Fatwa ID: 03659

Answered by: Alimah Sabrina al-Faarsiyyah

Question

Assalamu Alaikum,

I buy and sell properties but now I intend to keep some property for a longer period, maybe I will build a home and rent it out, but there is always a possibility to sell the plot immediately if I get a good offer.

Considering that the plot value is very high and will appreciate every year but I will not have enough cash or bank balance to pay the Zakat on market value every year, how is Zakat to be calculated and paid in this case? Can it be paid 2.5% once in the year of selling?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most-Merciful

Answer:

Zakah should be paid on items which are purchased with the intention of resale or capital gain when their market value is equal or more than the value of nisab.[1] Therefore, if you do not have enough cash or bank balance to pay the zakah at the end of every year, you are required to sell some part of your wealth in order to pay the zakah of the property. If you are unable to do that, and you decide to pay your zakah in the year of selling the property, then you must calculate the zakah that you were required to pay all those years and pay all of it once you have received cash/bank balance, in the year of selling the property.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Alimah Sabrina al-Faarsiyyah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham