The three conditions
- Your wealth reaches the nisab. The nisab is the value of 85 grams of pure gold or 595 grams of silver. With gold, it is a few thousand dollars; with silver, much less. Many scholars recommend the silver nisab because more people then pay, to the benefit of the poor.
- You have held it for one full lunar (Hijri) year, called the hawl. The Hijri year is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian one.
- It is above your basic needs and debts that are due.
If all three are met, zakat is 2.5% of your zakatable wealth.
What counts
- Cash and savings in the bank, at home or with others who will repay you.
- Gold and silver kept as savings or investment, valued by their pure metal.
- Shares and funds held for trade, and goods for sale.
Jewellery that is worn is a known difference between scholars: the Hanafi school requires zakat on it, while most other scholars do not. Follow the view of the scholars you trust.
Your salary is not zakatable when it arrives. What you save from it joins your wealth, and you pay zakat on the total once a year on your zakat date.
A worked example
On your zakat date you have 30,000 in the bank, 5,000 in cash and 40 grams of 21-karat gold kept as savings, and you owe a 3,000 instalment due this month. Wealth = 30,000 + 5,000 + the value of the gold − 3,000. If that is above the nisab, zakat is 2.5% of it. For 40,000 in total, that is 1,000.
Practical tips
- Pick one date in the Hijri calendar, such as 1 Ramadan, and calculate every year on that date.
- Use today's gold price for the nisab and for your gold.
- Zakat al-Fitr is different: a small fixed amount per person paid before Eid al-Fitr.
Our zakat calculator uses the live gold and silver price for the nisab, the gold price calculator values your gold by karat, and the Zakat al-Fitr calculator covers Eid. For your own situation, ask a scholar you trust.