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Who Can Receive Zakat

Zakat may only be given to eight categories of recipient named in the Qur'an. Giving it outside these categories does not fulfil the obligation. This guide explains each of the eight, answers the common questions about family, mosques and charities, and the calculator below works out how much you owe.

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Gold, pure 24 carat
Silver, pure

Spot prices update automatically. Local retail rates can differ, so overwrite either box if your market prices gold higher.

Net zakatable wealth
0
Below nisab
Silver nisab0
Gold nisab0
01Cash and bankEverything liquid on your zakat date0
Cash in hand
Current and savings accounts
Fixed depositsCapital only. Interest is not yours to keep or to pay zakat on.
Digital wallets and prepaid balances
Money set aside for a future purposeHajj savings, a wedding fund, a deposit. Still yours, still zakatable.
Foreign currency heldConverted into your currency
02GoldBy weight and carat, or by value0
By weight
Gold you ownPurity is applied automatically
A second holding, different carat
Of that, worn as personal jewellery
By value
Coins, bars or other gold you already valued
Weight allowances many scholars permit: deduct roughly 2% for stones set into jewellery and about 25% for kundan work, since the setting is not gold. Enter the adjusted weight above.
03SilverJewellery, utensils, artefacts, bullion0
Silver you own
Silver you already valued
Household silver counts in full: cutlery, crockery, trays and decorative pieces. It is not exempt for being in daily use.
04Investments and savingsShares, funds, pensions, crypto0
Shares held to tradeFull market value on your zakat date
Shares held long termEnter the zakatable share of the company's assets if you know it, otherwise use about 25% of market value as a common estimate.
Dividends received and still held
Mutual funds, unit trusts, sukuk
Pension or provident fund, your accessible balanceYour own contributions plus any portion you could withdraw today
CryptocurrencyMarket value on your zakat date
Takaful or insurance, surrender value
Government deposits and refundable securities
05Money owed to youOnly what you expect to actually recover0
Loans you gave to family or friends
Salary, fees or refunds due to you
Rental income received and still held
Leave out anything you have effectively written off. A doubtful debt becomes zakatable in the year it is actually repaid.
06BusinessStock in trade, receivables, payables0
Saleable stock, at landed cost
Damaged or dead stock, at scrap value
Raw materials and finished goods
Owed to you from credit sales
Business cash and bank balances
Less: owed to your suppliers
Less: bad debts written off
Partnership share
Your capital balance, last accounts
Loans you advanced to the firm
Your estimated profit since then
Less: your drawings this year
Premises, machinery, vehicles and fixtures carry no zakat. Only what you bought to sell, and the cash the business holds.
07PropertyHeld to sell, not to live in0
Land or property bought to resellCurrent market value
Not zakatable: the home you live in, however many you own for family use, and property you rent out. Rent you have already collected and still hold does count, and belongs in section 05.
08What you oweDeductible within the next 12 months0
Borrowed money and goods bought on credit
Loan and mortgage instalments due in the next 12 monthsOnly the coming year, not the whole outstanding balance
Rent, utilities and bills already due
Wages owed to staff
Tax due now or overdue
Do not deduct bills that are not yet due, long term debt beyond the next 12 months, or any interest element. Interest is not a debt Islam recognises for this purpose.
09Farm produceUshr, calculated separately0
Ushr is a separate obligation with its own rules. It falls due at every harvest, not once a lunar year, and its threshold is roughly 653 kg of the crop, not the cash nisab. It is kept out of the figure above and reported on its own.
Value of produce watered by rain or springs10%
Value of produce watered by pump, canal or well5%
Value of produce watered by both7.5%
10Grazing livestockPaid in animals, not in cash—
Livestock zakat is not a percentage of value. It follows fixed bands and is paid in animals. Any calculator that charges you 2.5% of your herd's worth is wrong. Enter your numbers and this will tell you what is actually due.
Sheep and goats, free grazing, over one year
Cattle and buffalo, free grazing
Camels, free grazing
Poultry, fish farms and stall fed animals raised to sell are trade stock, not grazing livestock. Put their value in section 06 instead.

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This is sadaqah, not zakat. Your zakat belongs to the eight categories entitled to receive it, and this does not count as one. Please pay your zakat to them separately.
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Free to use, kept free by people like you

If this helped, help it keep going

This calculator will always be free, with no ads and no account. Your gift keeps it online and supports the work behind it: building tools and media that serve the Muslim community, and supporting the person who maintains them.

This is sadaqah, not zakat. Your zakat belongs to the eight categories entitled to receive it, and this does not count as one. Please pay your zakat to them separately.
Give whatever you wish

You set the amount on PayPal's secure page. No minimum, no card details shared with us, and nothing you typed above travels with it.

Zakat due 0

Your zakat summary

Send it to yourself, or to whoever pays it with you.

The eight categories of zakat recipients

Allah defines exactly who may receive zakat in a single verse: "Zakat is only for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer it, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free those in bondage, and for those in debt, and in the cause of Allah, and for the stranded traveller. An obligation from Allah." (Surah At-Tawbah 9:60). No one may add to or remove from these eight.

  • The poor (al-fuqara) who have little
  • The needy (al-masakin) in hardship
  • Zakat administrators appointed to collect it
  • Those whose hearts are reconciled
  • Those in bondage, to free them
  • The debt-burdened (al-gharimin)
  • In the cause of Allah (fi sabilillah)
  • The stranded traveller (ibn as-sabil)

The poor and the needy

These two categories account for the majority of zakat distribution. The poor own less than their basic needs; the needy are in visible hardship. Both are below the nisab themselves, which is the same threshold that decides whether you must pay. Someone below nisab does not pay zakat and may receive it.

Can I give zakat to my family?

You may give zakat to needy relatives you are not already obliged to maintain: a struggling brother or sister, an aunt, uncle, cousin, niece or nephew. In fact giving to needy kin carries a double reward, for charity and for maintaining family ties. You may not give zakat to those whose upkeep is already your responsibility: your parents and grandparents, your children and grandchildren, and your spouse. Supporting them is a separate duty.

Mosques, charities and non-Muslims

A mosque is not an eligible recipient in itself, so most scholars hold that zakat cannot fund mosque building or bills; use sadaqah for that. When giving through a charity, choose one with a scholar-verified zakat policy that distributes to eligible recipients. Zakat is given to eligible Muslims; charity to non-Muslims is a good deed but counts as sadaqah, not zakat, outside the specific category of reconciling hearts. Support for this project is sadaqah, not zakat.

Who cannot receive zakat

Zakat cannot be given to the wealthy who are above the nisab, to your direct dependants, or to the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him) according to many scholars. It also cannot be used to pay for a funeral, build general infrastructure, or discharge a debt owed to you by cancelling it.

Work out what you owe

Before distributing, calculate your zakat precisely with the tool above, or see how to calculate zakat step by step and today's nisab.