Selling a grant before taking possession of it
Question: 40354
Is it permissible to sell the number of a land grant given by the state? Please note that the land has not been handed over yet, and the person does not know when the handover will be completed; he has only been given a number by the municipality in which it gives the date of application and the number of the application or the grant. He has sold this number to another person and has taken the money on the basis that on the appointed date for the handover he will go back to the municipality and complete the handover procedure, or he will give the buyer authority (power of attorney) to complete the procedures and transfer the land to his name after that.
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.
This
transaction is not permissible, because this comes under the heading of
gharar (ambiguity, uncertainty), and selling that which one does not have.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not
sell that which you do not have.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1322; classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 1292.
Moreover the value of
this land may fluctuate with time, so this transaction involves ambiguity
and uncertainty.
And this
number is simply a promise which has not yet become the possession of the
one who has the paper or number, so how can it be permissible for him to
sell it? The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
forbade selling that which a person does not possess. Moreover, he does not
know where the land is located. It may be in an area where the price of land
is high, or it may be on the edge of town, or outside the town in an
undesirable location. And he does not know whether it is in the middle of a
residential area or on the edge; on a main street or a back street; whether
there is one street, or two or three? All of these factors will affect the
value of the land and people’s interest in it.
Based on
this, it is not permissible to sell the paper with the number on it, the
details of which he knows nothing about. Rather the owner of the document
should wait until he gets the land and the grant is executed in reality, and
he gets the deed to the land which proves that he owns it and defines its
location and size. Then after that he can sell it if he wants to.
And Allaah
is the Source of strength.
Source:
Islam Q&A
Was this answer helpful?
Our newsletter
To join our newsletter please add your email below
IslamQA App
For a quick access to our content and offline browsing
