How to Calculate Your Zakat in 2026

The principle in three numbers

Zakat is the third pillar of Islam and, unlike Sadaqah which is voluntary, it becomes obligatory once three conditions are met. The whole calculation comes down to three numbers, established in order.

First the Nisab, the threshold below which nothing is due: the equivalent of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver. Then the hawl, the period your wealth must stay above that threshold: one full lunar year, about 354 days. Finally the rate: 2.5% of your zakatable wealth, not of your income.

That last distinction is the most common source of error. Zakat is not calculated on what you earned during the year, but on what you still hold on the due date. Someone who earns a lot and spends it all may owe nothing; someone on a modest income with idle savings does owe Zakat.

Step 1: gather your zakatable assets

On your due date, add up everything that falls into the categories below. The simplest approach is to do it on a fixed day of the Hijri year, for example 1 Ramadan.

Step 2: deduct your debts

Debts that are currently due are subtracted from the total: a bill to pay, this month's rent, an overdraft, money owed to a relative, tax payable. What counts is what you owe now, not the full outstanding balance of a commitment spread over years.

For a long-term loan, the majority position among contemporary scholars is to deduct only the instalments falling due within the current year, not the entire remaining principal. Deducting a twenty-year mortgage in full would mean many families never pay Zakat at all, which is not the spirit of the obligation.

Step 3: compare your total to the Nisab

The Nisab is not a fixed amount in dollars or dirhams: it is a weight of metal, whose cash equivalent moves every day with the market. It has to be recalculated at each due date.

Two bases are accepted and both are valid. The gold Nisab is 85 grams of pure gold, which today gives a high threshold. The silver Nisab is 595 grams of silver, a far lower threshold, because silver has risen much less than gold. Using silver therefore makes Zakat due sooner and benefits recipients more, which is why many scholars recommend it out of caution.

These weights come from the tradition: 20 gold dinars and 200 silver dirhams. Depending on the value taken for the mithqal, you get 85 g and 595 g (the classical convention) or 87.48 g and 612.36 g (the modern one). The gap is small and makes no practical difference in most cases.

Step 4: check the hawl, the lunar year

Zakat is only due if your wealth has stayed above the Nisab for a complete lunar year, about 354 days. That is the hawl. If you cross the threshold in Rajab, your first due date falls in Rajab of the following Hijri year.

Fluctuations during the year change nothing, as long as you do not drop below the threshold. If your wealth does fall below the Nisab mid-year, the majority view is that the hawl breaks and restarts from zero; the Hanafi school, however, requires the Nisab only at the start and end of the year, so a temporary dip does not interrupt it. Many families simplify things by picking a fixed Hijri date, often in Ramadan, and running the calculation on that date every year. This is acceptable and far more sustainable over time.

Beware of one common confusion: a lunar year is about eleven days shorter than a calendar year. If you calculate on the solar calendar for convenience, the equivalent rate is 2.577% rather than 2.5%, to make up for the extra period.

Step 5: apply the 2.5% rate

Once the total is set and debts deducted, Zakat is 2.5% of the result, or one fortieth. Zakatable wealth of 90,000 gives 2,250 in Zakat.

This 2.5% rate applies to money, precious metals and trade goods. Other rates exist for specific cases that do not concern most households: Zakat on crops is 5% or 10% depending on irrigation, and livestock follows a per-head scale.

A worked example

Amounts in US dollars, for illustration only. The gold Nisab at the same price is roughly 11,100 dollars: this wealth sits well above the threshold, so Zakat is due.

Zakat on gold and jewellery

How much Zakat on gold in 2026, per gram and per carat

Gold is counted by weight of pure gold at the day's price. An 18-carat bracelet is only 75% gold: 40 grams of 18-carat equals 30 grams of pure gold. That pure weight is what counts, and the price to use is the 24-carat gold price per gram, not a jeweller's retail price which includes craftsmanship and margin.

On jewellery worn day to day, the schools differ. The Hanafi school treats it as zakatable regardless of use. The Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools generally exempt jewellery in reasonable personal use, while still applying Zakat to gold held as a store of value. Many families choose to include it out of caution, particularly where family gold makes up a large share of their wealth.

Silver follows the same rule, by weight of pure silver at the day's price.

Zakat on shares, savings and investments

For shares bought to be resold, the market value on the due date is zakatable in full, like a stock of trade goods.

For shares held for their dividends over the long term, the majority position is to count only the share of the company's zakatable assets: cash, receivables and inventory, excluding factories, premises and equipment. Where precise figures are unavailable, many institutions apply a flat percentage of the market price.

Pension funds and life insurance are zakatable only on the portion actually available, meaning what you could withdraw on the due date. Savings locked until retirement attract differing opinions; the cautious approach is to declare them as they become accessible.

Finally, if part of your holdings rests on interest, that part is not purified by Zakat: scholars advise disposing of it separately, without counting it as charity.

Who Zakat goes to: the eight categories

The Qur'an lists eight categories of recipients (Surah At-Tawbah, verse 60). Zakat cannot go anywhere else, which sets it apart from Sadaqah, free in its destination.

1. The poor, who cannot cover their essential needs.
2. The needy, whose resources fall short.
3. Those who collect and administer Zakat.
4. Those whose hearts are to be reconciled, including new Muslims.
5. Freeing those in bondage, applied today to releasing captives and victims of exploitation.
6. Those in debt who cannot repay a debt taken on for a lawful need.
7. The cause of God, understood by scholars in the strict sense of defensive effort, and which some contemporary scholars extend to collective effort in the service of the community.
8. The stranded traveller, cut off from their resources, which today includes refugees and migrants in difficulty.

Two limits are worth knowing: on the majority view Zakat cannot fund the construction or equipment of a mosque, and, on the majority view, it cannot be given to your direct parents or children, whose maintenance already falls under a separate obligation. A brother, sister, uncle or cousin in need, by contrast, is a legitimate and even a priority recipient.

Where the schools differ

Calculating Zakat involves well-known and openly acknowledged differences between the schools of law. None invalidates the others, and it is legitimate to follow the practice of your country or the view of a scholar you trust.

The three differences that come up most often: the basis of the Nisab, gold or silver; Zakat on jewellery in personal use, included by the Hanafis and generally exempt elsewhere; and the treatment of long-term debt, deducted in full or only for the current year's instalments.

Our stance in the app is to make these choices explicit and adjustable rather than to impose one. You pick the basis and the convention, and the calculation follows.

Key dates for 2026 and 2027

If you align your due date with Ramadan, here are the useful dates, obtained by astronomical calculation. Official dates are announced by each country's religious authorities after the crescent is sighted and may differ by a day or two.

To convert your own due date from one calendar to the other, use our Hijri converter. Open the Hijri converter

Frequently asked questions

Disclaimer: this page is an educational guide and the calculator an indicative tool. For a specific situation, particularly where a business, complex investments or significant debts are involved, consult a scholar or a Zakat institution in your country.

Read also : Zakat calculator · Hijri converter · Halal family budget