A Comparative Analysis of the Nature and Verdict of Goodwill in Iranian Civil Law and Sunni Jurisprudence

Sunni scholars maintain two different perspectives on goodwill: A group has validated it based on the tradition and religious expediency; others have regarded it as illegal according to its lack of religious documentation and its negative consequences. In the present study, the perspective of the proponents of goodwill validation will be approved, based on which receiving goodwill price is free of religious objection. In addition, goodwill is regarded in accordance and consistent with the Landlord and Tenant Relations Law passed in 1997. Instances of acceptance of goodwill price can be in exchange for fame and privilege of a location, or benefit of permanent residence in aforementioned location, or in return for the owner’s waiver in his right to benefit from the ownership, even if the owner of the benefit is not the owner of the object of sale. The result of the induction in the opinions of the Sunni jurists, the Iranian civil law, and legal texts is that there are six types of goodwill in estates and premises. In addition, in all of these types, Sunni jurisprudence and Iranian Civil Law are in accord and consistent with one another, except for the sixth type (traditional goodwill) in some legal texts. This inconsistency, however, seems to be a verbal rather than a substantive difference.