Zakat & Islamic Finance
Money Zakat Calculator
Work out zakat on cash, bank balances and money owed to you — using today’s rate, in any currency.
Money Zakat Calculator
This is a calculation aid, not a religious ruling. Zakat has conditions this tool cannot check — chiefly that wealth has been held for a full lunar year (hawl). For anything consequential, confirm the result with a scholar you trust.
About the Money Zakat Calculator
This works out zakat on cash and monetary assets — money in hand, bank balances, and money owed to you that you expect to recover. It subtracts the debts you enter, compares the result against the nisab threshold, and applies the rate of 2.5% if the threshold is met.
Nisab is defined by weight of gold or silver rather than by a fixed sum, so its cash value changes with the metal price. You choose which basis to use and enter today's rate per gram, and the tool converts it into a threshold in your own currency.
It works in any currency, since none of the arithmetic depends on one. Enter everything in the same currency and the answer comes back in it.
How to use the Money Zakat Calculator
- Choose a nisab basis. Silver sets a lower bar, so more people qualify — often preferred as the more cautious choice.
- Look up today’s rate per gram for that metal and paste it in.
- Enter what you own — cash, bank balances, money owed to you, and other zakatable assets.
- Enter debts due now. Long-term mortgage balances are usually treated differently.
- Select Calculate zakat to see whether you meet nisab and what 2.5% comes to.
How the calculation runs
Zakatable = cash + bank + receivables + other − debts
Nisab = nisab weight in grams × price per gram
Zakat = zakatable × 2.5%, if zakatable reaches the nisab
2.5% is one fortieth — the rate on monetary wealth that the schools agree on.
Worked example
Cash and bank £9,000, money owed to you £1,200, debts due £1,500. Using the silver basis at £0.65 per gram.
Zakatable: 9,000 + 1,200 − 1,500 = £8,700
Nisab: 612.36 g × £0.65 = £398
£8,700 is above the threshold, so the rate applies.
£8,700 × 2.5% = £217.50
What nisab is (nisab calculator)
Nisab is the minimum level of wealth at which zakat becomes payable. It is expressed in weight, not currency, which is why the figure in money terms changes as metal prices move.
| Basis | Weight commonly cited | Traditional measure |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 87.48 g | 20 mithqal (about 7.5 tola) |
| Silver | 612.36 g | 200 dirham (about 52.5 tola) |
Small variations on these weights are quoted by different institutions. The differences are minor, but if your wealth sits very close to the threshold, use the figure your own scholar or zakat authority publishes rather than a generic one.
Gold basis or silver basis?
The two produce very different thresholds in money terms, because the price ratio between the metals today is nothing like it was historically. Silver gives a much lower bar, so more people meet it.
| Weight | Illustrative rate | Resulting nisab | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold basis | 87.48 g | £60 / g | £5,249 |
| Silver basis | 612.36 g | £0.65 / g | £398 |
Those rates are illustrations, not live prices — enter today's figures for a real answer. Views on which basis to use differ: many scholars and relief organisations favour silver because the lower threshold means more people qualify and more reaches recipients, while others hold that gold better reflects the original intent. Both positions are held by qualified scholars. This tool offers both and takes no position; ask whoever you normally follow.
What is generally included
- Cash in hand and in current or savings accounts.
- Money owed to you that you reasonably expect to recover.
- Gold and silver — usually added at market value. The gold and silver calculators handle those.
- Business stock, valued at what it would sell for. See the trade calculator.
- Investments held for resale, though treatment varies and is worth asking about.
Items in personal use — your home, your car, household goods, clothing — are generally not treated as zakatable, since zakat is traditionally understood to fall on wealth that grows or is held rather than on things being used.
Debts, and why this is the hardest part
Debt treatment is where practice varies most, and it is worth being explicit that this calculator simply subtracts whatever figure you enter. It does not decide for you what should go in that box.
A long-term debt such as a mortgage is the common example. Positions commonly encountered include:
- Deducting only the instalments due within the coming year.
- Deducting nothing for long-term debt, on the basis that it is not immediately payable.
- Deducting the full outstanding balance.
These lead to very different answers on the same wealth. Rather than choosing one for you, this tool leaves the figure in your hands — and the sensible step is to ask which approach applies to your situation before entering anything.
The lunar year
Zakat on monetary wealth is traditionally linked to hawl: the wealth being held for one full lunar year. A lunar year is about 354 days, roughly eleven days shorter than a solar one, so a zakat date set by the Islamic calendar moves earlier through the Gregorian year.
The Hijri converter will translate your zakat date between calendars if you track it in one and live by the other.
This calculator holds no gold or silver prices. Metal rates move daily, and a stored price would go stale silently and produce a wrong answer with no warning. You enter today’s rate yourself, which keeps the result correct on the day you use it and works in any currency.
This is a calculation aid, not a religious ruling. It performs arithmetic on figures you enter. It cannot verify the conditions that determine whether zakat is actually due — chiefly that the wealth has been held for a full lunar year (hawl), and how your particular debts and circumstances should be treated. Scholars and schools differ on several points, and practice varies by country and community. For anything consequential, confirm the result with a qualified scholar or your local zakat authority.
How to calculate zakat on money: an example
Worked example
On your zakat date you have 50,000 in cash, 350,000 in the bank, and 20,000 owed to you by a friend who will repay. A bill of 15,000 is due now.
Total: 50,000 + 350,000 + 20,000 − 15,000 = 405,000.
Silver nisab at a price of 250 per gram: 612.36 × 250 = 153,090. The total is above nisab.
Zakat = 405,000 × 2.5% = 10,125
The numbers work in any currency — rupees, taka, riyals or dollars. Only the gold or silver price needs to be in the same currency.
Related guides
Zakat percentage and zakat al-mal
The zakat percentage on money is 2.5%. This online zakat calculator is a zakat al mal calculator: zakat al-mal means zakat on wealth, the yearly 2.5% on savings, gold, silver and trade goods. On 400,000 in zakatable savings, that is 10,000.
Zakat al-Fitr is different. It is a small fixed charity paid per person at the end of Ramadan, before the Eid prayer, and the amount is set locally each year by mosques and charities. It is not a percentage of your wealth, so a zakat al fitr calculator simply multiplies the local amount by the number of people in your household.
Other ways to use this calculator
- Zakat on savings — calculate zakat on savings, cash and bank balances together.
- 2.5 percent zakat — the rate on money, once a lunar year.
- Zakat nisab on cash — choose the gold or silver basis for the threshold.
Frequently asked questions
Nisab is the minimum wealth at which zakat becomes payable, defined by weight rather than currency. The figures most commonly cited are 87.48 g of gold or 612.36 g of silver. To turn that into money, multiply the weight by today's price per gram — which is why the threshold moves with metal prices. Institutions quote slightly different weights, so check the figure your own authority publishes.
Both are used, and qualified scholars hold both positions. Silver gives a much lower threshold, so more people qualify and more reaches recipients — a reason many scholars and relief organisations prefer it. Others hold that gold better reflects the original intent. This calculator offers both bases and takes no position; follow whoever you normally consult.
That depends on which position you follow, and this tool does not decide it — it subtracts whatever figure you enter. Commonly encountered approaches include deducting only the instalments due in the coming year, deducting nothing for long-term debt, or deducting the full balance. They give very different answers, so it is worth asking before you fill the box in.
Because metal prices change daily and a stored price would go stale silently, producing a wrong answer with no warning. Entering the rate yourself keeps the calculation correct on the day you use it, and lets the tool work in any currency rather than assuming one. Any reputable bullion source or your local jeweller will give you today's figure.
Cash nisab is the value of 612.36 g of silver or 87.48 g of gold on your zakat date. Many scholars recommend the silver value because it is lower, so more people pay. Multiply the weight by today's price per gram to get it in your currency.
Sources and further reading
- Islamic Relief — Zakat guide and nisab — widely used nisab figures and how they are applied
- National Zakat Foundation — Nisab and zakatable assets — asset categories and debt treatment in practice
- Zakat Foundation of America — Zakat handbook — the 2.5% rate and traditional weight measures