Gold Zakat questions, answered with numbers

Five steps. First, net weight = gross weight minus stone weight. Second, pure gold = net weight × (karat ÷ 24). Third, value = pure gold × today's price per gram. Fourth, net wealth = (gold + silver + cash) − debts due. Fifth, if net wealth reaches nisab and a hawl has passed, zakat = net wealth × 2.5%. The most common error is using the gross weight instead of the net weight, which can overstate zakat by up to 33% on 18K gold.

Yes, but only if the gold is pure 24K. One tola is 11.6638038 grams, so 7.5 tola is 87.48 grams, which is exactly the precise nisab of 87.48 g. But at 22K the answer flips: 7.5 tola of 22K weighs 87.48 g gross, yet its pure gold is only 80.19 g, below the 85 g gold nisab. So 7.5 tola of 22K carries no zakat. The commonly used 85 g nisab equals 7.29 tola, not 7.5.

It depends on karat. Zakat is 2.5% of the net weight, which means 2.5 grams of the same gold regardless of karat, because the rate is fixed at 2.5%. 24K: 100 g net, so zakat is due. 22K: 91.67 g net, due. 21K: 87.5 g net, due. 18K: only 75 g net, which is below the nisab, so no zakat even though the piece weighs 100 g. 14K: 58.33 g net, no zakat.

Two and a half percent of one lakh is 2,500, but that is not the complete answer. Zakat is only due if the amount reaches nisab, and nisab tracks the metal price. The 87.48 g gold nisab is currently about 11.2 lakh rupees, more than ten times the amount. The 612.36 g silver nisab is about 1.15 lakh. So one lakh rupees in India currently sits below the silver nisab, and no zakat is due on it alone. These figures move with the silver price, so recalculate at the time of payment.

85 grams of pure gold is the minimum according to the majority of scholars, or 87.48 g on the precise estimate. Below that, no zakat is due. Karat changes the number: the 22K nisab is 92.73 g, 21K is 97.14 g, and 18K is 113.33 g. Gemstones and silver never count toward the gold weight.

The rate never changes: 2.5%, one fortieth, and it has been fixed in Shariah since the first century. It does not vary by year, place, or gold price. What does change is the nisab in cash terms, because it tracks the metal price. At 490 AED per gram, 100 grams is worth 49,000 AED and the zakat is 1,225 AED.

The formula in one line: zakat = net weight × (karat ÷ 24) × price per gram × 0.025. Example with 100 g of 22K at 490 AED per gram. Net weight = 100 × 0.9167 = 91.67 g. Value = 91.67 × 490 = 44,918 AED. Zakat = 44,918 × 0.025 = 1,123 AED. Note that the result is exactly 2.5 grams of 22K gold.

Zakat on gold uses the live international spot price, not the jeweller price. The home page shows the price updating automatically with a timestamp, because the price per gram changes every day. A shop price includes making charges, VAT and margin, none of which belong in the zakat calculation. The gap can reach three percent of the gold value.

The 85 g gold nisab equals 7.29 tola. The precise 87.48 g nisab equals exactly 7.5 tola. For reference, one tola is 11.6638038 g, one mithqal is 4.3752 g, and one troy ounce is 31.1034768 g. These conversion figures never change with the market.

The minimum in cash terms changes daily because it is tied to the metal price. The 87.48 g gold nisab is currently about 11,670 USD or 42,850 AED, and the 612.36 g silver nisab is about 1,200 USD. However, follow the authority recognised in your country: some states fix the nisab officially each year, such as Pakistan at PKR 503,529 for 2026, and that figure is set rather than recalculated with every market move.

The rules have not changed in centuries. Zakat is 2.5% of net wealth that has reached nisab and completed a hawl. What changes each year is the nisab in cash terms, which is calculated on the day you pay. The practical steps: total your cash, gold, silver and investments, subtract debts that fall due, compare the result to nisab, then multiply by 0.025.

Everything you own that is tradable and enduring: cash and savings, gold and silver, shares, trade goods and inventory, and money you have lent that will be repaid. Not included: the home you live in, your car, clothing and furniture, and the tools of your livelihood. One important point here: deducting monthly living costs as though they were debts wrongly reduces your zakat.

It depends on the type of debt. Debts that fall due for payment are deducted in full, because you do not own that money. Long-term debts such as a mortgage are not deducted in full, only the instalments due within the coming year. The key point: if after deducting debts your balance falls below nisab, no zakat is due this year.

Yes, once per hawl, which is once every lunar year. The hawl starts on the day you reach nisab, not the day you bought the gold. If you bought gold in July and reached nisab in December, the hawl starts in December and completes 354 days later. If you stay below nisab for a year, no zakat is due, but you should watch your balance the following year.

100 tola is 1166 grams gross. 24K: 100 g net, so zakat is 2.5 g of pure gold. 22K: 1069 g net, so zakat is 26.73 g. Note that 100 tola is 1,166 grams, roughly thirteen times the nisab, so the amount would be very large.

Karat does not change the rate, since gold zakat is 2.5% at any karat. But it changes the weight you must reach: 18K needs 113 g to clear the nisab, far more than 24K. Practically, every gram of 24K gold is worth exactly 2.5% of itself in zakat.

Yes, it is permissible to pay zakat in gold of equivalent weight or value, and this can be more beneficial in some cases. If your zakat is 1,225 AED, you may give 2.5 grams of 24K gold. If you give 22K, it is still 2.5 grams, because 2.5 g of 22K equals 2.29 g of pure gold.

The rate is 2.5% with no ceiling: the more wealth you have, the more zakat you owe. In some countries zakat is deducted automatically from bank accounts during Ramadan, including in Pakistan where it is taken from accounts above the declared nisab. This is a practical arrangement, but it does not remove your obligation on gold and business assets that banks cannot see.

One tola is 11.6638038 grams, far below the nisab, so no zakat is due on it alone. At 24K that is 11.6638038 g against a 85 g nisab. You need 7.29 tola to reach the nisab, so if you are accumulating gold gradually, keep going until you have 8 tola to be safe.

One that applies the karat to the weight before doing anything else, and values gold at the live spot price rather than the shop price. A zakat gold calculator that skips the purity step overstates 18K zakat by 33% and 21K by 14%. This one shows every step: gross weight, stones deducted, net weight, pure gold, value, and finally the 2.5%.

The arithmetic is identical everywhere. The 2.5% rate, the 85g gold nisab and the karat conversions do not change by country, so a zakat calculator UAE page is equally valid for Qatar and India. Only the currency differs, which is why this tool switches between AED, QAR, SAR, KWD, OMR, BHD, INR, PKR, USD, GBP and EUR. For India and Pakistan, set the unit to tola.

Zakat is one of the pillars of Islam and withholding it is a major sin. The authentic hadith describe severe punishment in the hereafter for those who hoard gold and silver without paying zakat. In this world, wealth from which zakat is withheld loses its blessing. But if you did not know, forgot, or delayed deliberately, the door of repentance is open and past years are not beyond you. Consult scholars on making up missed years.