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Fatwa CenterSelling land that one does not yet fully own
Question
I have bought a land on 4 years installment and still it is on papers and I am not aware about the location of land yet.. I will get possession after 3 more years. Meanwhile Can I sell such land in profit. My intention is to do trading on this land. Sell this again buy file of such land from other owner and sell it in profit and so on.I need to know is it halal or haram. Some one told me it is haram since land is on papers yet and I cannot do trading. Please help me to solve this issue in light of Islam
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
A judgment on something is subsidiary to the conceptualization of it, and you have not clarified for us the nature of this land and the details of the transaction between you and the party selling that land.
In any case, as long as you are unaware of its location and you cannot deliver it to the buyer, then your sale of it is invalid.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz 
was asked: What is your opinion about those who take land grants and take the plot number of that land and sell it before receiving (ownership) of it? He replied: "This is not permissible. This involves risk. It is not permissible (to sell it) until he receives it and marks out its boundaries and acquires full ownership of it."
The same thing applies here. If someone does not know the location of the land, and he has not yet taken possession of it, then his sale of it is not valid due to the risk and indeterminacy that it involves.
This is if we presume that you actually own the land. But since you do not own it until you pay its installments in full, then you are not entitled to dispose of it with even greater reason .
Allaah Knows best.
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