Question
Assalamualaikum sheikh, I have a query, kindly advice
A friend who is settled abroad, has bought a piece of land in Pakistan ,with her savings of years,for her three kid’s future education and needs or maybe used for performing Hajj for the family once children are of the age.
Although husband is currently working but this is all from her own savings as husband is not much interested in this investment.He doesn’t mind using mortgage etc. So to say it’s an asset put aside for the time when it’s needed most for the kids. .Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
The question is, now when the land is bought, what is the hukm about paying zakat on the land. As you know the price of the plot goes up /down every year, so would Zakat be applicable every year,until plot is not sold, or is it applicable once it is sold on the selling amount?
If Zakat is applicable every year, on the plot,she does not work herself so how would she be paying zakat yearly?
JazakaAllah khairun kaseera
Wassalam, Irum Shafique
Answer
Wa ʿalaykum as-salām wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh,
Your question reflects a sincere desire to ensure that one’s wealth is dealt with in a manner pleasing to Allah, and such concern itself is highly commendable. The ruling regarding zakāh on land becomes clear once Islamic law’s distinction between ownership for use and ownership for trade is properly understood.
In Islamic jurisprudence, zakāh is not obligatory on land, property, or real estate merely because a person owns it. Ownership alone does not make an asset zakātable. Rather, zakāh becomes obligatory on land only when it is purchased with a clear and definite intention of trade, that is, when a person buys land as part of a business, intending to sell it for profit in the same manner that merchants buy and sell goods. In such a case, the land is categorised as ʿurūḍ al-tijārah (trade assets), and zakāh is payable on its current market value every lunar year at the rate of 2.5%, provided the value reaches the niṣāb.
The situation you have described, however, is entirely different. The land was purchased using personal savings accumulated over many years, and its purpose is to serve as a form of long-term security for the children’s future, whether for education, essential needs, or possibly for performing Ḥajj when circumstances allow. There was no intention of entering into a business of buying and selling land, nor was the purchase made with a view to regular resale and profit-making. Such land is therefore considered a personal asset held for future use, even if that use is delayed for many years.
According to the majority of classical scholars, no zakāh is due on land held for personal or family needs, regardless of how long it is retained and regardless of fluctuations in its market value. An increase or decrease in the price of the plot does not affect the ruling, as zakāh is not connected to potential value, but to the nature and intention of ownership.
It is also important to clarify that merely waiting to see whether the land may be sold in the future does not make it a trade asset. Many people hold property as a safeguard against future hardship, and this does not constitute commercial trading in the Sharʿī sense. As long as there is no firm, ongoing intention to sell the land as part of a business activity, zakāh does not apply to it.
If, at some point in the future, the land is sold, zakāh is still not calculated for the previous years. Rather, once the sale takes place, the proceeds become cash. That cash will only become subject to zakāh after one full lunar year has passed from the time it comes into her possession, provided it reaches the niṣāb and remains above it throughout the year.
With regard to the concern about paying zakāh while not being employed, this worry does not arise in this case, as there is no zakāh obligation on the land itself. Zakāh is only due on assets upon which Sharīʿah has made it obligatory, and Allah does not burden a soul with that which He has not required.
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