A khiyar (option) whereby the buyer has the right either to consummate the contract of sale (aqd al-bai) or revoke it upon seeing the subject matter which he has never seen. Seeing the object of sale is a precondition for the option to get activated. That means this type of khiyar will not come into effect unless the buyer lays his eyes on the object of sale. Principally, it is valid for sales of physical assets (a’yan), but not for debt-like items such as the subject matter of salam (al-muslam fihi). In general, this khiyar cannot attached to contracts that cannot be revoked by giving back the payment in question such as bridal-money, reconciliatory blood money, etc. Return the subject-matter on exercising khiyar al-royah renders the contract revoked whether payment has been made or not. In this case, revocation will have nothing to do with the seller’s consent (i.e., the contract is automatically annulled once the buyer decides not to proceed with it on seeing the subject-matter).
Khiyar al-royah is Arabic (خيار الرؤية) for option of inspection, sighting option or option to lay/ set eyes on (and inspect) an object of sale.
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