He inherited some land then he put it up for sale – does he have to pay zakaah on it?
Question

                We have a piece of land that we sold one month ago. This land belonged to a number of heirs, one of whom was a minor and reached the age of 18 one month before the land was sold. We decided to sell it a year before that date, but the issue of the minor heir meant that the sale was delayed until this year. Please note that we did not give the land to any agent to sell it and we did not come to any agreement with any purchaser at that time, rather we delayed it until that minor reached the legal age. My question is: Is there any zakaah on this land, knowing that it had been in the name of the heirs for 16 years but they had no intention of selling it until this year?.
Praise be to Allah.There is no zakaah on this 
    land, because the majority of fuqaha’ are of the view that for zakaah to be 
    due on trade goods, a person must take possession of them with the intention 
    of trading them. If he acquires it by means of inheritance he has not taken 
    possession of it by means of his actions, so there is no zakaah on it even 
    if he intends to sell it. 
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah 
    have mercy on him) said: Goods do not become trade goods unless two 
    conditions are met:  

    (i)That he takes possession of it 
    by means of his actions, such as buying, marriage, khula’, accepting a gift, 
    a bequest, booty, or earning of permissible things.

    (ii)That he intends when taking 
    possession of it to sell it. If he does not intend when taking possession of 
    it to sell it, then it is not trade goods, even if he forms that intention 
    later on.
If he takes possession of 
    it by inheritance and intends to sell it, it does not become trade goods. 
    Similarly, if a settled person intends to travel, the rulings on travelling 
    do not begin to apply to him unless he takes action.  
It was narrated from Ahmad 
    in another report that goods may become trade goods by virtue of intention, 
    because Samurah said: The Messenger of Allaah  (peace and blessings of 
    Allaah be upon him) commanded us to pay zakaah from that which we had 
    prepared to sell. Based on this, when a person forms the intention to sell 
    it, it becomes trade goods. End quote from al-Mughni, 2/336.  
The former is the view of 
    the Hanbalis, Hanafis, Maalikis and Shaafa’is. 
See: Badaa’i’ 
    al-Sanaa’i’, 2/12; Sharh al-Kharashi ‘ala Khaleel, 2/195; 
    al-Majmoo’, 6/5; and al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fihqiyyah, 23/271. 
With regard to the latter 
    view, which was also narrated from Ahmad, it was regarded as more correct by 
    Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, but he differentiated between one who sells land in 
    order to earn money, make a profit and deal in it, and one who sells it 
    because he no longer has any need for it. In the former case zakaah is due, 
    but not in the latter. 
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may 
    Allaah have mercy on him) said: The second view concerning this issue is 
    that as soon as the intention to sell it for trade purposes is formed it 
    becomes trade goods, even if it came into his possession without him taking 
    any action, and even if he took possession of it without intending to trade 
    in it, because of the general meaning of the words of the Prophet  
    (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Actions are but by intentions, 
    and each person will have but that which he intended…” This man intended to 
    deal in it, so he has to pay zakaah on it. 
For example: if he buys a 
    car to use it for transportation, then he decided to make it capital for the 
    purpose of trade, then zakaah must be paid when one year has passed since he 
    formed that intention. But if he has a car that he is using, then he decides 
    to sell it, it is not trade goods, because he is not selling it for the sake 
    of doing trade, rather it is because he no longer wants it. 
Another example is if he 
    has land that he bought to build on, then he decided to sell it and buy some 
    other land. His offering it for sale is not for the purpose of trade, 
    because the intention of selling in this case is not to earn money, rather 
    it is because he no longer wants it. There is a difference between two 
    people, one of whom makes it his capital for the purpose of trade and 
    another who decides he no longer wants or needs this thing, so he wants to 
    sell it. In the first case zakaah is due according to the correct opinion, 
    and in the second case no zakaah is due. End quote from al-Sharh 
    al-Mumti’ (2/626). 
Conclusion: You do not have 
    to pay zakaah, according to both opinions. 
And Allaah knows best.