Zakat on gold: nisab, value and how to work it out
Zakat on gold is an annual obligation for Muslims who hold enough of it. This page explains what nisab means, which gold counts, and how to use the calculator here to work out the metal value involved. The calculator is automated: it applies the standard nisab threshold and the standard zakat rate, and shows both in its notes so you can see what it used.
What nisab means
Nisab is the minimum threshold of pure gold a person must hold before zakat becomes due on it. It is not a target and not an average; it is the line that decides whether the obligation applies at all. The calculator uses the standard threshold and states it in its notes rather than asking you to look it up elsewhere.
Gold below the threshold is not subject to zakat. Once your holding reaches or passes the threshold and stays there for the required period, zakat applies to the gold. The rate is fixed and the calculator applies the standard rate, again shown in its notes.
Which gold counts
- Coins and bars, whether bought for saving or kept as a store of value.
- Jewellery, in the view of many scholars, though opinions differ on daily-wear pieces; check your own position with a scholar.
- Gold held in an account or as a claim on metal, where you own the gold itself rather than a paper exposure.
- Broken or old pieces still owned, since the metal value remains yours.
Gold you own jointly is counted at your share. Gold bought on credit and not yet received is a more complex case; treat it carefully and ask someone qualified.
Working it out with the calculator
Enter the weight of your gold and select the purity. The calculator converts your holding to pure gold, compares it with the nisab threshold, and if you are above the line it applies the standard rate. It uses the world metal price to value the gold, so the figure you see is metal value, not a shop quote and not what a dealer would pay you. Premiums, making charges and buy-back spreads are not part of it.
If you hold pieces of different purities, run each group separately and add the pure-gold results, or convert everything to pure gold first and enter that total.
When to calculate
Use the value on the day you pay, not the value on the day you first reached the threshold. Metal prices move, so recalculate on the payment date and use that figure. If your holding changes during the year, the value at payment is still the one that matters for the calculation.
This page is a calculator, not advice. Personal situations, including debts, mixed holdings and jewellery in daily use, deserve a qualified scholar's view.
Gold calculator
Weight × unit × karat. The answer below is already worked out for an example; change any field to recalculate.
How we calculate
We do not collect dealers’ prices. Every figure is worked out from the world price, the same way, on every page.
world price per troy ounce÷grams in an ounce×dollar rate×purity×grams in the unit
- World priceSpot gold in US dollars from an aggregated feed 1, recalculated every 10 minutes while the market is open.
- RateThe ZAR rate from central-bank reference data 2. It is a market reference rate, not an official fixing of your central bank.
- Purity and weightFixed constants with their source: see the unit pages. 22k counts as 916 parts gold in 1000.
- WeekendsNo trading, no recalculation: the last price before the close stays, marked “market closed”.
- HistoryThe history and the chart use one series only: daily reference fixings, converted at the rate of the same day. We never join them to the live figure.
Why a jeweller’s price is different
Shops add a making charge and their margin, and buy back for less than they sell. Our figure is the metal alone: the floor of a fair price, not the shop price.
Sources
Every figure on this site points here by its number.
- 1Price feedWorld spot price of gold and silver, aggregated feedthe world price, every 10 minutes while the market is open
- 2Central banksFrankfurter — central-bank reference ratesUSD → ZAR, updated daily; also the daily history
- 3StandardUnits of weight and finenessgrams in an ounce and in a gram