Quick answer: Zakat on gold and silver is worked out from weight, not price. The classical threshold (nisab) is commonly given as 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver, and once a Muslim’s qualifying wealth meets or passes that line and stays there for a full lunar year, 2.5% is due. The four schools agree on the rate but differ on which metal sets the threshold and on whether jewellery worn day to day counts at all.
What nisab actually measures
Nisab is not a price tag. It is a weight of precious metal that marks the line between wealth that is too small to owe zakat and wealth that is large enough to share. Gold nisab is commonly 85 grams of gold, and silver nisab is commonly 595 grams of silver. Some scholars work from a slightly different classical measurement, giving 85 grams of gold and 595 grams of silver, or 87.48 grams of gold and 612.36 grams of silver according to another opinion. Both figures trace back to the same source: the dinar and dirham coins used at the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
A hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari sets out this threshold directly, tying zakat to a minimum weight of silver rather than to any particular currency.
لَيْسَ فِيمَا دُونَ خَمْسِ ذَوْدٍ صَدَقَةٌ مِنَ الإِبِلِ، وَلَيْسَ فِيمَا دُونَ خَمْسِ أَوَاقٍ صَدَقَةٌ، وَلَيْسَ فِيمَا دُونَ خَمْسَةِ أَوْسُقٍ صَدَقَةٌ ". حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَهَّابِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي عَمْرٌو، سَمِعَ أَبَاهُ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِهَذَا.
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "There is no Zakat on less than five camels and also there is no Zakat on less than five Awaq (of silver). (5 Awaq = 22 Fransa Riyals of Yemen or 200 Dirhams.) And there is no Zakat on less than five Awsuq. (A special measure of food-grains, and one Wasq equals 60 Sa's.) (For gold 20, Dinars i.e. equal to 12 Guinea English. No Zakat for less than 12 Guinea (English) of gold or for silver less than 22 Fransa Riyals of Yemen.) Narrated Abi Sa`id Al-Khudri: I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying (as above)
Because nisab is fixed in grams, its value in pounds, dollars or euros moves with the market. This is exactly why this article avoids quoting a price: the weight is constant, the price is not. A reader who wants a current figure in their own currency should check today’s gold and silver price and multiply it by the weight that applies to them, something the zakat calculator does automatically.
The lunar year condition
Meeting nisab on a single day is not enough on its own. Zakat on gold, silver, cash and trade goods only becomes due once the wealth has stayed at or above nisab for a complete lunar year, known as the hawl. Only when wealth meets or exceeds the nisab and has been held at that level for a full lunar year does the 2.5% obligation apply. If savings dip below nisab partway through the year, scholars differ on whether the clock resets; this is a detail worth raising with a qualified scholar for your own situation, since the schools reason about it differently.
Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, the zakat anniversary date drifts earlier each Gregorian year by about 11 days. Many people choose to fix their zakat date to Ramadan so the obligation and the season of giving line up. The hijri converter is useful for tracking that date.
Example: zakat on saved gold
Example. Suppose Yusuf keeps 100 grams of gold coins in a safe, purely as savings, and has held them for over a lunar year. Since 100 grams is above the 85-gram gold nisab, zakat is due on the full 100 grams at 2.5%. That works out to 2.5 grams of gold, which he can pay either as that weight of gold or as its equivalent value in cash at the time of payment.
Example. Suppose Amina holds savings whose value she tracks against silver rather than gold, and that value has stayed equivalent to 700 grams of silver for a full lunar year. Since 700 grams is above the 595-gram silver nisab, 2.5% is due on the whole amount, the equivalent of 17.5 grams of silver. These are invented, round numbers to show the method; a real calculation should use the live weight of what is actually owned and today’s metal prices.
Gold and silver and why zakat applies to them
Classical scholars treat gold and silver as wealth in their own right, separate from whether they are coins, bars or jewellery, because the Quran addresses hoarded gold and silver directly.
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَحْبَارِ وَٱلرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ
O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah – give them tidings of a painful punishment.
This verse is the reason gold and silver sit in their own zakat category rather than being treated like ordinary household possessions. The disagreement among the schools is not about whether gold and silver can be zakatable; it is about whether jewellery genuinely worn for personal adornment still counts as the kind of “hoarded” wealth the verse describes, or whether it has become something closer to clothing.
Where the four schools divide: jewellery worn for personal use
This is the single biggest practical difference between the schools on this topic, and it affects a large number of Muslim women who own gold jewellery. The Hanafi school holds that gold and silver are zakatable simply because of what they are, so wearing a piece as jewellery does not remove it from zakat. Under this view, a woman’s gold bangles are assessed by weight exactly like gold bars would be.
The Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali schools take the opposite view for jewellery that is genuinely and regularly worn for permissible adornment, holding that it has moved out of the category of wealth held for growth or storage and become a personal-use item, comparable to clothing or furniture. All three schools still apply zakat if the jewellery is excessive for the owner’s circumstances, kept mainly as savings, or rarely worn.
Example. Fatima owns 120 grams of gold jewellery that she wears regularly and has held for more than a year. Under Hanafi fiqh, zakat applies at 2.5%, so she owes the equivalent of 3 grams of gold. Under Maliki, Shafi’i or Hanbali fiqh, no zakat is due on this jewellery at all, because it is genuinely worn and not excessive for her situation.
Four schools side by side
| School | Nisab standard used | Zakat on jewellery genuinely worn | Zakat rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanafi | Silver (595 g) | Due, same as any gold or silver owned | 2.5% |
| Maliki | Gold (85 g) | Exempt if customary in quantity and genuinely worn | 2.5% |
| Shafi’i | Gold (85 g) | Exempt if customary in quantity and genuinely worn | 2.5% |
| Hanbali | Gold (85 g) | Exempt for personal use, though some scholars in the school consider paying safer | 2.5% |
On the nisab standard itself, the Hanafi school uses the value of silver to set the threshold, while the other three schools use the value of gold. In practice this matters because gold is normally worth far more per gram than silver, so the silver standard sets a lower bar and brings more people into the obligation. Some charities recommend using whichever standard results in zakat being paid, since this benefits those who receive it, though the schools themselves differ on which standard is correct for their own adherents.
A note on the two reported weights
Readers researching this topic will see two slightly different sets of numbers: 85 grams of gold and 595 grams of silver in most contemporary sources, or 87.48 grams of gold and 612.36 grams of silver in others. Both come from converting the same classical coin weights (the dinar and dirham) using different historical assumptions about their exact mass. Neither figure is a modern invention; the gap is a matter of metrology, not doctrine.
Combining gold, silver and cash
Most people today do not hold pure gold or pure silver alone; they have some jewellery, some cash and perhaps some gold coins. The general approach taught across the schools is to value every zakatable asset in a common unit and compare the total against one nisab standard, rather than checking each asset separately against its own nisab. Scholars differ on finer details, such as exactly how a mix of a little gold and a little silver should be combined, so a specific mixed case is worth checking with a knowledgeable scholar.
Example. Suppose Khalid owns no physical gold, only cash savings, and his community follows the silver nisab. If his savings have been equivalent to more than 595 grams of silver for a full lunar year, zakat is due on the whole balance at 2.5%, not only on the portion above the threshold. Nisab marks whether zakat applies at all; once it applies, the 2.5% is calculated on the full qualifying amount.
Working out your own figure
To work out an actual number, a reader needs three things: the total weight of gold and silver they own (including jewellery, coins and bars), today’s price per gram of gold and silver in their own currency, and the date their lunar year is due. None of those figures belong in a general explainer like this one, since metal prices change daily. The zakat calculator is built to take today’s price and a reader’s own weights and produce a result, and the downloads page has a printable zakat worksheet for anyone who prefers to work it out by hand.
For anyone unsure which school’s position applies to their own jewellery, savings or mixed assets, the right step is to ask a qualified scholar familiar with their personal situation rather than relying on a general article.
Sources
- Islamic Relief Australia: Nisab, what is Nisab?
- Human Appeal USA: What is Nisab? The Zakat Threshold Explained
- IslamWeb Fatwa: Gold and Silver in calculating Nisab for Zakah
- Amaliah: A Guide to Paying Zakat on Gold
- Orphans in Need: Do Women Need to Pay Zakat in Islam?
- Sunnah.com: Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Zakat
- Quran.com: Surah At-Tawbah, verse 34
This article explains what the four Sunni schools say and links its sources. It is education, not a fatwa and not financial advice. For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar.