Zakat on gold and silver, including jewellery

Why gold and silver are treated separately

Gold and silver hold a special place in zakat because they were the currencies of the time and remain stores of value today. They are the metals the nisab thresholds are built on, and they are zakatable whether held as coins, bars, scrap or jewellery.

That is different from other possessions. Your car, your furniture and your home are personal use items with no zakat due. Gold and silver retain monetary value even when worn, which is why the majority of scholars treat them as wealth rather than as belongings.

Working out the weight

Start with weight in grams, not value. Jewellers stamp most pieces with their carat, and a set of kitchen scales accurate to a gram is enough for a household collection. Weigh gold and silver separately, and keep a written list so next year's calculation takes minutes rather than an afternoon.

If a piece combines metals, gemstones or enamel, only the gold or silver content is zakatable. Stones, pearls and other decoration are excluded unless you hold them as trading stock. A jeweller can tell you the metal weight of a stone set piece if it is not marked.

Adjusting for carat and purity

Carat measures purity out of 24. Pure gold is 24 carat. Most jewellery sits at 22, 21, 18 or 9 carat, and the zakat calculation should reflect the actual gold content rather than the gross weight.

Multiply the weight by the purity fraction to get pure gold equivalent, then apply the market price per gram. Silver is usually marked 925, meaning sterling silver at 92.5 per cent purity, so the same logic applies.

• 24 carat: 100 per cent pure
• 22 carat: 91.6 per cent pure
• 21 carat: 87.5 per cent pure
• 18 carat: 75 per cent pure
• 9 carat: 37.5 per cent pure

Is jewellery you wear zakatable?

This is the most common question and there are two established positions. The Hanafi school holds that gold and silver jewellery is zakatable regardless of whether it is worn, because the metal itself is wealth. Other schools exempt jewellery that is genuinely in regular personal use, treating it like clothing.

The cautious and more generous route, and the one most charities recommend, is to pay. If you follow a school that exempts worn jewellery, you are entitled to do so, but keep the exemption honest: a necklace worn twice a decade and stored in a safe is not in regular use.

Whatever position you take, be consistent from year to year rather than switching whichever way is cheaper in the moment.

A worked example

Suppose you own 60 grams of 22 carat gold and 40 grams of 18 carat gold. The 22 carat converts to 54.96 grams pure. The 18 carat converts to 30 grams pure. Together that is 84.96 grams of pure gold.

At an indicative 62 pounds per gram that collection is worth about 5,268 pounds. On its own it sits just below the gold nisab of 87.48 grams, but zakat is calculated on total net wealth, so you add cash, savings and other assets before checking against nisab.

If your total net zakatable wealth comes to 9,000 pounds, zakat due is 225 pounds. Our zakat calculator does this arithmetic for you in a single field.

Gold nisab or silver nisab?

Silver is far cheaper per gram, so the silver nisab sets a much lower threshold in pounds. Using it means more people are liable and more money reaches recipients, which is why it is the default recommendation of most charities and many contemporary scholars.

Where your wealth is held mainly in gold, applying the gold standard is a recognised position. Where your wealth is mixed, silver is the safer choice. Our calculator defaults to silver and lets you switch.

Gifts, heirlooms and jewellery held for a daughter

Ownership decides liability. If a piece has been given to you and is yours to sell, it is part of your wealth and is zakatable. Gold bought and set aside for a daughter's future wedding still belongs to you until it is actually handed over, so you pay on it in the meantime.

Jewellery held on behalf of someone else, where you are only the custodian, belongs to them and is zakatable by them, not by you.

Inherited gold becomes zakatable once the estate is settled and the item is genuinely in your ownership.

Paying zakat without selling the gold

You do not have to sell anything. Zakat is a debt in value, not in kind, so you can pay it from cash, salary or savings while keeping the jewellery intact. Most people do exactly that.

If the amount is large, you can pay it in instalments across the year or pay in advance month by month, as long as the full amount is discharged. Where paying in one go is genuinely unaffordable, sell the smallest piece rather than delaying the obligation indefinitely.

Gold investments, ETFs and digital gold

Physically backed gold you own through a vault service, an ETF or an app is zakatable at market value in the same way as coins in a drawer. What matters is that you own the metal or a direct claim on it.

Contracts that only track the price without giving you ownership are treated by many scholars as investments rather than as gold, and are zakatable at their market value regardless. Either way the 2.5 per cent applies, so the practical outcome is usually the same.

Keeping an annual record

The hardest part of zakat on jewellery is the first year, when everything has to be weighed and listed. After that it is a five minute job. Keep a simple note of each piece, its carat and its weight in grams, and update it only when you buy or give something away.

Photograph the list and store it with your other financial records. If you ever need to make an insurance claim it is useful for that too.

Prices change but weights do not, so each year you only need a current price per gram rather than a full reassessment.

Silver, coins and inherited collections

Silver is often overlooked because individual pieces are low value, yet families frequently hold several kilograms of trays, cutlery and ornaments. If it is silver, it is zakatable by weight in the same way as gold, so weigh it rather than assuming it is negligible.

Collectible coins have two values: their metal content and their value to a collector. Where the collector value is much higher, most scholars calculate zakat on the realistic market value, since that is what the asset is actually worth.

Inherited collections become zakatable once the estate is settled and the pieces are genuinely yours. Until then they belong to the estate.

How much gold is exempt from zakat?

Below the nisab of 87.48 grams of gold, with no other wealth, zakat is not due. In practice you total gold with cash and other assets, then compare the combined figure against nisab.

Do I pay zakat on gold jewellery I wear daily?

The Hanafi position is yes. Some other schools exempt jewellery in genuine regular use. Paying is the cautious and more generous choice.

How do I value gold for zakat?

Weigh it, adjust for carat purity, then apply the market price per gram on your zakat date. Use resale value rather than the retail price including craftsmanship.

Is zakat due on gold-plated or costume jewellery?

Only on the actual gold or silver content, which in plated items is negligible. Costume jewellery with no precious metal is not zakatable.

Do gemstones count?

No, unless you trade in them. Diamonds, rubies and pearls held as personal jewellery are excluded from the zakat calculation.

Can I give gold itself as zakat?

Yes, giving the metal or its value are both acceptable, though paying in cash is far easier for charities to distribute.