An act of deception or cheating of a party to a contract by another party. This involves a misleading act or statement that is used by one party to convince the other to enter into the contract, which that party would not have accepted had it not been for the misrepresentation. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked a man who was always a victim to such cheating to say every time he contemplated a transaction with someone: “la khilabah (no khilabah)”, i.e., there should not be any attempt to deceive (Sahih al-Bukhari 2/745).

Khilabah is an Arabic word (خلابة) that translates as dupery, cheating, deception, etc.