Interactive Zakat Calculator

What Is Zakat?

Zakat is the third pillar of Islam: an obligatory charity that purifies your wealth by giving a fixed portion of it to those in need. Once a Muslim's qualifying wealth reaches the nisab threshold and a full lunar year (hawl) has passed over it, 2.5% of that wealth becomes due as zakat. It is not a voluntary donation and it is not a tax on income — it is calculated on the wealth you hold: savings, gold, silver, business assets and similar holdings, after deducting the debts you owe.

The Qur'an pairs zakat with prayer again and again, and specifies its recipients: the poor, the needy, those employed to administer it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, freeing those in bondage, helping those in debt, in the cause of Allah, and the stranded traveller (Surah At-Tawbah 9:60). The calculator above does the arithmetic; this page explains what is being calculated, so you can pay with understanding — not just with a number.

The Nisab: When Does Zakat Become Due?

Zakat only becomes obligatory when your zakatable wealth reaches the nisab. The nisab is defined by precious metals: 87.48 grams of gold (7.5 tola) or 612.36 grams of silver (52.5 tola). In practice, you compare the total value of your zakatable assets against the cash value of those amounts at today's metal prices — the calculator above uses live daily nisab rates for exactly this step.

Which nisab should you use? Many scholars recommend the silver nisab, because its lower value means more people qualify to give — and more of the poor benefit. Others use the gold nisab, especially where silver's price has fallen far below its historical proportion. Both views are held by respected scholars; choose the one you are confident in, and be consistent from year to year.

One more condition: the wealth must be held for one full lunar year. If your balance crossed the nisab, dipped below it mid-year and recovered, scholars differ on whether the year restarts — a common practical approach is to fix a personal zakat anniversary (many choose a date in Ramadan) and pay on whatever qualifying wealth you hold that day.

Which Assets Are Zakatable — and Which Are Not?

Zakatable: cash in hand and in bank accounts; gold and silver in any form (jewellery included, according to the majority view for gold kept as wealth); business inventory and trade goods at their sale value; shares and investments (either on their market value or on the dividend-yield method — the calculator supports the common approaches); money owed to you that you expect to recover; and rental or agricultural produce where the rules of ushr apply.

Not zakatable: your home, your car, furniture, clothing and personal belongings — the things you live with are never counted, however valuable. Also deduct what you owe: debts due within the year reduce your zakatable total before the 2.5% is applied. That is why the calculator asks about liabilities in its final step.

A Worked Example

Suppose that on your zakat anniversary you hold: $12,000 in savings, gold worth $3,000, business stock worth $5,000 — and you owe $2,000 that is due this year.

• Total zakatable assets: $12,000 + $3,000 + $5,000 = $20,000
• Less debts: $20,000 − $2,000 = $18,000
• Zakat due at 2.5%: $450

If that $18,000 is above the nisab (it is, at any recent gold or silver price) and has been held for a lunar year, $450 is the zakat to distribute. Change any figure and the calculator above recomputes it instantly, in your own currency.