A khiyar (option) which is conferred on each of the parties to a contract (aqd) allowing them to rescind it or not to proceed with concluding the contract (usually of sale) before they leave the contract assembly (session), i.e., before they physically or constructively part or separate. This type of khiyar derives its shari’a basis from an authentic Prophetic hadith (maxim): “The two parties to a sale have the option [to rescind it] as long as they have not parted, and one of them may give the other the option for a longer period” (reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim and considered by Ibn Rushd to be one of the most authoritative Prophetic traditions.).

A contract of sale (aqd al-ba’i) cannot come into effect without offer and acceptance (i.e., a meeting of minds for buyer and seller). For Hanafis and Malikis, a sale is concluded and binding on both parties on the expression of offer and acceptance. However , Shafi’is and Hanbalis opined that buyer and seller retain the option to rescind the contract as long as they have not left the contract session.

Khiyar al-majlis is an Arabic term (خيار المجلس) that translates as option of contracting session (contract session option).