Faskh

Definition of "Faskh"

Undoing, dissolving, cancellation. Faskh is a term used by the classical fuqaha to refer to the dissolution of a contract or agreement. It has been described as the cancellation of a contract, such that affairs return to the state in which they were before the closing of the contract, without any addtition or subtraction. Many of the classical fuqaha' apply the term faskh to instances in which a previously valid (sahih) contract is cancelled voluntarily by the contractual parties--such as in iqalah, khiyar al-`ayb (option to return in case of a defect) and khiyar al-shart (stipulated option of return)--and use the term infisakh for cancellations which occur outside of the will of each of the contractual parties--such as the cancellation of a sale contract when the sale item is destroyed, before the seller can hand it over to the purchaser or the dissolution of certain partnerships (see shirkah) upon the death of one of the participating parties.