Journal of Islamic Law Research

Journal of Islamic Law Research

"Customary Implied Condition" as the Sole Basis for Rescission Rights (Khiyārāt) in Islamic Contract Law

Type : Research Article

Author
Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law, Faculty of Islamic Sciences and Researches, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
Abstract
 ‌Context & Objective: The foundational principle in Islamic contract law is the binding nature of agreements (aṣālat al-luzūm), wherein parties must adhere to their stipulations and any dissolution of the contract requires explicit justification. While mutual agreement can dissolve a contract through negotiated cancellation, unilateral rescission demands a definitive legal basis established by the lawgiver. These justifications are discussed in Islamic jurisprudence under the framework of khiyārāt (rights of rescission). A rescission right may originate directly from a contractual stipulation, as seen in khiyār-e sharṭ (option of condition), or it may be grounded in explicit jurisprudential evidence, such as khiyār-e majlis (option of the meeting) and khiyār-e ḥaywān (option of the animal). However, for the majority of other rescission categories—including the options of delay, inspection, defect, lesion, unfulfilled parts, and impossibility of delivery—the underlying evidence derived from foundational texts, consensus, and the conduct of rational actors remains a subject of ongoing dispute among jurists. The objective of this research is to determine whether these diverse categories of rescission can be systematically traced back to a unified contractual origin. Specifically, the central question addresses whether the remaining types of rescission rights operate fundamentally as implied conditions integrated into the fabric of the contract itself, functioning similarly to explicit contractual options.
 ‌Method & Approach: The investigation employs the method of qualitative induction by comprehensively examining and synthesizing the established statements, rulings, and independent reasoning of Islamic jurists. By systematically tracking the application of rescission rights across different contractual disputes within jurisprudential texts, the analysis abstracts the underlying rationales utilized by jurists to justify contract dissolution.
 ‌Findings: The inductive analysis reveals that the foundation of almost all rescission rights can be accurately classified as contractual, specifically operating through the mechanism of sharṭ-e ḍimnī (the customary implied condition). An implied condition represents the customary and consequential implication of the contract's terminology, reflecting the mutual, unstated intent of the transacting parties. Juristically, it holds the same binding authority as an explicit stipulation. This implied condition manifests in various forms depending on the transaction's context, and a breach of any specific manifestation generates a distinct legal category for contract dissolution. For instance, the absolute nature of a contract dictates an implied mutual intent for the simultaneous delivery of goods and consideration; a violation of this customary expectation triggers khiyār-e taʾkhīr (option of delay). When goods are traded based on a specific description, the parties operate under the implied condition that the described attributes exist, and discovering the contrary activates khiyār-e ruʾyat (option of inspection). Furthermore, the customary assumption of financial equivalence between the exchanged values acts as an implicit contractual clause, and any severe disparity results in khiyār-e ghabn (option of lesion). The mutual reliance on the structural integrity of the exchanged items implies a guarantee against hidden flaws, establishing khiyār-e ʿeyb (option of defect). Transactions involving multiple components carry an implied condition of indivisibility, granting the buyer khiyār-e tabaʿʿuḍ-e ṣafqah (option of unfulfilled parts) if a portion of the transaction is invalidated. Finally, the capacity to execute the exchange is inherently implied, meaning that an inability to deliver consideration due to insolvency yields khiyār-e taflīs (option of bankruptcy), while other systemic failures trigger khiyār-e taʿadhdhur-e taslīm (option of impossibility of delivery).
 ‌Conclusion: The binding principle of contracts dictates that any departure from a finalized agreement requires rigorous substantiation. This substantiation manifests in three primary forms: explicit jurisprudential mandates, explicit contractual stipulations, and customary implied conditions. While explicit stipulations are governed by the principle of contractual freedom and the secondary rule of lā ḍarar (prohibition of harm), relying solely on the prohibition of harm to justify the broader spectrum of rescission rights is doctrinally problematic, as the harm often stems from the transaction itself rather than the binding nature of the contract. Recognizing the customary implied condition as the singular, unifying basis for the majority of rescission rights resolves this jurisprudential friction. Because an implied condition fundamentally qualifies the initial contractual commitment, a breach means the foundational obligation to fulfill the contract no longer applies in absolute terms. Consequently, standard rescission rights do not require exceptional jurisprudential exemptions or secondary rules of harm avoidance; rather, they are the direct legal consequence of violating the unwritten, customary stipulations that structurally define the mutual agreement of the parties.
Keywords
Subjects

  1. The Holy Quran.
  2. al-Feqh al-mansūb ilā al-Imām al-Riḍā (1406 AH/1985). Qom: Aal al-Bayt Institute [in Arabic].
  3. Amoli, Mohammad Taqi (1413 AH/1992). al-Makāsib va al-bayʿ (Vol. 2). Qom: Islamic Publications Office [in Arabic].
  4. Ansari, Morteza (1415 AH/1994). Ketāb al-makāsib (Vols. 3, 5 & 6, 1st ed.). Qom: Congress for Commemoration of Sheikh Ansari [in Arabic].
  5. Araki, Mohammad Ali (1414 AH/1993). al-Ḵiyārāt. Qom: Dar Rah-e Haq Institute [in Arabic].
  6. Ardabili, Ahmad ibn Mohammad (1418 AH/1997). Majmaʿ al-fāʾidah va al-burhān (Vol. 8). Qom: Islamic Publication Center [in Arabic].
  7. Bahr al-Ulum, Mohammad ibn Mohammad Taqi (1362 SH/1983). Bulaġat al-faqīh (1st ed.). Tehran: Maktabat al-Sadiq [in Arabic].
  8. Bahrami Ahmadi, Hamid (1390 SH/2011). Ḥoqūq-e Taʿahhodāt va Qarārdādhā [Law of Obligations and Contracts] (1st ed.). Tehran: Imam Sadiq University [in Persian].
  9. Bahrani, Yousuf ibn Ahmad (1363 SH/1984). al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍirah fī aḥkām al-ʿitrat al-ṭāhirah (Vol. 19, 1st ed.). Qom: Islamic Publications Office [in Arabic].
  10. Ebrahimi Qaeni, Ahmad (1401 SH/2022). Delālat-e Šarṭ-e Żemnī-ye Tasāvī-ye ʿAvażayn bar Ḵiyār-e Ġabn-e Ḥādeṯ dar Qarārdād-e Ijārah [The Implication of the Implied Condition of Equality of Consideration on the Option of Subsequent Lesion in Lease Contracts]. Do-faslnameh-ye Elmi-Pazhoheshi Ta Ijtihad [Scientific-Research Biannual Journal of Ta Ijtihad], No. 11, pp. 101–128 [in Persian].
  11. Fazel Miqdad, Miqdad ibn Abdallah (n.d.). al-Tanqīḥ al-rāʾiʿ (Vol. 2). Qom: Grand Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi Library [in Arabic].
  12. Hakim, Sayyid Mohsen (1374 SH/1995). Mustamsak al-ʿUrwat al-vuṯqā (Vol. 12). Qom: Dar al-Tafsir [in Arabic].
  13. Hakim, Sayyid Mohsen (n.d.). Nahj al-faqāhah (Vol. 1, 1st ed.). Qom: 22 Bahman [in Arabic].
  14. Hamadani, Reza (1420 AH/1999). Ḥāšiyat al-Makāsib. Qom: Ansari [in Arabic].
  15. Hashemi Shahroudi, Sayyid Mahmoud (1426 AH/2005). Buḥūṯ fī al-feqh al-zirāʿī. Qom: Encyclopaedia of Islamic Jurisprudence Institute [in Arabic].
  16. Hashemi Shahroudi, Sayyid Mahmoud (1429 AH/2008). Ketāb al-ijārah (Vol. 1). Qom: Encyclopaedia of Islamic Jurisprudence Institute [in Arabic].
  17. Hashemi Shahroudi, Sayyid Mahmoud (1444 AH/2022). Mabāḥiṯ ʿāmmah ḥawla al-ʿaqd. Qom: Jurisprudential Center of Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi [in Arabic].
  18. Hilli (Allamah), Hasan ibn Yousuf (1413 AH/1992). Qavāʿid al-aḥkām (Vol. 3). Qom: Islamic Publications Office [in Arabic].
  19. Hilli (Allamah), Hasan ibn Yousuf (1414 AH/1993). Taḏkirat al-foqahāʾ (Vols. 10, 11, 14 & 18). Qom: Aal al-Bayt Institute [in Arabic].
  20. Hilli (Allamah), Hasan ibn Yousuf (1420 AH/1999). Taḥrīr al-aḥkām (Vol. 2). Qom: Imam Sadiq Institute [in Arabic].
  21. Hilli (Muhaqqiq), Jafar ibn Hasan (1408 AH/1987). Šarāʾiʿ al-Eslām (Vol. 2). Qom: Ismāʿīlīyān [in Arabic].
  22. Hosseini Amili, Sayyid Mohammad Javad (n.d.). Miftāḥ al-karāmah (Vol. 4). Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi [in Arabic].
  23. Hurr al-Amili, Mohammad ibn Hasan (1409 AH/1988). Wasāʾil al-Šīʿah (Vol. 18). Qom: Aal al-Bayt Institute [in Arabic].
  24. Ibn Abi Jumhur, Mohammad ibn Zain al-Din (1405 AH/1984). ʿAwālī al-laʾālī (Vol. 3, 1st ed.). Qom: Dar Sayyid al-Shohada [in Arabic].
  25. Ibn Zuhrah, Hamzah ibn Ali (1417 AH/1996). Ġunyat al-nuzūʿ (Vol. 1, 1st ed.). Qom: Imam Sadiq Institute [in Arabic].
  26. Iravani, Ali (1379 SH/2000). Ḥāšiyat al-Makāsib (Vol. 2). Qom: Kutubi Najafi [in Arabic].
  27. Isfahani, Mohammad Hossein (1427 AH/2006). Ḥāšiyat al-Makāsib (Vols. 4 & 5, 1st ed.). Qom: Dhawi al-Qurba [in Arabic].
  28. Karaki, Ali ibn Hossein (1412 AH/1991). Jāmiʿ al-maqāṣid (Vol. 13, 2nd ed.). Qom: Aal al-Bayt Institute [in Arabic].
  29. Kashif al-Ghita, Mohammad Hossein (1422 AH/2001). Taḥrīr al-Majallah (Vol. 1). Qom: World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought [in Arabic].
  30. Katouzian, Nasser (1398 SH/2019). Dowreh-ye Ḥoqūq-e Madanī; ʿUqūd-e Moʿayyan [Civil Law Course; Nominate Contracts] (Vol. 1, 2nd ed.). Tehran: Ganj-e Danesh [in Persian].
  31. Katouzian, Nasser (1399 SH/2020 a). Aʿmāl-e Ḥoqūqī [Juridical Acts] (5th ed.). Tehran: Ganj-e Danesh [in Persian].
  32. Katouzian, Nasser (1399 SH/2020 b). Masʾūlīyat-e Madanī [Civil Liability] (Vol. 1, 2nd ed.). Tehran: Ganj-e Danesh [in Persian].
  33. Khoei, Sayyid Abu al-Qasim (1368 SH/1989). Miṣbāḥ al-faqāhah (Vol. 7). Beirut: Dar al-Hadi [in Arabic].
  34. Khoei, Sayyid Abu al-Qasim (1418 AH/1997). Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī (Vol. 30). Qom: Al-Khoei Institute [in Arabic].
  35. Khoei, Sayyid Abu al-Qasim (1429 AH/2008). Muḥāḍarāt fī al-feqh al-Jaʿfarī (Vols. 2 & 4). Qom: Encyclopaedia of Islamic Jurisprudence Institute [in Arabic].
  36. Khomeini, Sayyid Mustafa (1368 SH/1989). Ketāb al-ḵiyārāt (Vol. 4). Qom: Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works [in Arabic].
  37. Khomeini, Sayyid Ruhollah (1392 AH/1972). Ketāb al-bayʿ (Vols. 4 & 5, 1st ed.). Qom: Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works [in Arabic].
  38. Kulayni, Mohammad ibn Ya'qub ibn Ishaq (1407 AH/1986). al-Kāfī (4th ed.). Tehran: Dar al-Kotob al-Islamiyah [in Arabic].
  39. Mamqani, Abdallah (n.d.). Nihāyat al-maqāl fī takmilat Ġāyat al-āmāl. Qom: Majma' al-Dakha'ir al-Islamiyah [in Arabic].
  40. Matin Daftari, Ahmad (1381 SH/2002). Majmūʿeh-ye Rūye-ye Qażāyī [Judicial Precedent Collection]. Tehran: Roham [in Persian].
  41. Mohaghegh Damad, Mustafa (1388 SH/2009). Naẓarīyeh-ye ʿUmūmī-ye Šurūṭ va Eltezāmāt dar Ḥoqūq-e Eslāmī [General Theory of Conditions and Obligations in Islamic Law]. Tehran: Islamic Publication Center [in Persian].
  42. Mousavi Bojnourdi, Sayyid Hasan (1377 SH/1998). al-Qavāʿid al-feqhīyah (Vol. 5, 1st ed.). Qom: Al-Hadi [in Arabic].
  43. Mughniyah, Mohammad Javad (1379 SH/2000). Feqh al-Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (Vol. 3). Qom: Ansariyan [in Arabic].
  44. Naeini, Mohammad Hossein (1373 AH/1954). Munyat al-ṭālib (Vols. 1 & 2, 1st ed.). Tehran: Mohammadi Bookstore [in Arabic].
  45. Najafi, Mohammad Hasan (n.d.). Javāhir al-kalām (Vols. 22, 23, 27 & 31, 1st ed.). Qom: Encyclopaedia of Islamic Jurisprudence Institute [in Arabic].
  46. Naraghi, Ahmad (1375 SH/1996). ʿAvāʾid al-ayyām. Qom: Islamic Propagation Office [in Arabic].
  47. Naraghi, Ahmad (1415 AH/1994). Mustanad al-Šīʿah fī aḥkām al-šarīʿah (Vol. 14). Qom: Aal al-Bayt Institute [in Arabic].
  48. Nouri, Hossein (1408 AH/1987). Mustadrak al-Wasāʾil (Vol. 13, 1st ed.). Qom: Aal al-Bayt Institute [in Arabic].
  49. Rashti, Mirza Habibollah (n.d.). Ketāb al-ijārah. [n.p.] [in Arabic].
  50. Sanad, Mohammad (1428 AH/2007). Feqh al-maṣārif va al-nuqūd. Qom: Muhibbin [in Arabic].
  51. Shahid-e Sani, Zain al-Din (1410 AH/1989). al-Rawḍat al-bahīyah fī šarḥ al-Lumʿat al-Damashqīyah (Vols. 3 & 4). Qom: Dawari Bookstore [in Arabic].
  52. Shahid-e Sani, Zain al-Din (1413 AH/1992). Masālik al-afhām (Vol. 3). Qom: Islamic Knowledge Institute [in Arabic].
  53. Shariat Isfahani, Fathallah (n.d.). Qāʿidat lā ḍarar (1st ed.). Qom: Islamic Publications Office [in Arabic].
  54. Sistani, Sayyid Ali (1422 AH/2001). al-Masāʾil al-muntaḵabah. Qom: Office of Grand Ayatollah Sistani [in Arabic].
  55. Tabatabai Yazdi, Sayyid Mohammad Kazim (1410 AH/1989). Ḥāšiyat al-Makāsib (Vol. 2, 1st ed.). Qom: Ismāʿīlīyān [in Arabic].
  56. Tabatabai, Sayyid Ali (1418 AH/1997). Riyāḍ al-masāʾil (Vol. 8, 1st ed.). Qom: Aal al-Bayt Institute [in Arabic].
  57. Tabrizi, Mirza Javad (1389 SH/2010). Iršād al-ṭālib (Vols. 6 & 7). Qom: Dar al-Saddiqah al-Shahidah [in Arabic].
  58. Tusi, Mohammad ibn Hasan (1387 AH/1967). al-Mabsūṭ (Vols. 2 & 3). Tehran: Al-Maktabah al-Murtadaviyah [in Arabic].
  59. Tusi, Mohammad ibn Hasan (1407 AH/1986). al-Ḵilāf (Vol. 3). Qom: Islamic Publications Office [in Arabic].

  • Received 06 January 2026
  • Accepted 24 April 2026