Zakat on Land

Regarding the zakah on land, meaning: A man bought a piece of land and did not pay its zakah for three or four years. He then submitted it to the municipality after the purchase to have it divided into several plots. The process took four or five years and has not yet been completed. Is he required to pay zakah for the previous period, or does he pay it once at the time of sale?The Shaykh: Did he buy it for trade?The questioner: He bought it for trade, but he believed, based on the fatwa of some scholars, that there is no zakah on land. Then the process of finalizing the land transaction was delayed, and he is unable to sell it in separate plots until the process is completed.

The Shaykh: And he cannot sell it all at once.

The questioner: He cannot sell it as a single plot, but the partners had bought the land to divide it into several plots.

The Shaykh: Meaning: it has transferred out of his ownership.

The questioner: No, it is still in his ownership.

The Shaykh: They are partners.

The questioner: The partners mean: they registered it in the name of one person, one of the partners.

The Shaykh: First: May Allah reward you. If he consulted a scholar who said there is no zakah on it, and this scholar is a reliable authority in his knowledge and religion, then there is no zakah on him.Because Allah said: [al-Nahl:43] As for if he believed that zakah is obligatory, then he must pay the zakah, except for the years in which he was prevented from disposing of it, for which there is no zakah. This is similar to debts owed by a non-indigent person. However, the stronger opinion, as you know, is that there is zakah on goods held for trade.