Fatwa ID: 02711
Answered by: Moulana Tahsin Alam
Question:
Assalamualaikum
If land was purchased in India 10 years ago with intention of resale, this is Zakatable each year at current market value right?
However, for the last 6/7 years, the demand for buying is non-existent so one is not able to sell it even if he wanted to. Maybe never.
Is zakah still liable? Can one accept the fact that the money is lost and change one's intention.
If so, how does one determine value as there is no market demand?
And can one accrue the zakah on this land, paying it from previous years if it sells, on the basis that it may never sell so what would be the ruling be on paying zakah on something that may never sell?
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Answer:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,
Any item bought for the intention of resale and business is an asset on which zakāh is due, its value is determined by the current market value of the item every lunar year. If there is no market value for an item, it will not be considered a zakātable asset.[1]
Only Allah knows best
Written by Moulana Tahsin Alam
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
[1]Imām al-Kāsānī, Badāiʿ al-Ṣanāiʿ (Cairo: Darul Hadīth, 2005), volume 2 pg. 402.
