Forfeiture of deposit clause
| Fatwa #2360 | Category: Business & Trade | Country: Zambia | Date: 14th May 2026 |
| Fatwa #2360 | Date: 14th May 2026 |
| Category: Business & Trade | |
| Country: Zambia | |
Question
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
Respected mufti sahib
A person is selling a piece of land. At the moment, there are people who want to buy it, so the seller agrees to sell it to one person, and it is agreed that payment will be made in instalments. However, after some time, the buyer is unable to pay the full amount. In the meantime, the seller has lost the other potential buyers, so he is losing out. In this situation, can he include a clause in the agreement stating that if, for some reason, the buyer is unable to pay the full amount, a certain percentage of the money will be kept by the seller as damages? Can he include this clause from the outset and keep some percentage of the deposit?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In principle, a deposit paid to secure an item is refundable unless it is later treated as part of the sale price. Such a deposit is also called earnest money.[1]
Shari’ah does not recognise the concept of “loss of potential gains”. The notion that ‘potential buyers were lost’ is not a tangible one as there is no actual loss incurred by the seller due to this. It is rather a loss of future potential gains. Therefore, it is not permissible to include a clause of charging damages if the buyer fails to uphold the sale.
Alternatively, the seller can impose the cost of legal fees or any such fees which are commonly expected in a land sale onto the buyer and demand its payment upfront. These fees would ofcourse be payable to the individual or institution actually tasked to carry out these services. These fees would not be refundable if the actual legal services were carried out. This would indirectly work as a deterrent against the buyer failing to pay the full purchase price.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Bilal Pandor
Concurred by
Mufti Muhammad Patel
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia
بيع العربون أن يشترط المشترى الخيار لنفسه إلى مدة معلومة ويدفع إلى البائع مبلغاً ( يُسمّى (العربون بشرط أنّه إن نفذ البيع فالعربون يكون جزء من الثمن، وإن فسخ البيع فالعربون يستحق العربون ولا يرده إلى المشترى. والبيع بهذا الشرط غير جائز عند جمهور الفقهاء. فلا يجوز للبائع عند فسخ العقد أن يُمسك بالعربون، بل يجب عليه أن يرده إلى المشترى، إلا إذا حكم به حاكم، أو ظهر التقنين على جوازه، لأن المسئلة مجتهد فيها ، وقد جوزه الإمام أحمد رحمه الله تعالى.
۱۹ – “هامش الجدية ” مبلغ يدفعه المشترى إلى البائع عند وعده بشراء شيئ قبل إنجاز البيع، ليثبت به جديته في ذلك الوعد. وإن هذا المبلغ لا يأخذ حكم العربون، بل هو أمانة بيد البائع يجب عليه أن يرده إلى مالكه إن لم يتم البيع لسبب من الأسباب.