A type of sale (bay’) which is effected using down payment or advance money (arbun– عربون) with the condition that if the buyer accepts to complete the sale by taking the object of sale, then the down payment will be treated as part of the selling price (thaman). Otherwise, if the buyer chooses to rescind the sale (refrain from the transaction), the advance money will be forfeited. In this sense, this sale comes with an option (khiyar) to rescind the contract by forgoing the down payment as a penalty on the refraining buyer.
Bay’ al-arbun (بيع العربون) is Arabic for sale with a nonrefundable down payment.
