Discusiones

Ghararasatechnicallegaltermreferstoparticularformsofuncertaintythat

symmetricallyaffectthecounterpartiestocommercialtransactionsinwhichbothparties exchangecountervalues.Thus,ghararwouldnotdirectlyapplytocontractslikegifts.

Somejurists,however,alsoemploythewordghararinthesenseoffraud.IbnRushd

fraud(ghabn)whosecauseisgharar.”120_{Infact,formIoftherootgh-r-r refersto}

fraud.121Conversely,thewordgharīr,fromtheformfa‘īl,whichcommonlyhasthesame meaningastheformIpassiveparticiple,meanstobesomeone’strustedconfident

(kafīl).122_{Afullsurveyofthelexicographicaltraditionofthisrootisnotgermanehere}

sincethesedefinitionsdonotdirectlyfigureinthediscoursesofmyjurists.

Notwithstandinghisequatingfraudwithgharar,IbnRushddevotesanother

sectionofthechapteronsalestoadiscussionoffraud(tadlīs)orpotentiallosses (ḍarar).123 _{Inthissectiononfraud,IbnRushddiscussesthefollowingsales:1)athird}

120_{IbnRushd,Bidāya,vol.3,p.1198.}

121_{Abū NaṣrIsmā‘īlb. Ḥammādal-Jawharī,Tājal-lughawa-ṣiḥāḥ al-‘arabīya,ed.Imīl} Badī‘Ya‘qūbandMuḥammadNabīl Ṭarīfī (Beirut:Dāral-Kutubal-‘Ilmīya,1999),s.v.gh-r-r;E. Fagnan,AdditionsauxDictionairesArabes(Beirut:LibrairieduLiban,1960),s.v.gh-r-r;Edward W.Lane,Arabic-EnglishLexicon(London:WilliamsandNorgate,1865),s.v.gh-r-r;J.G.Hava,

Al-Farā’idal-Durrīya(Beirut:CatholicPress,1951),s.v.gh-r-r;Muḥammadb.Durayd,Kitāb Jamharatal-lugha,ed.Ramzī MunīrBa‘lbakkī (Beirut:Dāral-‘Ilmli’l-Malāyīn,1987),s.v.r-gh-

gh;Muḥammadb.Mukarramb.Manẓūr,Lisānal-‘arab(Beirut:Dāral-Bayrūt,1957),s.v.gh-r-r; MuḥammadMurtaḍā al-Zabīdī,Tājal-‘Arūs,ed.‘Abdal-SattārAḥmadFarrāj(Kuwait:Maṭba‘at

Ḥukūmatal-Kuwayt,1974),s.v.gh-r-r;Muḥammadb.Ya‘qūbal-Firūzābādī,Qāmūsal-muḥiṭ, (Beirut:Dāral-Jīl,1970),s.v.gh-r-r;R.Dozy,SupplémentauxDictionnairesArabes,3rded. (Leiden:E.J.Brill,1967),s.v.gh-r-r.Wehrcontainsasimilardefinition.See,HansWehr,

DictionaryofModernWrittenArabic,ed.J.M.Cowan(Ithaca:SpokenLanguageServices,Inc., 1994),s.v.gh-r-r.Thepre-IslamicpoetImru’al-QaysemploysformIV,agharra,inhisfamous

mu‘allaqatodescribehowhischaractermayhavedeceivedawomanintohatinghim.Imru’al-

Qays,DiwānImri’al-Qays,ed.MuḥammadAbū al-FaḍlIbrāhīm,3rd_{ed.(Cairo:Dāral-Ma‘ārif,} 1969),p.13,l.20. InoneoftheearliestliteraryusesofthisrootinprosethatIhavelocated, Jāhiẓ usesthisverbinthissense.Abū Uthmānb.BaḥrJāhiẓ,Kitābal-Bukhalā’,2ed.(Damascus: Dāral-Yaqẓaal-‘Arabīya,1963),p.45.

122_{Ibn‘Abbād,Muḥīṭ;gh-r-r;IbnDurayd,Jamharat,s.v.r-gh-gh;al-Firūzābādī,Qāmūs,} s.v.gh-r-rLane,Arabic-English,s.v.gh-r-r;IbnManẓūr,Lisān,s.v.gh-r-r;Al-Zabīdī,Tāj,s.v. gh-r-r.Foradiscussionofthisnounform,seeW.Wright,AGrammaroftheArabicLanguage, eds.W.RobertsonSmithandM.J.deGoeje,3rd_{ed.,2vols.in1(NewYork:Cambridge} UniversityPress,1967), vol.1,pp.136,146.

123_{CoulsonarguesthatthewordtadlīscomesfromtheByzantineGreek“dolos”since} bothwordssharethesamemeaningandrootd-l-s.Accordingtohim,thistermisoneexampleof howMuslimjuristsadoptedalargeportionoftechnicalterminologyandinstitutionslikethewaqf

partymakingacounterofferafterthecounterpartieshaveagreeduponthetermstoasale (bay‘al-rajul‘alā akhīhi),2)meetingacaravantoconductatransactiononthehighway insteadofthecitymarket(talaqqī al-rukkāb),3)acity-dwellerconductingbusinesswith oronbehalfofabedouin(bay’al-ḥāḍirli’l-bādī),124_{4)andsubmittingfalsebidsinan}

auction(bayal-najash)inordertodriveuptheprice.125Interestingly,inthesectionabout fraud,hedoesnotusethetermgharartodescribetransactions. IbnQudāmaandShīrāzī

alsousetaghrīrandtadlīstodiscusstheselastthreetransactions.126

Althoughghararandfraudarisefromuncertainty,thereisanimportantstructural

differenceinthedistributionofuncertaintyinbothcases.IbnQudāmastatesthatwhena sellerdefraudsabuyer,“hehidesadefectwhichheknowssothatthebuyerimaginesit doesnotexist.”127Withfraud,onecounterpartyexploitsitscertaintyagainstan

unsuspectingcounterparty.Thisisthesamekindofcertaintyanduncertaintyfoundin worksuṣūlal-fiqhandkalām.

124 _{Althoughmostjuristsprohibitthesetransactionsinordertoprotectpeoplefrom} fraud,whomthislawattemptstoprotectfromfraudandwhyareissuesofdebateamongjurists. Forexample,toIbnRushd,thegoodsofbedoiunsarenearlyfreefromtheirperspectivassothat theywilltakealowerprice.However,ifcity-dwellershelpthemgetthebestpricethiswillharm theurbanpopulationatlarge.See,IbnRushd,Bidāyavol.3,pp.1229-1230.Ibn Ḥazmrejects theseargumentsandinsteadclaimsthattheProphetprohibitedthesesalestoprotectbedouin frompossiblefraud.See,Ibn Ḥazm,Muḥallā,vol.8,p.453,¶1469.Khiraqī,aprominent

Ḥanbalī jurist, statesthatthissaleisvoidifthebedouinmakesacity-dwellerhisagent,doesnot knowtheprevailingmarketpriceofthegood,andintendedtosellthegoodintown.However,if oneofthesestipulationsisnotmetthesaleislicit.IbnQudāma,however,arguesthatacity-

dwellermaybuyforabedouinsinceitprotectsthebedouinfrombeingexploited.See,Ibn Qudāma,Mughnī,vol.4,p.163,¶¶.3072-3073.

125_{IbnRushd,Bidāyavol.3,pp.1227-1232.}

126_{IbnQudāma,Mughnī,vol.4,p160,¶.3067;Shīrāzī,Muhadhdhab,vol.3,p.144.} 127_{IbnQudāma,Mughnī,vol.4,¶.2984,p114.Arabicreads,katamahu‘anal-mushtarī}

ma‘a‘ilmihibihiawghaṭṭāhu‘anhubi-mā yūhimal-mushtarī ‘adamahu.Bājī makesasimilar statement.SeeBājī,Muntaqā,vol.6,p.532.

Ontheotherhand,inthemoreusualdiscussionsofghararthatIwillexamine

below,uncertaintywithrespecttosomeelementofthetransactionaffectsboth

counterpartieswhoareconsciousoftheiruncertainty.Duethesymmetricaldistributionof uncertaintyamongthecounterparties,juristsoftencomparecontractscharacterizedby

gharartoformsofgamblingaswewillseeinthefollowingchapterinmoredetail.Like

ribā,ghararalsoposesanethicalproblemforjurists.Inthecaseofribā,juristsdonot thinkthatitisethicalforonetoreceiveaprofitwithoutassuminganycommercialand legalliability.Inthecaseofgharar,juristsdonotthinkthatitisethicalforonetoeither

profitorlosemoneybecauseofuncertaintywithrespecttocertainelementsofthe transaction.Inthefollowingsection,wewillbegintoexaminewhatcommercial uncertaintyisfromtheperspectiveofjurists.