Circumstances in Which One can cancel a Transaction

2132. The right to cancel a transaction is called Khiyar. The seller and the buyer can cancel a transaction in the following twelve cases:

First: If the parties to the transaction have not parted from each other and this right is called Khiyar of Majlis.

Second: If the buyer or the seller has been cheated in a sale transaction, they have a right to call off the deal and this is called Khiyar of Ghabn.

Third: If while entering into a transaction, it is agreed that up to a stipulated time, one or both the parties will be entitled to cancel the transaction. This is called Khiyar of Shart.

Fourth: If one of the parties presents his commodity as better than it actually is and the price of the commodity increases in the view of the buyer, this is called Khiyar of Tadlis.

Fifth: If one of the parties to the transaction stipulates that the other would perform a certain job or if it is stipulated that the commodity will be of particular quality, and the stipulated condition is not fulfilled. In this case, the party which laid the condition can cancel the transaction. This is called Khiyar of Takhalluf of Shart.

Sixth: If the commodity supplied or the thing received in exchange is defective. This is called Khiyarul of 'Aib.

Seventh: If it transpires that a part of the commodity under transaction belongs to the third person in partnership with the seller. Even if the seller has sold the

commodity or he only sold his share of the commodity without mentioning to the buyer that the commodity is shared between him and his partner. In that case, if the buyer does not agree with the condition, he can cancel the transaction. This is called Khiyar of Shirkat.

Eight: If the seller sells someone else’s commodity with his own separate commodity and the other person disagrees with it, the buyer can take back the money from the seller or he can terminate the whole transaction. This is called Khiyar of Tab’adh of Sifqah

Ninth: If the owner describes certain qualities of his commodity which the buyer has not seen, and the buyer later realizes that the commodity is not as it was described, that its quality is lower than what was described. In this case, the buyer can terminate the transaction. In addition, if the buyer describes certain quality of what he will provide in exchange of the commodity and later the seller realize that it is not according to the description, he has the right to terminate the transaction. Similarly, if the deal is made upon the sight of the commodity or its exchange sometimes back, assuming that the qualities it had then will be still existing and later they find that those qualities have degraded, in the first case the buyer and in the second case the seller has the right to cancel the deal. This is called Khiyar of Ro’iyat.

Tenth: If the buyer does not pay for the commodity he has bought for three days, and the seller has no yet handed over the commodity to the buyer, if the buyer has not mentioned the condition that he can postpone the payment, the seller can cancel the transaction. If the commodity is perishable, like fruits, which would perish or decay if left for one day and the buyer does not pay until nightfall, and if the buyer has not mentioned the condition that he can postpone the payment, the seller can cancel the transaction. This is called Khiyar of Ta'khir. 

Eleventh: A person who buys an animal, can cancel the transaction within three days. In addition, if the seller sold his commodity in exchange for an animal, he can cancel the transaction within three days. This is called Khiyar of hayawan.

Twelfth: If the seller is unable to deliver possession of the thing sold by him. For example, if the horse sold by him runs away and disappears, the buyer can cancel the transaction. This is called Khiyar of Ta'azzur of Taslim and their rulings will be mentioned later.

2133. If a buyer does not know the price of the commodity, or was unconcerned about it at the time of purchase, and buys the thing for higher than the usual price,

he can cancel the transaction if the difference of the price is substantial. Similarly, if the seller does not know the price of the commodity, or was unconcerned about it at the time of selling, and sells the thing at a cheaper price, he can cancel the deal if the difference is substantial.

2134. In a transaction of “Conditional sale", for example, a house worth thousand Dollars is sold for two hundred Dollars, and it is agreed that if the seller returns the money within a stipulated period, he can cancel the transaction, the transaction is in order, provided that the buyer and the seller had genuine intention of purchase and sale.

2135. In a transaction of "Conditional Sale", if the seller is sure that even if he did not return the money within the stipulated time, the buyer will return the property to him, the transaction is in order. However, if he does not return the money within the stipulated time, he is not entitled to demand the return of the property from the buyer.

2136. If a person mixes an inferior quality of tea with that of superior quality and sells it as a superior quality of tea, as the buyer does not recognize it, later when he recognizes it, he can cancel the transaction. 

2137. If the transaction of a specified commodity takes place and the buyer finds out that the commodity purchased by him is defective. For example, if he purchases an animal and finds that (after purchasing it) it is blind in an eye, and this defect existed before the transaction was made, but he was not aware of it, he can cancel the transaction and return the animal to the seller. As per obligatory precaution, until it is possible, he should suffice on returning the commodity and cancelling the transaction. And if it is not possible to return it, for example, if some change has taken place in it, or it has been used in such a manner that it cannot be returned, then in this case, the difference between the values of the faultless commodity and the defective commodity should be assessed, and the buyer should get refund of that portion of the amount paid by him to the seller. For example, if a person has purchased a commodity for four Dollars and finds out that it is defective, in addition, the price of the commodity in faultless state is eight Dollars and that of defective is six Dollars, since the price difference of faultless and defective commodity is assessed as one fourth of the actual price, the buyer can take back the one fourth of the money paid to the seller, which is one Dollar.

2138. If a seller finds out that what he received in exchange for his commodity is defective, and the transaction was made against a specific currency note, not against any note which buyer possesses, in this case, if the defect was present in it before

the transaction, but he was not aware of it, then according to the direction mentioned in the previous rule, he can cancel the transaction and return the commodity to its owner or he can obtain the difference between the faultless and the defective commodity.

2139. If a defect occurs in the commodity after conclusion of the transaction but before delivering it, or if some defect is found in what is taken in exchange of the commodity, after conclusion of the transaction but before delivering it, the seller can act with the buyer according to the rule 2137.

 2140. If a person comes to know about the defect after concluding the transaction, it is necessary for him to cancel the transaction at once; and if he delays, then he loses his right to cancel the transaction unless he does not know about its rulings that he can cancel the transaction after he comes to know about it. If he finds a defect and was not able to return the commodity immediately because of an obstacle, if he did not ask for the difference of the faultless and defective commodity at once, he loses his right to ask for the difference.

 2141. If a person comes to know about the defect in a commodity after purchasing it, he can cancel the transaction, even if the seller does not agree with it.

2142. In four cases, the buyer cannot cancel the transaction because of defect in the property purchased by him, nor can he claim the difference between the prices.

First: If at the time of purchasing the commodity, he is aware of the defect in it.

Second: If he does not have any objection about the defect in the commodity.

Third: If at the time of concluding the contract, he says; “Even if the property has a defect I will neither return it nor claim the difference between the prices".

Fourth: If at the time of concluding the contract, the seller says, “I sell this property with whatever defect it may have". However, he specifies a defect and says, "I am selling this property with this defect" and it transpires later that it has some other defect as well, which he did not mention, the buyer can return the property due to that defect, and if it is not possible to return the commodity, he can take the difference between the prices.

2143. If the buyer uses the commodity in such a way that state of the commodity changes from its original state. For example, if he cuts the cloth into pieces or grinds the cereal into flour and later it becomes evident to him that the commodity had some defects, he cannot cancel the transaction. However, he can obtain the difference of

the price. Similarly, after receiving the commodity, some other defect appears in the commodity. However, if he purchases a defective animal and after the passage of three days, some other defect appears in the animal, even if he had taken the delivery of the animal, he is entitled to return it to the seller. In addition, if only the buyer was given the option to cancel the deal within a fixed period, and another defect appears in the animal during that period, the buyer can cancel the transaction, even if he may have taken delivery of the animal. 

2144. If a person owns some commodity which he himself has not seen, but another person has described its particulars to him. In addition, he mentions the same particulars to the buyer and sells the commodity to him. Moreover, after selling, it he realizes that the commodity was better than what he knew about it, he could cancel the transaction.