Is it Compulsory to Pay the Zakat for A Piece of Land sold for business intention?

Question:

I have a piece of land located at the sideway, and I am not intending to sell it these days. But I have a plan to sell it if someday the price of this land soars. Should I pay some zakat for this land?

Answer:

Here is the answer by Dr. Sa’d Turki Al Khatslan,

هذه الأرض فيها زكاة في قول جماهير أهل العلم ؛ وذلك لأنها تمثل عروض تجارة فتشملها النصوص الموجبة للزكاة في عروض التجارة

‘It is compulsory for you to pay the zakat for the land that you’ve mentioned, according to the majority of the scholars, since this land’s status is equal with the traded stuff, thus it is included in the general scope of the hadith that obliged people to pay zakat for their traded stuffs’.

He continued his explanation:

وكونك لاتريد بيعها الآن وإنما تتربص بها غلاء الأسعارلايخرجها من كونها عروض تجارة يتعلق بها حق الفقراء والمساكين وسائر أصناف الزكاة ، وهي في الحقيقة أشبه بالنقد المدخر في رصيد الإنسان لكن هذا النقد( في صورة أرض(.

Whereas your stance in which you do not wish to sell the land now but to wait until the price soars, doesn’t expel the status of this land from being categorized as traded stuff, in which there are rights of the poor, and all parties that are rightful to receive their parts from zakat. The essence of such land is similar to money that is kept in one’s account, only that in this case it takes the form of land.

Source: http://www.saad-alkthlan.com/text-712

Now, are you still doubtful to sell it?

This question was also delivered once to Sheikh Sa’d al Khatslan,

“I have a piece of land that I bought several years ago, and I haven’t made up my mind to sell it, for I am still in doubt whether I should sell it or use it to build a house on it. Is it compulsory for me to pay some zakat for it?”

He answered,

ليس فيها زكاة ؛لأنه يشترط لوجوب الزكاة في الأرض الجزم بنية البيع ، أما مع التردد فلا زكاة فيها

“”It is not compulsory for you to pay the zakat for it, because the requisite of zakat of a land is that it is already decided to be sold. Whereas if there is still doubt about it, it is not compulsory to pay zakat for it.”

Source: http://www.saad-alkthlan.com/text-32

Dr. Sa’d Turki Al Khatslan [ He is a member of the Grand Scholar Committee Council, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and a member of islamic international foundation for economics and finance].

Article of www.Syaria.com