عقود شرعیہ میں ایجاب اور قبول کی اہمیت اور جدید ذرائع مواصلات سے ان کے انعقاد کا فقہی تجزیہ

The Significance of Offer and Consent in Business Contracts and Their Conduct with the Modern Sources of Communication: A Shar’i Analysis

Abstract

Offer and consent is the basis of every business contract in Shari’a. No contract can be conducted without these two prerequisites. The sole purpose of the offer/consent is the expression of agreement by the contracting parties. Therefore, Shari’a allows all kind of suitable words expressed for agreement in accordance with a specific contract. Uttering the exact words, ‘I sold’, ‘I bought’, ‘I accepted’ is precisely not necessary.  Moreover, while the buyer/seller can offer/accept a transaction face to face, they can do it through written correspondence, messenger and substitute. However, they will strictly follow all the terms and conditions that the Muslim jurists have made necessary for these transactions. 

The contracts through written correspondence and messengers would take months in the past. However, the emergence of the modern technologies i.e. internet, fax, telephone etc. has made these transactions to be executed in seconds/minutes. Concomitantly, transactions conducted with modern sources of communication will be analogized on the precedence of the premodern sources of communication. Therefore, terms and conditions stipulated by Sharia with respect to offer/consent and unity of the contract’s session will be applied to these modern sources, too. Conversely, if the contractors directly offer/consent in a marriage contract without involving a substitute. The root cause of this is that marriage contract is more significant than a business contract and the implications it will have last longer for decades. Therefore, caution lies in this to disallow this contract.