Islamic Commercial Matters FAQ #

Original Question: When we purchase a big-ticket item such as a car, we don’t mention the “I buy” and “I sell”, would the transaction still be valid?

Usually, even though there is no transaction pronunciation, there are written documents of the transaction agreement (i.e. receipt).

In such cases, there are differing views in our Shafiʽi madhhab on the validity of transaction done through a written agreement and without sigha (transaction pronunciation).

Imam Al-Ghazali and Ar-Rafi’i are amongst the shafiite scholars who view such transactions are valid if they are customary practices and social norms.