Abstract
Hiroyuki YANAGIHASHI, The Right of Pre-emption in Islamic Law: The right of pre-emption (suf'ah), which means the right to repurchase real property after the completion of its sale, is entitled to its exercise for the co-owner, the owner of a servitude in the property and the owner of an adjoining property. In the pre-Islamic period, this right was entitled only for the co-owners whether the property had already been divided or not. Then, in the course of time, the sources show some change of the conception of pre-emptor. That is, the right of the co-owner became of no effect in the former case, and on the other hand, the owner of a servitude in the property and that of an adjoining property were added in the range of pre-emptor.
But in the Islamic jurisprudence, each school makes different interpretation of the holder of pre-emption. Besides there are some other problems; the right of pre-emption may be admitted also for the holders of an undivisible property or not; and who may possess the lawful ownership of the property between the conclusion of its transfer and the exercise of the pre-emptor's right? There finds no reliable base of these arguments in the theoretical bases of Islamic law (usul). But, it is clear that the diversity of interpretations has come from the view that either buyer or man disadvantaged by the transfer ought to be more protected.
