Liaison office of Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Al Sistani (L.M.H.L) in London, Europe, North and South America.
2089. There are six conditions for the sellers and buyers:
They should be baligh.
They should be sane.
They should not be impudent, that is, they should not be squandering
their wealth.
They should have a serious and genuine intention to sell and purchase a
commodity. Hence, if a person says jokingly, that he has sold his property,
that transaction is void.
They have not been forced to sell and buy.
They should be the rightful owners of the commodity which they wish to
sell, or give in exchange. Rules relating to these will be explained in the
following:
2090. To conduct business with a child who is not baligh, and who
makes a deal independently, is void, except in things of small value, in which
transactions are normally conducted with the children who can discern. But if
a discerning child is accompanied by his guardian, and he pronounces the
confirmation of the deal, then the transaction is valid in every situation.
In fact, if the commodity or money is the property of another person, and
that child sells that commodity or purchases something with that money, as an
agent of the owner, the transaction is in order, even if the discerning child
may be possessing that property or money on his own.
And similarly, if
the child is a medium of payment to the seller, and carrying the commodity to
the buyer, or giving the commodity to the buyer and carrying the money to the
seller, the transaction is valid, even if the child may not be discerning
(i.e. one who can distinguish between good and bad) because in reality, two
adult persons have entered into the contract.
2091. If a person buys something from a child who is not baligh, or
sells something to him, in a situation when the transaction is not valid, he
should give the commodity or money back to his guardian, if it was the child's
own property, or to its owner, if it was the property of someone else, or should
obtain the owner's agreement.
But if he does not know its owner, and has
also no means to identify him, he should give the thing taken from the child
to a poor on behalf of its owner as Radde Mazalim, and in so doing, he should,
as an obligatory precaution, seek the Mujtahid's permission.
2092. If a person concludes a transaction with a discerning child
(i.e. one who can distinguish between good and evil), in a situation when it
is not valid to conclude a transaction with him, and the commodity or money
which he gives to the child is lost, he can claim it from the child after he
attains the age of Bulugh, or from his guardian. But if the child is not
discerning, he will have no right to claim anything from him.
2093. If a buyer or a seller is forced to conclude a transaction, and
he concedes after the transaction is concluded (e.g. if he says: I agree), the
transaction is valid. However, the recommended precaution is that the formula
of the transaction should be repeated.
2094. If a person sells the property of another person without his
consent, and if the owner of the property is not agreeable to the sale, and
does not grant permission, the transaction is void.
2095. The father or paternal grandfather of a child and the executor
of the father and the executor of the paternal grandfather of a child, can sell
the property of the child, and if the circumstances demand, an Adil Mujtahid
can also sell the property of an insane person, or an orphan, or one who has
disappeared.
2096. If a person usurps some property, and sells it and after the
sale, the owner of the property allows the transaction, the transaction is
valid, and the thing which the usurper sold to the buyer and the profits
accrued to it, from the time of transaction, belongs to the buyer. Similarly,
the thing given by the buyer, and the profits accrued to it from the time of
the transaction, belong to the person whose property was usurped.
2097. If a person usurps some property, and sells it with the
intention that the sale proceeds should belong to him, and if the owner of the
property allows the transaction, the transaction is valid, but the sale
proceeds will belong to the owner, and not to the usurper.