NUR FARAH ATIQAH BINTI NOR AZMAN (2021155805)

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT ISB542

QUESTION 2

Discuss the duration of option for “Khiyar al-Ruqyah” through Islamic schools of thought (mazhab)

Khiyar is an Islamic Law of Mu’amalat theory option which protect related parties’ right whether
the buyers and sellers want to cancel or continue or back down their contract. In other words, khiyar
can be defined as choosing the better of two things. There are two categories of option wether the
contract is created by mutual consent or the contract is created by operation of law. For Khiyar al-
Ruqyah, it is an option that fall into a contract that has been created by operation of law. The reason of
this option is to overcome commercial problems and to avoid misunderstandings. As what I have
learned in Chapter 6 of Fiqh Muamalat, Khiyar al-Ruqyah is the most important option which included
viewing, inspection and sight action in a contract. It also including tangible assets which inspection is
really needed in this matter.

Inspection process is a must when he or she has entered the contract but he or she has not seen
the condition of particular objects or things. Khiyar al-Ruqyah should implies with these two conditions
which are first, the party should not have seen the thing before. However, Khiyar al-Ruqyah cannot be
exercised anymore if he or she had seen the real condition of the object. Second, the subject of the
contract should be a specific thing such as a house or a car. For example, if a person wants to buy a
house, he has an option to see the whole of the house and he has the option to agree or cancel his
contract if he does not satisfied with the house. Nevetheless, Khiyar al-Ruqyah is not valid only with
seeing, but it also valid using other types of sense which are touching, tasting and smelling. According to
the Prophet Muhammad SAW;

“He who buys something that he never see before but he has the option to see it, he can either
to accept or to refuse it”

According to the Hanafi school of thought, khiyar al-ruqyah is valid if a buyer does not see the
goods purchased when the contract agreement is formed. In this situation, if the buyer does not see the
goods to be purchased when the contract is entered into but he has seen the goods before the contract
is formed, then the buyer can then cancel the contract if the goods that have been delivered to him are
different from what was seen before. The same is true if the buyer buys something ascetic sees it
directly, then he is entitled to khiyar al-ruqyah provided that the quality, value and durability of the
goods that have been delivered to him is lower than the specifications stated in contract. However, if
the goods have the same specifications as have been agreed in the contract, then a buyer must accept
the goods and he is not entitled to apply the principle of khiyar al-ruqyah. However, some scholars of
the Hanafi school are of the opinion that the right to choose related to khiyar al-ruqyah is an absolute
right for a buyer. A buyer has that right whether the commodity that has been shipped meets the
specifications contract or not.
 The scholars of the Maliki sect are of the view that the sale accompanied by conditions relating
to khiyar al-ruqyah is valid if the subject matter in the sale is far from the location where the contract is
formed and also difficult to access as well as the goods or services have been described in detail prior to
the formation of the contract. In such a situation, a buyer is allowed to cancel the contract if the subject
matter is in the sale it does not meet the specifications of the contract. However, if the goods or services
meet all specifications as stipulated in the contract, then the buyer has to accept the goods and he has
no right to khiyar al-ruqyah. This means, khiyar al-ruqyah cannot be practiced if the subject in a contract
is nearby and easily accessible from the location of the contract formation. Based on the authority, the
buyer must examine the appearance and quality of an item before entering into a contract if the item is
easily accessible.

The majority of the scholars of the Hanbali school also agree with the views of the Maliki school.
However, if the goods that have been delivered to the buyer are the same as the contract specifications,
then the contract is binding and the principle of khiyar al-ruqyah is not applies to him. In other words, a
seller must clearly state the nature, quality and durability of a product to the buyer before the buyer
chooses to enter into a sale and purchase agreement for goods that cannot be seen in advance based on
the principle of khiyar al-ruqyah. Meanwhile, there are two streams of opinion in the Syafi School
regarding the dalil khiyar al-ruqyah. Earlier scholars were of the view that khiyar al-ruqyah was valid.
Therefore, the buyer has the right to choose whether to buy a tapa to see it before the contract is
entered into. However, modern scholars are of the view that khiyar al-ruqyah is valid subject to
observation using inspection methods appropriate to the goods purchased. The second view is a
stronger opinion in the Syafi school.