A Comparative Study of the Option of Fraud with the Option of Defect and the Option of Breach of Description

Fraud (Tadlīs) refers to deceit that occurs when a defect is concealed, or a non-existent perfection is attributed to the subject of a contract. At the same time, the option of defect and the option of breach of description arise due to the presence of an existing defect and a failure to fulfill the agreed-upon description, respectively. This shared characteristic might make distinguishing between these options in similar cases difficult and lead to errors in the application of the relevant legal rules. However, most legal scholars distinguish fraud from the option of defect and the option of breach of description by considering the element of intent and willful deception, treating the relationship between them as one of generality and specificity from a particular perspective. Nonetheless, from a jurisprudential perspective, such a view seems to conflict with the purpose of the Sharia in establishing options to compensate for the damage caused, and in some cases, it may result in the failure to compensate the harmed party. Therefore, in order to fulfill the Sharia’s objective of ensuring compensation for the injured party, we have sought to examine the nature, effects, and rules of each of the mentioned options in order to accurately explain the relationship and possible differences between them.