility of an excess remaining owed to an earlier entitled party.

In this specific measured-sale situation, the second purchaser may neither resell nor consume the goods until the fresh measurement or weighing is accomplished.

10. Why two separate measurements matter

First sale: 50 kilograms of rice are sold to the first purchaser and duly quantified for that purchaser.
Second sale: the same rice is sold anew as 50 kilograms. The second buyer needs a fresh valid measurement.

If the new result is 49 kilograms, a shortage question arises; if it is 51, the entitlement to the excess must be resolved. The point is reliable ascertainment of what is sold, not simply repeating a mechanical ritual.

11. Bulk-lot sale compared with unit measurement

A bulk-lot sale transfers an identified heap as a unit, while a measured or weighed sale makes quantity central to the exchange. The commentaries distinguish their treatment of delivery and quantity surplus.

“This entire identified heap is Rs 10,000” is not the same contract as “100 kilograms at Rs 100 per kilogram.” The wording, description of the asset and possession need to be considered together.

12. Sale object versus purchase price

The sale object is what is transferred; the price is the consideration owed for it. A rule restricting resale of an unreceived object cannot automatically be transferred to every price claim.

Quduri next permits disposition of the price before its receipt. Here the discussion concerns an ordinary price claim or consideration in a sale; currency-exchange contracts governed by their own possession rules are a separate matter.

13. Disposal of the price claim before receipt

والتصرف في الثمن قبل القبض جائز
Translation: Legal disposition of the price before receipt is permissible.

In an ordinary sale, the unpaid price claim can be subject to permitted legal disposition before the seller receives it. The reason offered is that a general monetary claim does not normally carry the same risk of dissolution through the destruction of a specifically identified object.

This differs from resale of an unreceived movable asset. The common word “possession” does not make the two rulings identical.

14. Buyer adds to the agreed price

ويجوز للمشتري أن يزيد البائع في الثمن
Translation: The buyer may increase the price payable to the seller.

A sale is concluded for Rs 100,000. Later the purchaser voluntarily agrees to add Rs 5,000 to the contractual consideration. Quduri permits such an increase; the Hanafi commentaries explain its connection to the original price obligation subject to the governing conditions.

This is not a unilateral right to impose a higher price. Valid agreement and the relevant legal conditions matter, and the adjustment can affect some downstream cost-based calculations.

15. Seller adds an item to the object sold

ويجوز للبائع أن يزيد في المبيع
Translation: The seller may increase what is transferred as the sale object.

A seller may, under the relevant conditions and agreement, add an identified item to what was sold—for instance, the original ten bags are supplemented by one specified additional bag.

Adding to the goods and adding to the price are distinct: one changes the transferred asset, the other changes the buyer’s consideration. The commentaries discuss how such adjustments relate to the original transaction.

16. Seller reduces the outstanding price

ويجوز أن يحط من الثمن
Translation: The seller may remit part of the purchase price.

If an item was sold for Rs 50,000 and the seller later deducts Rs 4,000, the remaining consideration is Rs 46,000. This is a reduction of the price. Under the relevant conditions it has effects upon the amount due under the original sale.

It should not be confused with an unrelated personal gift. After a valid reduction, the remaining debt and related delivery or withholding rights are assessed against the adjusted sum.

17. Adjustments and the original contract

ويتعلق الإستحقاق بجميع ذلك
Translation: The relevant legal entitlement attaches to all these adjustments.

Quduri states that entitlement attaches to these adjustments. A valid price increase, addition of goods or price remission is not merely an unrelated favor; it affects contractual claims and liabilities under the governing requirements.

However, pre-existing third-party rights do not all automatically change in exactly the same manner. The commentaries, for example, distinguish some effects on a pre-existing preemption claim.

18. Three price-and-goods adjustment examples

Take an original price of Rs 80,000.
1. The buyer agrees to add Rs 5,000; with the required conditions the new price is Rs 85,000.
2. The seller remits Rs 3,000; the remaining price becomes Rs 77,000.
3. The seller adds another identified article to the goods; this alters what is transferred and does not automatically mean the price rises in every case.

The parties’ valid agreement, identification of subject matter, and respective claims matter in each transaction.

19. Deferring an originally immediate price

ومن باع بثمن حال ثم أجله أجلا معلوما مؤجلا
Translation: If the seller later grants a known deferment for an immediate price, that price becomes deferred.

An immediately payable price is due at once. If the seller subsequently grants a known period of deferment, Quduri treats the price as payable at the resulting agreed time.

Example: Rs 60,000 was due immediately, but the seller grants a clear 30-day extension. The term needs to be identified; vague arrangements such as “whenever convenient” are not equivalent to a specified payment date.

20. Why the payment period must be clear

Examples of a clear term include 15 November 2026, 45 days after the agreement, or a date the parties can identify precisely.
An unclear term would be “pay when business improves,” since no definite date follows.

The rule concerns granting time after a sale. It does not by itself authorize charging a supplementary profit merely because a payment has been delayed; that is a separate legal question.

21. Deferral of ordinary debts

وكل دين حال إذا أجله صاحبه صار مؤجلا
Translation: Every immediately due debt becomes deferred when its creditor grants deferment.

The general principle extends beyond the price of a sale: Quduri says the owner of an immediately due debt may grant a legally recognized deferment.

For example, a lawful obligation of Rs 25,000 payable now may be deferred by its creditor for 20 days. This adjusts the date of enforceable payment rather than constituting a new sale. The original text then states a separate exception regarding loans.

22. The classical exception for a loan

إلا القرض فإن تأجيله لا يصح
Translation: Except a loan: stipulating a binding deferment does not take effect in this classical formulation.

Quduri states a distinct classical Hanafi rule for loans: specification of a maturity does not carry the same binding legal effect as deferment of the ordinary debts just discussed. The commentaries relate this to the benevolent character of making a loan and the legal treatment of its repayment.

This is a question about the enforceability of a stipulated period, not a moral condemnation of granting a debtor time. Modern finance structures and applicable legislation may require further independent analysis.

23. Immediate price, ordinary debt and loan

Immediate sale price: money due under a concluded sale; a known extension may be granted.
Ordinary due debt: an enforceable due sum may become deferred through a valid grant by the creditor.
Loan: Quduri states a special classical limitation on the binding character of the fixed term.

All three may appear as “money owed,” but the cause of the liability matters when identifying the applicable rule.

24. Integrated case: possession and later variations

Suppose Ahmad buys cloth for Rs 30,000.
1. He has not yet received it; he may not resell it.
2. After legally effective possession, that specific obstacle is removed, assuming other sale conditions are met.
3. The seller remits Rs 2,000, leaving a price of Rs 28,000.
4. The immediately due price is given a definite ten-day extension.

One transaction can raise distinct questions of title, possession, outstanding price and maturity.

25. Synthesis and chapter boundary

Movables cannot be resold before possession.
Real estate is generally permitted for pre-possession resale by Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf, but not by Muhammad.
Measured goods require renewed ascertainment in the specified resale situation.
Price claims have separate rules for disposal, addition, remission and clear deferment.
Loans carry the classical exception about binding maturity.

This completes the remainder of Bab al-Murabahah wa-al-Tawliyah. The next independent chapter, Bab al-Riba, is reserved for the next level.