Ask an Alim

Salamun Alaykum

Thank you for your query.

According to Ahl-as-Sunnah the ruling is as follows:

There is no zakat on the property purchased for the sake of building house to live in . If someone buys the property to make profit then its due to pay zakat upon . If both plot was purchased to build house, then there is no zakat but if there is element of business or renting the property then zakat is due on you.

I would like to clarify the 2 things in Islam, Zakat & Khums. We believe in both whereas some of the people don’t accept Khums nowadays, which had been there since the time of our Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w).

According to Shia aspect the following are the things regarding Zakat and Khums.

Zakat is wajib (obligatory) on the following 9 items:

Coins: silver; gold

Cattle: cows; sheep and goats; camels

Crops: wheat; barley; dates; raisins

And Khums is on the surplus to annual expenses. If your income exceeds the annual expenses of yourself and your family, Khums (20%) should be paid from the excess.

According to Ayatullah al-Udhma Sayyid Ali Sistany Zakat is Wajib on 10 things:

Ruling 1871. Zakat is obligatory (wājib) on ten things:

1. wheat; 2. barley; 3. dates; 4. raisins; 5. gold; 6. silver; 7. camels; 8. cows; 9. sheep [and goats]; 10. business goods, based on obligatory precaution (al-ihtiyāt al-wājib).

Plot or Land are not amongst the obligatory things on which Zakat has to be paid. Therefore, Zakat is not at all wajib on it.

But if you meant whether KHUMS has to be paid on the cost of construction then act upon the below mentioned ruling:

Ruling 1813. If a person purchases something with money on which khums has not been paid for a year [as a non-specified undertaking, which is explained in the first footnote pertaining to Ruling 807], and if its price increases, then, in the event that he did not intend to buy the item as an investment and to sell it when its price increases – for example, he purchases land for farming [and not to sell once its price increases] – he must pay khums on the purchase price. However, if, for example, he gives the seller the actual money on which khums has not been paid and tells him that he is purchasing the item with that money,(10) then he must pay khums on the current value of the item.

https://www.sistani.org/english/book/48/2280/

As Khums is obligatory on the surplus to annual expenses. If your income exceeds the annual expenses of yourself and your family, Khums (20%) should be paid from the excess. Khums must be divided into two parts: one part is the portion for sayyid (sahm al-sādāt), which must be given to a sayyid who is poor, or who is an orphan, or who is stranded on a journey. The second part is the portion for the Imam (sahm al-imām), which at the present time [i.e. during the time of the Imam’s (A) occultation] must either be given to a fully qualified jurist or spent for purposes that he authorises.

Khums can be paid at the office of your Marja(Mujtahid) or to any representative of your Mujtahid

Khums has been mentioned and made compulsory in Quran in Surah Anfal/41

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا غَنِمْتُم مِّن شَيْءٍ فَأَنَّ لِلَّـهِ خُمُسَهُ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ إِن كُنتُمْ آمَنتُم بِاللَّـهِ وَمَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا يَوْمَ الْفُرقَانِ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ وَاللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Know that whatever thing you may come by, a fifth of it is for Allah and the Apostle, for the relatives and the orphans, for the needy and the traveller, if you have faith in Allah and what We sent down to Our servant on the Day of Separation, the day when the two hosts met; and Allah has power over all things.

To learn about Khums, please visit:

https://www.al-islam.org/khums-islamic-tax-sayyid-muhammad-rizvi

To learn about Zakat in Shia Fiqh, please visit:

https://www.al-islam.org/articles/zakat-shia-fiqh-sayyid-muhammad-rizvi

Wassalam,

Syed Haider