How it works
The rule
Zakat on wealth is 2.5% of the zakatable assets you have held for a full lunar year (the hawl), provided they reach the nisab. The nisab is the value of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver at today's price.
What counts
- Cash in hand and in bank accounts, in any currency
- Gold and silver, at their current value, whether jewellery or bars (the Hanafi view includes worn jewellery; some other scholars exclude it)
- Shares and funds at market value; some scholars allow zakat only on the underlying zakatable assets of a company held for dividends
- Trade goods: inventory and property bought to resell, at market value
- Receivables you expect to be paid, such as loans you made or invoices due
Debts that fall due within the year are deducted. Personal-use assets, such as your home, car and furniture, are not counted.
A worked example
Cash 60,000 riyals, shares worth 30,000, gold worth 10,000, debts due this year 20,000, gold at 300 riyals per gram:
- assets: 100,000
- net wealth: 100,000 − 20,000 = 80,000
- nisab: 85 × 300 = 25,500, so zakat is due
- zakat: 80,000 × 2.5% = 2,000 riyals
Gold or silver nisab
The gold nisab is the common choice for cash and investments. The silver nisab is far lower (595 g × the silver price), so choosing it means more people pay and pay sooner; those who prefer caution towards the poor use it.
When to pay
Pick a date each lunar year (many choose a day in Ramadan) and assess everything you hold on that day. Zakat is a yearly obligation on the stock of wealth, not on income, and it can be paid in instalments during the year as long as the full amount is settled.
Hasiby is a calculator, not a fatwa. Where scholars differ, ask a qualified authority about your own case; the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and the UAE Zakat Fund both publish guidance and official calculators.
Frequently asked questions
What is the nisab?
The minimum wealth at which zakat becomes due: the value of 85 grams of gold, or of 595 grams of silver. Most scholars and the Saudi authority use gold for cash and investments; using silver gives a lower threshold and is the more cautious choice.
Do I pay zakat on my salary?
Not on income as it arrives. Zakat is on what remains in your possession after a lunar year, so it falls on savings, not on the salary itself.
Is zakat due on the home I live in or my car?
No. Personal-use assets such as your home, car, furniture and clothes are not zakatable. Property bought to sell is trade goods and is included at market value.
What about my pension or end of service award?
Money you cannot access yet is generally not zakatable until it is received. Once paid out, it joins your cash and a lunar year starts to run on it.
Why does the calculator ask for the gold price?
Because the nisab is set in grams of gold or silver, so the threshold in riyals or dirhams changes with the metal price. Enter today's price per gram from a local jeweller or the exchange.