Zakāt on Gold and Silver
What is owed on the two precious metals — the threshold, the year, and the quarter of a tenth.
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The niṣāb, the rate, and the warning against hoarding — zakāt on gold and silver worked through in full — an A5 guide.
- The ruling: zakāt is obligatory
- The warning against hoarding
- Working out the niṣāb
- Common practical questions
The Ruling: Zakāt on Gold and Silver Is Obligatory
Zakāt is the third pillar of Islām, and gold and silver are among the categories of wealth upon which it is due by consensus (ijmāʿ) of the scholars. It becomes obligatory when three conditions are met together: (1) the wealth reaches the niṣāb — the minimum threshold fixed by the Sharīʿah; (2) a full lunar year (ḥawl) passes while one owns that amount; and (3) it is owned outright. The amount payable is a quarter of one-tenth — rubʿ al-ʿushr — that is, 2.5% of the total value.
The Warning Against Hoarding Gold and Silver
Allah singled out gold and silver in a stern warning against hoarding wealth without discharging its due. Ibn ʿUmar and other of the Salaf explained that the 'hoarded' wealth (kanz) condemned here is wealth on which the obligatory zakāt is not paid — for once its zakāt is paid, it is no longer counted as the blameworthy kanz.
وَالَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ الذَّهَبَ وَالْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ
And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah — give them tidings of a painful punishment.
Quran 9:34
يَوْمَ يُحْمَىٰ عَلَيْهَا فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ فَتُكْوَىٰ بِهَا جِبَاهُهُمْ وَجُنُوبُهُمْ وَظُهُورُهُمْ ۖ هَٰذَا مَا كَنَزْتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ فَذُوقُوا مَا كُنتُمْ تَكْنِزُونَ
The Day when it will be heated in the fire of Hell and seared therewith will be their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs — [it will be said]: 'This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you used to hoard.'
Quran 9:35
The Niṣāb: The Threshold Below Which Nothing Is Due
No zakāt is due on gold or silver until it reaches the niṣāb. For silver, the Prophet ﷺ fixed it at five awāq, and one ūqiyyah equals forty dirhams — so the niṣāb of silver is 200 dirhams. Whoever owns less than this owes nothing on it.
لَيْسَ فِيمَا دُونَ خَمْسَةِ أَوْسُقٍ صَدَقَةٌ، وَلَيْسَ فِيمَا دُونَ خَمْسِ ذَوْدٍ صَدَقَةٌ، وَلَيْسَ فِيمَا دُونَ خَمْسِ أَوَاقٍ صَدَقَةٌ
No Sadaqa (zakat) is due on less than five wasqs of (dates or grains), on less than five camel-heads, and on less than five uqiyas (of silver).
Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 2151, Kitab al-ZakahSahih
For gold, the niṣāb is twenty dīnārs (twenty mithqāls), as in the ḥadīth of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. In contemporary weights these thresholds are commonly reckoned as approximately 85 grams of pure gold and approximately 595 grams of pure silver; local scholars and reliable gold-weight tables should be consulted, since measures are stated with slight variation.
Nothing is incumbent on you in gold until it reaches twenty dīnārs. When you possess twenty dīnārs and one year passes over them, then half a dīnār is due; and whatever exceeds that is reckoned in the same way.
Abu Dawud 1573Sahih (al-Albani)
Zakāt on Women's Jewelry: An Honest Ikhtilāf
One of the best-known evidences on this subject is the ḥadīth of the woman whose daughter wore two heavy gold bangles. When she admitted she paid no zakāt on them, the Prophet ﷺ gave a grave warning, after which they were removed and given in charity.
A woman came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and with her was her daughter who wore two heavy gold bangles. He said: 'Do you pay the zakāt on these?' She said: 'No.' He said: 'Would it please you that Allah encircle you with two bracelets of fire on the Day of Resurrection?' So she took them off and handed them over, saying: 'They are for Allah and His Messenger.'
Abu Dawud 1563Hasan (al-Albani)
Here the scholars genuinely differ, and the disagreement is old and respected. One group holds that zakāt is due on gold and silver jewelry that a woman wears, once it reaches the niṣāb and a year passes — arguing from this ḥadīth and the general wording of the texts on gold and silver. This is the view of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research (al-Lajnah al-Dāʾimah), Shaykh Ibn Bāz, and Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn. A second group holds that jewelry which is permissibly worn or lent for use (ḥuliyy mubāḥ) is exempt, likening it to clothing and personal effects rather than hoarded currency; this was the position of many of the fuqahāʾ and is supported by narrations from some Companions.
How the Amount Is Worked Out
When gold or silver reaches its niṣāb and a full lunar year passes over it, the owner pays 2.5% — a quarter of one-tenth. In practice this is usually done by weighing the metal, valuing it at the current market price on the zakāt-due date, and paying 2.5% of that value (or, if preferred, giving the equivalent weight of the metal itself). Zakāt is recalculated each ḥawl on whatever one still owns.
Two further points are worth noting, and scholars have addressed them: gold used in ordinary trade and cash savings are joined to gold and silver in reaching the niṣāb according to many scholars, since money today stands in the place of the two metals; and there is a recognized difference over whether gold and silver are combined together to complete a single niṣāb. Where one is unsure, the safer path is to ask a reliable scholar and to err toward discharging the obligation.
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