Zakat on Inherited Land and Houses

Short answer: Inherited real property carries no zakat on its value — it is not trade goods, since you neither bought it nor formed a trade intent. Zakat arises through: (a) accumulated rent (cash rules); (b) ushr on crops; (c) sale proceeds — hawl from the sale day; (d) and if you firmly commit some part to profit-trading, that part becomes trade goods from that day, zakatable yearly at market value. Details: Selling 'coming up now and then' is no firm intent — trade-goods status is not established. In undivided estates each heir owns his share and reckons his own portion of rent or crops. Before division, the deceased's debts and unpaid zakat must be settled from the estate (see the deceased's-pension fatwa). Warning: withholding co-heirs' shares — especially sisters' — is oppression: 'whoever seizes a handspan of land unjustly will be collared with seven earths on the Day of Rising' (Sahih al-Bukhari 2452). Evidence: Quran 4:11-12; Sahih al-Bukhari 1464 and 1; Sahih al-Bukhari 2452; the Permanent Committee on inherited property. For complex individual cases, consult a qualified scholar.