Purchasing a house in a defective condition after being assured of it not being defective

Q. I recently purchased a property. At the time of purchasing the property, the agent and the seller of the property did not have access to a certain area of the property. The agent and the seller of the property assured me that it was in good condition. I took their word for it. After I purchased the property, I found that the area in which I was not given access to, was in a very bad condition. In this situation, what are my rights according to Shariah?

A. In principle, if a purchaser purchased an item/commodity from a seller after being assured by the seller of its non-defective condition, and the purchaser found the item/commodity to be in a defective condition, the purchaser is entitled to return the item/commodity to the seller or he may keep it.

Hence, if you purchased the house from an agent/seller after being assured of the houses non-defective condition, and you found the house to be in a defective condition, you are entitled to return the house to the agent/seller or you may keep the house. (Hidaayah)

Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ismaeel Bassa

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