What is the ruling when two people jointly purchase an item and find it defective, or stipulate the option (to rescind), and one party accepts the defect or agrees to the rescission?
Chapter on Selling the Musarrah (Animal with milk retained in udder)
Al-Mughni
Book of Sales
Primary text
When two individuals jointly purchase an item and discover a defect, or when they stipulate the option to rescind and one party assents to the rescission, there are two reported narrations from Ahmad. The first narration holds that the sale can be rescinded by the party who did not assent (to keeping the item). This view is held by Ibn Abi Layla, Al-Shafi'i, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad, and it is one narration from Malik. The evidence for this view is that the party who did not assent has returned the entirety of what they acquired through the contract, which is permissible, similar to a case where they purchased the item individually. Furthermore, the joint ownership (of the option) occurred due to the seller's offer, as the seller sold half to each person, meaning the item left the seller's possession divided (or divisible by the nature of the contract), contrary to a defect arising after the sale.
Supporting text
The second narration states that the dissenting party is not permitted to return the item. This is the position of Abu Hanifa and Abu Thawr. The reasoning provided is that the sold item left the initial owner's possession all at once, whole and undivided. If it is returned jointly, it is returned diminished (or partially), resembling a situation where a defect occurred while the item was in the buyer's possession.