Is a sale valid if the object sold is currently under a lease agreement (Ijarah)?

Primary text

The sale of an object currently under a lease contract is valid. Ahmad explicitly stated this ruling, applying whether the sale is made to the lessee or to a third party. This view is also held by Al-Shafi'i according to one of his two established opinions. The evidence for validity is that the lease is a contract concerning usufruct (benefits), and contracts regarding usufruct do not invalidate the sale, similar to when one marries his female slave and subsequently sells her. Furthermore, the possession of the lessee is only over the benefits, while the sale pertains to the corpus (ownership of the object itself); thus, possession over one aspect does not prevent the transfer of the other. If immediate delivery is prevented, this does not invalidate the sale, as the buyer only has the right to possession when the lease expires, which is sufficient, analogous to the validity of *Salm* (advance payment contracts) where delivery is due at a specified future time.