Zakat is the third pillar of Islam: a small share of your wealth given each year to those in need. It is one way Islam builds care for the poor into everyday money matters. The word means both purification and growth. It purifies what you keep, and it grows into blessing, for the giver and for the whole community.
“The parable of those who spend their substance in the way of Allah is that of a grain of corn: it groweth seven ears, and each ear Hath a hundred grains. Allah giveth manifold increase to whom He pleaseth: And Allah careth for all and He knoweth all things.”
When the Prophet (ﷺ) sent Mu’adh to Yemen, he told him to teach that zakat is taken from the wealthy and given to the poor among them. And he promised that charity never decreases wealth.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1395Sahih Muslim 2588
Who pays
Every Muslim whose wealth reaches the nisab and stays there for a year. If your savings are below it, no zakat is due, and you can still give voluntary charity whenever you like.
Nisabthe minimum
Zakat is due when your wealth reaches the nisab: the value of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver. Many people use the silver value, which is lower, so that more zakat reaches those in need. Gold and silver prices change, so check the current value, or ask your mosque.
No zakat is due on less than five awaq (ounces) of silver. Sahih al-Bukhari 1405
Hawla lunar year
Zakat is paid once a year, on wealth that has stayed at or above the nisab for a full year of the Islamic (lunar) calendar. Your zakat year runs from the day your wealth first reached the nisab. If you do not know that day, many people choose a date they will remember, such as a day in Ramadan, and pay each year on that date.
Rub' al-'ushrone fortieth
The amount is 2.5 per cent, one fortieth, of your zakatable wealth.
What counts
- Cash, bank balances and savings
- Gold and silver
- Shares and investments, and money owed to you that you expect to be repaid
- Business stock and goods held for sale
Things you own for your own use are not counted: your home, your car, your furniture and clothes. The Prophet (ﷺ) said there is no zakat on a Muslim’s own horse.
Working it out
On your zakat date:
- Add up everything that counts.
- Take away debts and bills that are due now.
- If what is left is at or above the nisab, pay 2.5 per cent of it.
For example: savings of £10,000 and gold worth £2,000, with £1,000 of bills due, leaves £11,000. Zakat is 2.5 per cent of that: £275.
The schools of Islamic law differ on some details, such as how to treat long-term debts like a mortgage, and jewellery worn every day.
Your mosque or a trusted zakat calculator can help with your own situation.
Who receives it
The Qur’an names the eight who may receive zakat:
Al-fuqara'the poor
Al-masakinthe needy
Al-'amilin 'alayhathose who collect and distribute it
Al-mu'allafati qulubuhumthose whose hearts are being brought close to Islam
Fi-r-riqabfreeing those in bondage
Al-ghariminthose in debt
Fi sabilillahin the cause of Allah
Ibn as-sabilthe stranded traveller
“Alms are for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer the (funds); for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to Truth); for those in bondage and in debt; in the cause of Allah; and for the wayfarer: (thus is it) ordained by Allah, and Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.”
You can give it through your mosque or a trusted zakat charity, or directly to people you know are in need. It is not given to your own parents or grandparents, children or grandchildren, or anyone else you are already obliged to provide for.
Zakat al-Fitr and sadaqah
Zakat al-fitr (the charity of breaking the fast) is a separate, small payment made for each person at the end of Ramadan, before the Eid prayer. Sadaqah (voluntary charity) can be given at any time, in any amount. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that even a good word is charity.