বাড়ি বা অ্যাপার্টমেন্ট তৈরির আগে এটি কেনা কি অনুমোদিত?

Is it Permissible to Buy a House Before it is Built?

First: the sale of something that does not belong to the seller is not pemissible. There are many Hadiths on this subject:

At-Tirmithi narrated in his Sunnan from Hakim ibn Hizam, he said: “أَتَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقُلْتُ: يَأْتِينِي الرَّجُلُ يَسْأَلُنِي مِنَ البَيْعِ مَا لَيْسَ عِنْدِي، أَبْتَاعُ لَهُ مِنَ السُّوقِ، ثُمَّ أَبِيعُهُ؟ قَالَ: «لَا تَبِعْ مَا لَيْسَ عِنْدَكَ»” “I came to the Prophet and asked (the Prophet): Messenger of Allah, a man comes to me and wants me to sell him something which is not in my possession. Should I buy it for him from the market? He replied: ‘Do not sell what you do not possess.’”

At-Tirmithi narrated from Abdullah Ibn Amr that the Prophet ﷺ said:
«لَا يَحِلُّ سَلَفٌ وَبَيْعٌ، وَلَا شَرْطَانِ فِي بَيْعٍ، وَلَا رِبْحُ مَا لَمْ يُضْمَنْ، وَلَا بَيْعُ مَا لَيْسَ عِنْدَكَ»
“The provision of a loan combined with a sale is not allowable, nor two conditions relating to one transaction, nor profit arising from something which is not in one’s charge, nor selling what is not in your possession”.

Therefore, it is not permissible to sell a house or an apartment that is not built because it is not owned, let alone it is non-existent and not built. That is, selling the apartment that is not being built is not permissible because what is up for sale, the apartment, is non-existent. For the validity of the sale the apartment has to exist in a way that refers to it by its structure: foundations, columns, ceilings and so on, which is sufficient as a custom to describe the apartment and that it is built and ready to be handed over.

Secondly, there is an exception that is mentioned in Shariah text that allows the sale of what is not owned in two cases: Salam, and Istisna’, which does not apply to non-built apartments, as shown below:

1. sale of Salam is: “what the seller undertakes to supply some specified goods to the buyer at a future date in exchange of an advanced price. That is, the purchase of a commodity for deferred delivery in exchange for immediate payment. Salam sale is permitted in what is measured, weighted and numbered only. Therefore, the sale of an unbuilt house is not included in the Salam sale and its evidence does not apply to it. This is why the Hadiths of selling what you don’t own still applies to it.

2. Second: Manufacturing (Istisna’)- [Istisna’a (Manufacturing) in the Language: is a masdar (source) Astana’ (to ask for the manufacturing) of a thing. It is said: So and so Astana’ a door, if a man asked someone to make him a door, as it is said: Iktatab, i.e. he ordered someone to write to him. (Lisan Al-Arab, As-Sihah and Taj Al-A’roos, subject” Sana’). That is the request to manufacture. The Fuqaha’ differed on Istisna’a (Manufacturing)

Therefore, the buildings remain before they are built, indicating their existence, such as if their foundations, pillars, or ceilings were not built.

The prohibition ruling of selling what you don’t have applies here on these buildings; therefore, the sale’s contract of such buildings are prohibited in Shariah.