Shufah
Shufah is a co-owner's right to take a partner's sold share of shared property, at the same price it sold for.
What it means for me: This right exists to keep a stranger from forcing their way into your shared property. It guards against a sale you had no say in. It is not automatic protection forever: most scholars hold it lapses if you know about the sale and delay claiming it.
Example: Two brothers co-own a shop. One sells his half to an outsider without telling the other first. Once he learns of the sale, he may claim the sold half at the same price.
Do not confuse with: *Khiyar*, an option to cancel a sale within a set window. Khiyar belongs to a party inside the sale itself; shufah belongs to a partner who was not party to that sale.
If scholars differ: The majority limit this right to a partner in the same undivided property. The Hanafi school extends it to an adjoining neighbor as well, even without any shared ownership between them.
See the term in context
Are farmers who have worked on a man's land for years for a certain percentage entitled to preemption (shufa'a) of the land after its owner sells it without their permission, or are they entitled to receive a sum of money from the buyer as compensation for damages, and what is the ruling if they have already taken this sum?
The owner of the land is not obliged to bear the damage incurred by the workers due to the loss of the land, because they are not partners in it; rather, they are hired laborers. Therefore, they must look for other work…
Is it permissible for a son to reclaim his father's share that was sold to his brother (the son's uncle) for a small price, by right of preemption (shufa'a)?
As long as the father sold his share to his brother willingly, the sale is valid. Pre-emption (Shufa'a) is the right of a partner to acquire the share of his co-owner from the person to whom it was transferred for a…
Is it permissible to make a will in favor of a grandson whose father has died, despite the objection of some heirs to that, and is there a concept of preemption (shufa'a) in Islam, such that the close relative has a prior right to purchase?
The estate of the deceased is distributed among his children by way of ta’sib (agnatic inheritance), with the male receiving the share of two females. It is divided into seven shares: two shares for the son, and one…
Questions that use it
Is it permissible to offer and pay an amount exceeding $9,0 for the purchase of agricultural land that the buyer wishes to retain, knowing that one of the heirs refuses to sell and is likely to exercise the right of pre-emption (shufa'a)?
Is it permissible to claim preemption (shufʿah) for a share in a jointly-owned land (ard mushāʿ) where the seller, the questioner's paternal uncle, sold his share to his nephew (the seller's brother's son), whose share had been previously sold, knowing that 50 years have passed since the sale and all concerned parties have passed away?
Does the deceased hear the voices of those accompanying the funeral procession? And what is the authenticity of the hadith: "He hears the shuffling of the sandals of those accompanying [the funeral procession]"? And what is the ruling on instructing the deceased in the grave? And does the deceased hear this instruction? And is what some people do, such as addressing the deceased in their grave and saying: "By Allah, he hears me now just as you hear me," correct?