Pebble sale (بَيْعُ الحَصاةِ)
أصول الفقه
المعنى الاصطلاحي :
A sale transaction contingent upon tossing a pebble.
الشرح المختصر :
"Bay‘ al-hasāh" (pebble sale) is one of the unlawful sales in Islam, due to the "gharar" (deceit) and "jahālah" (obscurity) that it involves. This type of sale was famous in pre-Islamic times. The buyer or seller would make the sale transaction based on the falling of a pebble. It occurred in several forms. The following are some examples: The seller says to the buyer: 1. "Of these garments, I will sell to you the one on which the pebble falls." 2. "Throw this pebble, and on whichever garment it falls, it is yours for such-and-such price." 3. "If you throw this pebble, then this garment is sold to you for 10." 4. "I will sell you this at such-and-such price, and once I throw this pebble, the sale transaction will be binding." 5. "Throw the pebble, and whatever is broken and found thereof, I will take the same number of dinars or dirhams." All these are forms of invalid sale transactions because of the obscurity that they involve.