Government expropriating land and selling the apartments on the land
Question
If the state forcibly buys out housing in the city center from residents and evicts them to the outskirts in order to build new luxury buildings on that land and then sell them to new buyers, is such a transaction considered nāfidh (legally effective)?
Is the work of a real estate agent selling these apartments lawful? Is the purchase of these apartments by new residents lawful, or does the sin and illegality rest only on the developer who organized all of this and promoted his interests among government officials (obviously through bribes)?
Answer
Through the government expropriating the land or forcibly buying the land from its owner, the government became the owner of the land. Hence, the apartments that are being sold by the government can be purchased.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
- Answered by
- Mufti Zakaria Makada
- Checked & approved by
- Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen. It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, ask the issuing Darul Ifta directly.