Haqq al-Shuf'a
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Ḥaqq al-Shuf'a (Arabic: حَقُّ الشُّفْعَةِ) or the Right of Pre-emption is a jurisprudential[1] and legal term[2] denoting the prerogative of a partner in a jointly owned property to acquire the share of their co-owner—should the latter sell it to a third party—by paying the equivalent transaction amount. In Islamic jurisprudence, exercising this right is termed "akhdh bi l-shuf'a,"[3] and it is classified as a unilateral legal act within both legal and jurisprudential frameworks.[4]
Researchers confirm that the right of pre-emption is a well-established and legitimate principle within Islam,[5] universally accepted across all Islamic sects and undisputed by any jurists.[6] While some scholars suggest this right was not widely recognized before Islam, its underlying objective of preventing harm to others—along with its alignment with the conduct of the wise—implies it was likely practiced in pre-Islamic societies as well.[7] In contemporary law, this concept is explicitly codified in Articles 808 to 824 of the Iranian Civil Code.[8]
Jurists outline specific conditions regarding the subject of the right of pre-emption. Primarily, the property in question must be immovable, such as a house or a plot of land;[9] its applicability to movable property remains a subject of jurisprudential disagreement.[10] Furthermore, this right is exclusively invoked when the joint ownership is limited to exactly two partners,[11] a condition that is supported by unanimous consensus.[12] The right of pre-emption is also strictly contingent upon the property being transferred via a sale; it does not apply to other forms of transfer, such as a gift or a compromise (sulh).[13]
Several requisite conditions must also be met by the pre-emptor (shafi'). They must possess full legal capacity, rendering them competent to execute valid legal acts.[14] Additionally, the pre-emptor is generally required to be a Muslim,[15] unless the third-party buyer is a unbeliever.[16] Furthermore, a prevailing consensus among jurists[17] dictates that the pre-emptor must possess the financial capacity to immediately reimburse the buyer for the transaction amount.[18]
A defining characteristic of the right of pre-emption is the necessity for prompt execution; unwarranted delay typically results in the forfeiture of the right.[19] While this right is waivable,[20] the pre-emptor is prohibited from partially exercising it by claiming only a fraction of the sold share while rejecting the rest.[21] Finally, there is scholarly debate regarding its inheritability: while some authorities argue that the right of pre-emption can be transferred through inheritance,[22] others express doubt regarding this provision.[23]
Notes
- ↑ Sīstānī, Minhāj al-sālihīn, vol. 2, p. 98; Imam Khomeinī, Wasīlat al-najāt (ma'a hawāshī al-Imām al-Khomeinī, p. 383.
- ↑ Kātūziyān, Qānūn-i madanī dar nazm, p. 503.
- ↑ Kātūziyān, Darshāyī az shuf'a, wasiyyat, p. 14; Khū'eī, Minhāj al-sālihīn, vol. 2, p. 76.
- ↑ Sabzawārī, Jāmi' al-ahkām, p. 299.
- ↑ Mughniya, Fiqh al-Imam al-Sadiq (a), vol. 4, p. 122.
- ↑ Muhaqqiq Dāmād, Īqā', akhdh bih shuf'a, p. 3.
- ↑ Muhaqqiq Dāmād, Īqā', akhdh bih shuf'a, p. 3.
- ↑ Kātūziyān, Qānūn-i madanī dar nazm, p. 503.
- ↑ Khū'eī, Minhāj al-sālihīn, vol. 2, p. 72.
- ↑ Hillī, Tadhkirat al-fuqahā', vol. 12, p. 195.
- ↑ Tūsī, al-Mabsūt, vol. 3, p. 108.
- ↑ Tūsī, al-Khilāf, vol. 3, p. 430.
- ↑ Hillī, Qawā'id al-ahkām, vol. 2, p. 244.
- ↑ Muhaqqiq Dāmād, Īqā', akhdh bih shuf'a, p. 66.
- ↑ Imam Khomeinī, Zubdat al-ahkām, p. 152.
- ↑ Khū'ī, Minhāj al-sālihīn, vol. 2, p. 75.
- ↑ 'Āmilī, Miftāh al-karāma, vol. 18, p. 464.
- ↑ Shahīd al-Awwal, al-Lum'at al-Dimashqiyya, p. 162.
- ↑ Shahīd al-Awwal, al-Lum'at al-Dimashqiyya, p. 162.
- ↑ Sīstānī, Minhāj al-sālihīn, vol. 2, p. 105.
- ↑ Khū'eī, Minhāj al-sālihīn, vol. 2, p. 76.
- ↑ 'Āmilī, Miftāh al-karāma, vol. 18, p. 704.
- ↑ Imam Khomeinī, Wasīlat al-najāt (ma'a hawāshī al-Imām al-Khomeinī), p. 387.
References
- Ibn Fāris, Abu l-Husayn Ahmad b. Fāris b. Zakariyyā. Mu'jam maqāyīs al-lugha. Qom: Islamic Propagation Office Publications, 1404 AH.
- Imam Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūh Allāh. Zubdat al-ahkām. Tehran: Islamic Development Organization, 1404 AH.
- Imam Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūh Allāh. Wasīlat al-najāt (ma'a hawāshī al-Imām al-Khomeinī). Sayyid Abu l-Hasan Isfahānī. Qom: Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works, 1422 AH.
- Jawharī, Ismā'īl b. Hammād. Al-Sihāh tāj al-lugha wa sihāh al-'Arabiyya. Beirut: Dar al-'Ilm li-l-Malayin, 1410 AH.
- Khū'eī, Sayyid Abu l-Qāsim. Minhāj al-sālihīn. Qom: Madinat al-'Ilm Publication, 1410 AH.
- Rāghib al-Isfahānī, Husayn b. Muhammad. Mufradāt alfāz al-Qur'ān. Beirut: Dar al-'Ilm, 1412 AH.
- Sabzawārī, Sayyid 'Abd al-A'lā. Jāmi' al-ahkām al-shar'iyya. Qom: Mu'assisa al-Manar, [n.d].
- Sīstānī, Sayyid 'Alī. Minhāj al-sālihīn. Qom: Office of Ayatollah Sistani, fifth edition, 1417 AH.
- Shahīd al-Awwal, Muhammad b. Makkī al-'Āmilī. Al-Lum'at al-Dimashqiyya fī fiqh al-Imāmiyya. Beirut: Dar al-Turath - al-Dar al-Islamiyya, 1410 AH.
- Tūsī, Muhammad b. Hasan al-. Al-Khilāf. Edited by 'Ali Khurasani, Sayyid Jawad Shahristani, Mahdi Taha Najaf, and Mujtaba 'Iraqi. Qom: Islamic Publication Office, 1407 AH.
- Tūsī, Muhammad b. Hasan al-. Al-Mabsūt fī fiqh al-Imāmiyya. Tehran: Al-Maktabat al-Murtadawiyya li-Ihya' al-Athar al-Ja'fariyya, third edition, 1387 AH.
- 'Āmilī, Sayyid Jawād b. Muhammad al-. Miftāh al-karāma fī sharh qawā'id al-'Allāma. Edited by Muhammad Baqir Khalisi. Qom: Islamic Publication Office affiliated with the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, 1419 AH.
- 'Allāma al-Hillī, Hasan b. Yūsuf b. Mutahhar al-. Tadhkirat al-fuqahā'. Qom: Mu'assisa Al al-Bayt (a), first edition, 1414 AH.
- 'Allāma al-Hillī, Hasan b. Yūsuf b. Mutahhar. Qawā'id al-ahkām fī ma'rifat al-halāl wa l-harām. Qom: Islamic Publication Office affiliated with the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, 1413 AH.
- Kātūziyān, Nāsir. Qānūn-i madanī dar nazm-i huqūq-i kunūnī. Tehran: Mizan Publication, thirteenth edition, 1385 Sh.
- Muhaqqiq Dāmād Yazdī, Sayyid Mustafā. Īqā', akhdh bih shuf'a. Tehran: Islamic Sciences Publication Center, 1426 AH.
- Mughniya, Muhammad Jawād. Fiqh al-Imam al-Sadiq (a). Qom: Ansariyan Institute, second edition, 1421 AH.