A sale (bay’) that involves the exchange of an asset for specified monetary units (the price). With respect to the price (thaman), this sale subdivides into four types:
- Bargaining sale (bay’ al-musawamah): the sale of a commodity for an agreed-upon price irrespective of its original cost.
- Discount sale (bay’ al-wadhee’ah or bay’ al-hateetah): the sale of a commodity for less than its purchase price.
- Respective sale (bay’ al-tawliah): the sale of a commodity for its purchase price. The seller recover its purchase cost without making a profit or incurring a loss on the commodity.
- Cost-plus sale (bay’ al-murabaha): the sale of a commodity for its purchase price in addition to a certain mark-up (profit). The profit is negotiated between the two parties before they enter into the contract. It can be a percentage of the purchase price or a lump sum.
In except of bargaining sale, the other three types of ba’i mutlaq belong to the class of buyu’ al-amanah (trust-based sales).
Bay’ mutlaq is an Arabic term that translates into absolute sale.
