Is zakat obligatory on the owner of a rented grocery store, including its equipment and goods, given that he bears the basic rent of the premises?

It is permissible to lease the shop and its equipment, but it is not permissible to lease the merchandise. This is because a lease applies to items from which one benefits while they remain in existence. As for merchandise, it is sold and does not remain. Therefore, the lessee must return the merchandise to its owner or purchase it from him, either in cash or in installments. As for zakat, it is not obligatory on the shop and its equipment. However, it is obligatory on the rent of the shop if it reaches the nisab (threshold) and a hawl (one lunar year) passes over it, in which case 2.5% of it is to be paid. If the rent money mixes with your own funds, then the existing money must be purified with zakat at the end of the hawl. As for the merchandise, once it is sold, the money is subject to zakat at the end of the merchandise's hawl, without starting a new hawl.