Duality of Ownership: An Analysis of the Conflict Between Jurisprudential Foundations and Official Registration Requirements in Immovable Property Transfer

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Fiqh and Usul, Al-Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Jurisprudence and Foundations of Islamic Law, Al-Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran.

4 PhD in Private Law from the University of Tehran and Assistant Professor at Al-Mustafa International University, Golestan Representative Office, Iran.

Abstract

One of the fundamental challenges of the Iranian legal system in the field of registration and ownership of immovable property is the conflict between two jurisprudential and legal approaches to ownership transfer by sale. The jurisprudential approach considers the realization of ownership to be based on offer, acceptance, and the consent of the contracting parties, while the legal approach emphasizes mandatory official registration of immovable property transactions. This study shows that this conflict persists and, in dealing with official and ordinary documents, has led to disagreement among legal scholars and in judicial practice concerning recognition of ownership. It explains and analyzes the relationship between the foundations of Imami jurisprudence and mandatory official registration in the transfer of immovable property. Moreover, approval of the Law on Mandatory Official Registration of Immovable Property Transactions by the Expediency Discernment Council, despite inconsistency with the prevailing jurisprudential view, has not resolved the conflict between the offer-and-acceptance jurisprudential system and the registration-based legal system. The findings indicate that the solution to this conflict is distinguishing between validity of the transaction at the stage of substantive validity and its enforceability at the stage of proof; that is, jurisprudentially, sale is valid through offer, acceptance, and consent of the contracting parties; legally, official registration is mandatory for enforceability before judicial authorities and for preserving public order and transaction security. This approach, while preserving Imami jurisprudence foundations, satisfies modern legal system requirements and prevents practical conflicts.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Ibn Idrīs al-Ḥillī, Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr. (1410 AH [1989/1990 CE]). Al-Sarāʾir al-ḥāwī li-taḥrīr al-fatāwá. Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī. (in Arabic)
Ardabīlī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Karīm. (1423 AH [2002/2003 CE]). Fiqh al-qaḍāʾ. n.p.: n.p. (in Arabic)
Iqbālī Afshār, Shahāb. (1380 SH [2001/2002 CE]). Tafsīr va tawḍīḥ-i māddah-ʾi 22 qānūn-i thabt [Interpretation and explanation of Article 22 of the Registration Law]. Majallah-ʾi Kānūn-i Sardaftarān va Daftaryārān, (20). (in Persian)
Anṣārī, Murtaḍá. (1387 SH [2008/2009 CE]). Kitāb al-makāsib. Qom: Majmaʿ al-Fikr al-Islāmī. (in Arabic)
Bahjat, Muḥammad Taqī. (1428 AH [2007/2008 CE]). Istiftāʾāt [Legal inquiries]. Qom: Daftār-i Āyat Allāh Bahjat. (in Persian)
Tabrīzī, Jawād. (1399 SH [2020/2021 CE]). Irshād al-ṭālib. Qom: Mihr. (in Arabic)
Jaʿfarī Langarūdī, Muḥammad Jaʿfar. (1399 SH [2020/2021 CE]). Dānishnāmah-ʾi ḥuqūqī [Legal encyclopedia]. Tehran: Ganj-i Dānish. (in Persian)
Ḥillī, Ḥasan ibn Yūsuf. (1413 AH [1992/1993 CE]). Qawāʿid al-aḥkām fī maʿrifat al-ḥalāl wa-al-ḥarām. Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī. (in Arabic)
Ḥillī, Najm al-Dīn. (1408 AH [1987/1988 CE]). Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Qom: Ismāʿīliyān. (in Arabic)
Khāminihʾī, Sayyid ʿAlī. (1420 AH [1999/2000 CE]). Ajwibat al-istiftāʾāt (bi-al-ʿArabiyyah). Beirut: Dār al-Islāmiyyah. (in Arabic)
Khumaynī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. (1421 AH [2000/2001 CE]). Kitāb al-bayʿ. Tehran: Muʾassasah-ʾi Tanẓīm va Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khumaynī. (in Arabic)
Khumaynī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. (1422 AH [2001/2002 CE]). Istiftāʾāt [Legal inquiries]. Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī. (in Persian)
Khūʾī, Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim. (1377 SH [1998/1999 CE]). Miṣbāḥ al-faqāhah. Qom: Dāvarī. (in Arabic)
Daftārī, Aḥmad Matīn. (1378 SH [1999/2000 CE]). Āyīn-i dādrasī-yi madanī va bāzargānī [Civil and commercial procedure]. Tehran: Majd. (in Persian)
Rūḥānī, Muḥammad Ṣādiq. (1392 SH [2013/2014 CE]). Istiftāʾāt-i qaḍāʾī [Judicial inquiries]. Qom: Kulbah-ʾi Shurūq. (in Persian)
Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. (1418 AH [1997/1998 CE]). Risālah fī taʾthīr al-zamān wa-al-makān ʿalá istinbāṭ al-aḥkām. Qom: Muʾassasah-ʾi Imām Ṣādiq (ʿa). (in Arabic)
Shaʿrānī, Abū al-Ḥasan. (1419 AH [1998/1999 CE]). Tabṣirat al-mutaʿallimīn fī aḥkām al-dīn. Tehran: Manshūrāt-i Islāmiyyah. (in Arabic)
Shahrī, Ghulām-Riḍā. (1397 SH [2018/2019 CE]). Ḥuqūq-i thabt-i asnād va amlāk [Real estate and document registration law]. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Jihād-i Dānishgāhī. (in Persian)
Shahrī, Ghulām-Riḍā, & Muḥammad Kharāzī. (1380 SH [2001/2002 CE]). Majmūʿah-ʾi naẓar-hā-yi mashviratī-yi Idārah-ʾi Kull-i Ḥuqūqī-yi Tadvīn-i Qavānīn-i Quvvah-ʾi Qaḍāʾiyyah dar masāʾil-i madanī az sāl-i 1363–1380 [Collection of advisory opinions of the Legal Bureau of the Judiciary in civil matters from 1984 to 2001]. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Rūznāmah-ʾi Rasmī. (in Persian)
Shahīd-i Avval, Muḥammad ibn Makkī. (1417 AH [1996/1997 CE]). Al-Durūs al-sharʿiyyah fī fiqh al-Imāmiyyah. Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī. (in Arabic)
Shahīd-i Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn. (1413 AH [1992/1993 CE]). Masālik al-afhām. Qom: Muʾassasat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyyah. (in Arabic)
Shahīd-i Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn. (1421 AH [2000/2001 CE]). Rasāʾil al-Shahīd al-Thānī (al-ṭabʿah al-ḥadīthah). Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī. (in Arabic)
Shahīdī, Mahdī. (1385 SH [2006/2007 CE]). Majmūʿah-ʾi maqālāt [Collected essays]. Tehran: Majd. (in Persian)
Ṣafāʾī, Sayyid Ḥusayn. (1400 SH [2021/2022 CE]). Ḥuqūq-i madanī [Civil law]. Tehran: Mīzān. (in Persian)
Ṣafīzādah, Surūsh. (1401 SH [2022/2023 CE]). Jāygāh-i thabt dar intiqāl-i qarārdādī-yi amvāl-i ghayr-i manqūl dar Īrān; muṭālaʿah-ʾi taṭbīqī bā ḥuqūq-i Ingilistān, Suʾīs va Farānsah [The status of registration in the contractual transfer of immovable property in Iran; a comparative study with English, Swiss, and French law]. Majallah-ʾi Ḥuqūqī-yi Dādgustarī, (118). (in Persian)
Ṭarābulusī, Ibn Barrāj. (1406 AH [1985/1986 CE]). Al-Muhadhdhab. Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī. (in Arabic)
Ṭūsī, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan. (1407 AH [1986/1987 CE]). Al-Khilāf. Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī. (in Arabic)
Fāḍil Lankarānī, Muḥammad-Javād. (1396 SH [2017/2018 CE]). Nisbat-i fiqh va qānūn (bayānāt dar nishast-i ʿilmī-yi Muʾassasah-ʾi Miftāḥ-i Karāmat, 30 Farvardīn) [The relationship between jurisprudence and law]. (in Persian)
Faḍl Allāh, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. (1422 AH [2001/2002 CE]). Fiqh al-sharīʿah. Beirut: Dār al-Malāk. (in Arabic)
Fayḍ-i Kāshānī, Muḥammad ibn Shāh-Murtaḍá (Mullā Muḥsin). (n.d.). Mafātīḥ al-sharāʾiʿ. Qom: Kitābkhānah-ʾi Āyat Allāh Marʿashī Najafī. (in Arabic)
Fayyūmī, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad. (n.d.). Al-Miṣbāḥ al-munīr. Qom: Dār al-Raḍī. (in Arabic)
Qāsimī, Muḥsin. (1382 SH [2003/2004 CE]). Intiqāl-i mālikiyyat dar bayʿ [Transfer of ownership in sale]. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Dānishgāh-i Imām Ṣādiq (ʿa). (in Persian)
Qumī, Abū al-Qāsim. (1371 SH [1992/1993 CE]). Jāmiʿ al-shatāt. Tehran: Kayhān. (in Persian)
Kātūziyān, Nāṣir. (1381 SH [2002/2003 CE]). Tawjīh va naqd-i ravīyyah-ʾi qaḍāʾī [Justification and critique of judicial precedent]. Tehran: Mīzān. (in Persian)
Kātūziyān, Nāṣir. (1383 SH [2004/2005 CE]). Dawrah-ʾi muqaddamātī-yi ḥuqūq-i madanī; ʿaqd va īqāʿ [Introductory course in civil law: Contracts and unilateral legal acts]. Tehran: Sahāmī-yi Intishār. (in Persian)
Kātūziyān, Nāṣir. (1395 SH [2016/2017 CE]). Qavāʿid-i ʿumūmī-yi qarārdād-hā [General principles of contracts]. Tehran: Shirkat-i Sahāmī-yi Intishār. (in Persian)
Kātūziyān, Nāṣir. (1396 SH [2017/2018 CE]). ʿUqūd-i muʿayyan [Specific contracts]. Tehran: Shirkat-i Sahāmī-yi Intishār. (in Persian)
Kāshānī, Sayyid Maḥmūd. (1354 SH [1975/1976 CE]). Naẓariyyah-ʾi taqallub nisbat bih qānūn (ḥiyal) [Theory of evasion of the law (fraus legis)]. n.p.: n.p. (in Persian)
Kāshānī, Sayyid Maḥmūd. (1385 SH [2006/2007 CE]). Qawlnāmah [Preliminary contracts of sale]. Māhnāmah-ʾi Qaḍāvat, (42). (in Persian)
Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. (1359 AH [1940/1941 CE]). Taḥrīr al-Majallah. Najaf: Al-Maktabah al-Murtaḍawiyyah. (in Arabic)
Kāẓimī, Jawād ibn Saʿd. (n.d.). Masālik al-afhām ilá āyāt al-aḥkām. n.p.: n.p. (in Arabic)
Kulaynī [Kāfī], Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb. (1363 SH [1984/1985 CE]). Uṣūl al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah. (in Arabic)
Gulpāyigānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Riḍā. (1413 AH [1992/1993 CE]). Kitāb al-qaḍāʾ. Qom: Dār al-Qurʾān al-Karīm. (in Arabic)
Luṭfiyān, Ḥusayn. (1370 SH [1991/1992 CE]). Qawlnāmah [Preliminary contracts of sale]. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Rūznāmah-ʾi Rasmī. (in Persian)
Muḥaqqiq Dāmād, Sayyid Muṣṭafá. (1398 SH [2019/2020 CE]). Naẓariyyah-ʾi ʿumūmī-yi shurūṭ va iltizāmāt dar ḥuqūq-i Islāmī [General theory of conditions and obligations in Islamic law]. Tehran: Markaz-i Nashr-i ʿUlūm-i Islāmī. (in Persian)
Muḥaqqiq al-Karakī, ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn. (1414 AH [1993/1994 CE]). Jāmiʿ al-maqāṣid fī sharḥ al-Qawāʿid. Qom: Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt (ʿa). (in Arabic)
Muḥammadī, Sām. (n.d.). Naqdī bar raʾy-i vaḥdat-i ravīyyah-ʾi shumārah-ʾi 672-1/10/1383; naqsh-i sanad-i rasmī dar muʿāmalāt-i amvāl-i ghayr-i manqūl [A critique of precedent ruling No. 672 dated 2004/12/21: The role of official deeds in immovable property transactions]. Majallah-ʾi Ḥuqūqī-yi ʿAdliyyah. (in Persian)
Muntaẓirī, Ḥusayn-ʿAlī. (1417 AH [1996/1997 CE]). Niẓām al-ḥukm fī al-Islām. Qom: Nashr-i Sarāyī. (in Arabic)
Mīraḥmadīzādah, Muṣṭafá. (1380 SH [2001/2002 CE]). Rābiṭah-ʾi fiqh va ḥuqūq [The relationship between jurisprudence and law]. Qom: Daftār-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī-yi Ḥawzah-ʾi ʿIlmiyyah-ʾi Qum. (in Persian)
Mīrzā-yi Qumī, Abū al-Qāsim. (1428 AH [2007/2008 CE]). Rasāʾil. Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī. (in Arabic)
Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan. (1404 AH [1983/1984 CE]). Jawāhir al-kalām. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī. (in Arabic)
Narāqī, Aḥmad. (1415 AH [1994/1995 CE]). Mustanad al-Shīʿah. Qom: Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt (ʿa). (in Arabic)
Nawbakht, Yūsuf. (1370 SH [1991/1992 CE]). Andīshah-hā-yi qaḍāʾī [Judicial thoughts]. Tehran: Kayhān. (in Persian)
Hāshimī, Sayyid Aḥmad. (1373–1374 SH [1994–1996 CE]). Ḥuqūq-i thabt [Registration law] (Course syllabus). Tehran: Dānishgāh-i Imām Ṣādiq (ʿa). (in Persian)
Hāshimī Shāhrūdī, Sayyid Maḥmūd. (1432 AH [2010/2011 CE]). Mawsūʿat al-fiqh al-Islāmī al-muqāran. Qom: Muʾassasah-ʾi Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī bar Madhhab-i Ahl-i Bayt (ʿa). (in Arabic)
Hūshmandī, Sajjād, et al. (1402 SH [2023/2024 CE]). Muṭālaʿah-ʾi taṭbīqī-yi niẓām-i intiqāl-i mālikiyyat-i amvāl-i ghayr-i manqūl dar ḥuqūq-i Īrān va Ālmān [A comparative study of the system of ownership transfer of immovable property in Iranian and German law]. Faṣlnāmah-ʾi Pizhūhish-hā-yi Ḥuqūq-i Taṭbīqī, 27(3). (in Persian)
Heinze, C. (2018). Die Rechte des Eigentümers bei Pflichtverletzungen im Eigentümer-Nießbraucher-Verhältnis. Zeitschrift für die Notarpraxis, 22(9), 305–311.
Studies of Islamic Jurisprudence and Basis of Law
Volume 20, Issue 53 - Serial Number 53
September 2026
Pages 361-385

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics