This calculator gives estimates for education and planning. It is not investment, tax or legal advice; for decisions about your own situation, talk to a qualified financial professional.
What is zakat?
Zakat is the annual obligatory charity in Islam, one of its five pillars. It is due on wealth that exceeds a minimum threshold, the nisab, and that has been held for a full lunar year, the hawl. The rate is one fortieth, 2.5%, of the zakatable wealth.
This calculator follows the most common method. Scholars differ on several points, so check with a scholar or zakat organization you trust for your own situation.
Step by step
- Add up zakatable assets: cash and bank balances, gold and silver, shares and investment funds, business stock valued at its selling price, and money owed to you that you expect to receive.
- Subtract debts due now: bills and loan installments that are payable.
- Compare with the nisab: the value of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver at today’s price.
- Apply 2.5% if your net wealth is at or above the nisab.
Your home, car, furniture, clothing and the tools of your trade are generally not zakatable.
Example
With $20,000 in the bank, $10,000 in investments and $2,000 of bills due, net wealth is $28,000. At $130 per gram, the gold nisab is 85 × 130 = $11,050. Zakat is 2.5% × 28,000 = $700.
With the silver nisab, at $1.60 per gram, the threshold is only about $952, so many more people reach it.
Gold or silver nisab?
The two standards were roughly equal in the time of the Prophet, but gold is now worth far more than silver. The silver nisab, favored by many scholars as more cautious and better for the poor, makes zakat due on modest savings. The gold nisab is often used for wealth held mainly in gold or cash. Choose one and apply it consistently.
Lunar or solar year
The hawl is a lunar year of about 354 days. If you track your zakat on a solar year, about 11 days longer, many scholars apply 2.577% instead of 2.5% to make up the difference.