Thu 10 شعبان 1447 (29 Jan 2026)
The Judge’s Ruling Concerning Defective Contracts
Mufti:
Alsayyed Muhammad b. Abdallah Awad Al-Muayyady
Fatwa number: 20480
Number of views: 1
The Judge’s Ruling Concerning Defective Contracts
Fatwa number: 20480
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Question: Most of what occurs in people’s transactions—in trade, lease, muḍārabah, partnership, and the like—comes by contracts deemed defective according to the jurists. What, then, should the judge do if they litigate before him regarding any of these transactions? Should he rule the transaction defective and let the necessary rulings of defect follow? Or should his ruling be confined to the specific point in dispute?
Answer: The judge does not rule a transaction defective unless the dispute is about its validity or defectiveness. If the dispute is about something else, he rules on that without addressing its validity or defectiveness, and the judgment proceeds as if the transaction were valid. We say this because the default in transactions is validity.
Yes, if the dispute centers on validity versus defectiveness, then it is obligatory to construe transactions as valid wherever possible, and one does not rule them defective except after the defect is made clear and manifest.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2
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