Zakat, a pillar of Islam: its meaning, how to calculate it, who receives it and zakat al-fitr

Zakat is the third pillar of Islam: a set share of their wealth that Muslims whose assets exceed a certain threshold give each year to those entitled to it. It is neither an ordinary tax nor simple generosity left to each person’s goodwill, but an act of worship, paired with prayer in many verses of the Quran, which purifies the giver and supports the receiver. This article explains its meaning and spiritual significance, then the practical rules: who must pay it, from what threshold (nisab), at what rate and to whom, as well as zakat al-fitr at the end of Ramadan and voluntary charity (sadaqah).

What does the word zakat mean?

In Arabic, the word zakat combines two ideas: purification and growth. The Quran brings them together when it commands Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: “Take, [O Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase (tuzakkihim), and invoke [Allah’s blessings] upon them” (Quran 9:103). Zakat purifies the soul of miserliness and purifies wealth of the share of the poor that it contains; it also makes wealth grow, for “Allah destroys interest and gives increase for charities” (Quran 2:276). The Prophet ﷺ said: “Charity does not decrease wealth” (Sahih Muslim 2588). The Quran praises the one “who gives [from] his wealth to purify himself” (Quran 92:18). In the Quran, the word sadaqah (charity) refers both to obligatory zakat (Quran 9:60) and to voluntary giving.

A pillar of Islam, the companion of prayer

Zakat is one of the five pillars on which Islam is built (Sahih al-Bukhari 8; Sahih Muslim 16). The Quran mentions it many times alongside prayer: “And establish prayer and give zakah and bow with those who bow” (Quran 2:43); “and whatever good you put forward for yourselves – you will find it with Allah” (Quran 2:110). Believers are those “within whose wealth is a known right for the petitioner and the deprived” (Quran 70:24–25). The principle was laid down in the Makkan period; its detailed rules (thresholds, rates, recipients) were set in Madinah, from the second year after the Hijrah according to the most widespread view.

When he sent his Companion Mu’adh ibn Jabal to Yemen, the Prophet ﷺ told him to teach the people that Allah had prescribed for them a charity “taken from their rich and given to their poor” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1395; Sahih Muslim 19). After the Prophet’s death, the caliph Abu Bakr refused to let certain tribes separate prayer from zakat: “By Allah, I will fight whoever makes a distinction between prayer and zakat, for zakat is the right due on wealth” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1400; Sahih Muslim 20).

The Quran sternly warns those who hoard wealth without paying this right:

“And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah – give them tidings of a painful punishment. The Day when it will be heated in the fire of Hell and seared therewith will be their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs, [it will be said], ‘This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you used to hoard.’” (Quran 9:34–35)

The Prophet ﷺ explained that wealth on which zakat has not been paid will take, on the Day of Resurrection, the form of a bald serpent that coils around its owner’s neck saying, “I am your wealth, I am your treasure”; he then recited verse 180 of Surah Al Imran (Sahih al-Bukhari 1403). As for owners of livestock who do not pay what is due, they will be laid out on a vast plain where their animals will trample them (Sahih Muslim 987).

The spiritual meaning of zakat: healing the soul of miserliness

Scholars who reflected on the “secrets” of zakat, such as Shah Waliullah of Delhi (d. 1762) in Hujjat Allah al-Baligha, highlight several of its dimensions.

Allah’s generosity flows through the hands of believers

When a person in need calls upon Allah, through words or simply through their situation, that call knocks at the door of divine generosity. Allah then inspires in a believer’s heart the wish to help: whoever responds to that impulse becomes an instrument of divine mercy, and blessing surrounds them in turn. Shah Waliullah speaks of the “Exalted Assembly” of angels (al-mala’ al-a’la) praying for the generous, and the hadith indeed says: “Every morning two angels descend. One says: ‘O Allah, give whoever spends something to replace it.’ The other says: ‘O Allah, bring loss to whoever withholds’” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1442; Sahih Muslim 1010). The Quran confirms it: “whatever thing you spend [in His cause] – He will compensate it; and He is the best of providers” (Quran 34:39).

The value of a gift grows with the scale of the need. During the expedition of Tabuk, known as “the army of hardship” (jaysh al-usrah), the Prophet ﷺ promised Paradise to whoever equipped it, and Uthman ibn Affan did so (Sahih al-Bukhari 2778). Giving in times of famine, war or disaster, when lives depend on it, is among the finest of deeds.

Freeing oneself from attachment to wealth

Excessive love of wealth and miserliness are diseases of the heart that turn believers away from their path to Allah. The cure is to train oneself to give, especially what one holds dear: “Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah] from that which you love” (Quran 3:92). “And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul – it is those who will be the successful” (Quran 64:16). Zakat, regular and precisely measured, trains the soul in this detachment year after year; voluntary charity takes it further.

Wiping away sins

Giving also heals a soul that has sinned: “charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire” (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2616, an authentic hadith). The Prophet ﷺ advised: “Follow a bad deed with a good one and it will wipe it out” (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 1987). It is in this spirit that many expiations prescribed by Islamic law consist of feeding the poor, for example for a broken oath (Quran 5:89): the price paid is a reminder of the fault and helps one avoid repeating it.

Two often-quoted sayings call for clarification. The first, “Nothing turns back the decree except supplication, and nothing extends life except righteousness (al-birr)”, is reported by at-Tirmidhi (2139), who graded it hasan gharib; al-Albani graded it hasan (good). The word birr here means piety and goodness in general, especially towards one’s parents, not getting rid of one’s wealth; commentators understand the extension of life either as a blessing in the believer’s life or as a real extension of what is written in the angels’ records, Allah’s knowledge itself being unchanging. The second, “Charity extinguishes the anger of the Lord”, is reported by at-Tirmidhi (664), who graded it hasan gharib, but its chain is graded weak by several specialists, including al-Albani; the authentic hadith quoted above is preferable.

A solidarity that protects society

Feeding people, greeting everyone and doing good in every way are among the best qualities of a Muslim (Sahih al-Bukhari 12). Zakat gives this solidarity a regular form: it circulates wealth, relieves the poorest, helps those in debt and travellers in difficulty, and strengthens the bonds between believers.

Who must pay zakat?

Zakat on wealth is due from a Muslim who meets these conditions:

• they own assets subject to zakat: gold, silver, money and savings, goods held for sale, crops and livestock;
• these assets reach the nisab, the minimum threshold, over and above their basic needs: one’s main home, car, clothes, furniture and work tools for personal use are not subject to zakat;
• they fully own these assets;
• a full lunar year (hawl) has passed over them, except for crops, which are due at harvest, and for found treasure.

The schools of law differ on several points:

• the wealth of a child or of a person lacking legal capacity is subject to zakat, paid by their guardian, according to the Malikis, Shafi’is and Hanbalis, but not according to the Hanafis (except for crops and zakat al-fitr);
• jewellery for personal use made of gold or silver is exempt according to the majority; the Hanafis make it liable, and some scholars advise paying on it as a precaution;
• debts are deducted from zakatable wealth according to the Hanafis and Hanbalis, and for money according to the Malikis; the Shafi’is do not deduct them.

The nisab: the threshold from which zakat is due

The Prophet ﷺ said: “There is no zakat on less than five awaq of silver, on less than five camels, or on less than five awsuq of produce” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1447; Sahih Muslim 979). Five awaq equal 200 silver dirhams; for gold, the threshold is 20 dinars, on which half a dinar is due (Sunan Abi Dawud 1573, graded sahih by al-Albani).

According to the most common estimate, this amounts to 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver (other estimates, common especially in South Asia, give about 87.5 g and 612 g). For cash, savings and trade goods, contemporary scholars differ on which standard to use:

• many use gold, whose value remains closer to the purchasing power the nisab represented in the Prophet’s time ﷺ; this was, for example, the position of Yusuf al-Qaradawi in his Fiqh az-Zakat;
• others, notably in the Hanafi school, prefer silver, whose threshold is now much lower, because it is the choice most favourable to the poor.

The value of the nisab changes with the price of the metals: calculate it on your zakat date from the price of a gram of gold or silver, or refer to the indicative figure published by your mosque or a trusted zakat organisation.

The hawl: one lunar year

“There is no zakat on wealth until a year has passed over it” (Sunan Ibn Majah 1792; Sunan Abi Dawud 1573). The reference year is the Hijri year of about 354 days. Many Muslims choose a fixed date, often during Ramadan, and add up all their zakatable assets on that day; those who prefer to count by the solar year often apply a slightly higher rate (2.577%) to account for the eleven-day difference. According to most scholars, zakat may be paid in advance, before the year is over.

How much to give: the rates of zakat

The 2.5% rate is the “quarter of a tenth” mentioned in Abu Bakr’s letter on zakat (Sahih al-Bukhari 1454). For crops, the Prophet ﷺ set a tenth for land watered by rain, springs or rivers, and a twentieth for land irrigated from wells or by drawing water (Sahih al-Bukhari 1483); it is due on the day of harvest (Quran 6:141). The schools differ on which produce is concerned: all produce of the earth according to the Hanafis, staple foods that can be stored according to the other schools. The fifth due on buried treasure is mentioned by al-Bukhari (1499).

For livestock, zakat applies to herds that graze freely for most of the year (the Malikis also include fed and working animals). For sheep and goats, one animal is given for 40 to 120 head, two for 121 to 200, three for 201 to 300, then one per hundred; for camels, one sheep for every five up to 24, then young she-camels whose age increases with the size of the herd (Sahih al-Bukhari 1454); for cattle, a one-year-old calf for every thirty and a two-year-old for every forty (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 623; Sunan Abi Dawud 1576).

Example: on your zakat date you have 9,000 in your current and savings accounts, 1,500 in cash and 2,000 worth of goods for sale, making 12,500 in total (in pounds, euros or any other currency). If this total exceeds the nisab, you owe 12,500 × 2.5% = 312.50. For shares, investments, pension savings or cryptocurrencies, contemporary opinions vary according to the nature of the investment: seek advice from a zakat organisation or a qualified scholar.

Who receives zakat? The eight categories

The Quran lists the recipients of zakat precisely:

“Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed for it and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler – an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.” (Quran 9:60)

1. The poor (fuqara’), who cannot cover most of their basic needs;
2. the needy (masakin), whose resources remain insufficient (the schools differ on which of these two groups is worse off);
3. those who collect and administer zakat, who are paid from it;
4. those whose hearts are to be won over, such as recent converts or people one hopes to bring closer to Islam;
5. freeing slaves, which many scholars today apply to ransoming captives;
6. debtors unable to repay a debt taken on for a lawful need, or to reconcile people;
7. in the cause of Allah, classically understood as the defence of the community, and extended by some contemporary scholars to other causes serving Islam and the common good;
8. the stranded traveller, cut off from their resources, even if wealthy at home.

The following may not receive zakat: a rich person, or someone healthy and able to earn a living (Sunan Abi Dawud 1633; Sunan an-Nasa’i 2598); relatives one is already obliged to support, namely one’s parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, and one’s wife; and the family of the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih Muslim 1072). A wife, on the other hand, may according to many scholars give her zakat to her husband if he is poor, as the Prophet ﷺ allowed Zaynab, the wife of Ibn Mas’ud (Sahih al-Bukhari 1466). Giving to a poor relative whom one does not support is even doubly rewarded: “Charity to a poor person is charity; to a relative it is two things: charity and upholding the ties of kinship” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 2582).

It is preferable to give zakat where one lives, “taken from their rich and given to their poor”, but many scholars allow sending it elsewhere when the need there is greater, for example in a famine or disaster. It may be handed directly to recipients or given through a trusted mosque or charity that distributes it according to the eight categories. The intention to pay zakat is required at the time of giving. Discretion is better: “if you conceal them and give them to the poor, it is better for you” (Quran 2:271), and one must not invalidate one’s charity with reminders or injury (Quran 2:264).

Zakat al-fitr, the charity at the end of Ramadan

Zakat al-fitr is separate from zakat on wealth. “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prescribed zakat al-fitr: a sa’ of dates or a sa’ of barley, on every Muslim, slave or free, male or female, young or old, and he ordered that it be paid before people go out to the prayer” of Eid (Sahih al-Bukhari 1503; Sahih Muslim 984).

• Who owes it? Every Muslim who has, beyond their own food and that of their family for the day and night of Eid, the means to pay it (according to the Hanafis, anyone who owns the nisab). The head of the household pays it for themselves and for their dependants, including children.
• Why? It is “a purification for the one who fasted from idle and indecent talk, and food for the poor. Whoever gives it before the prayer, it is an accepted zakat; whoever gives it after the prayer, it is ordinary charity” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1609; Sunan Ibn Majah 1827, graded hasan).
• When? Before the Eid al-Fitr prayer. People used to give it a day or two before Eid (Sahih al-Bukhari 1511); the Shafi’is allow it to be paid from the start of Ramadan.
• How much? One sa’ per person, that is four double handfuls (mudd), about 2 to 3 kg of a staple food depending on the food and the estimate: dates, wheat, barley, rice, raisins and so on.
• In food or in money? According to most scholars (Malikis, Shafi’is, Hanbalis), it is given in food, as the Prophet ﷺ prescribed. The Hanafis allow its value to be paid in money, and many Muslim bodies in Europe follow this view, which they consider better suited to the needs of the poor today. Every year, mosques and religious councils publish an indicative amount.

For the expected date of the festival, see our page on the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

Voluntary charity (sadaqah)

Beyond obligatory zakat, Islam encourages voluntary charity, with no threshold, no set date and in every form. “Every good deed is charity” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6021; Sahih Muslim 1005), and “your smile in your brother’s face is charity” (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 1956). A few teachings:

• even a small gift counts: “Protect yourselves from the Fire, even with half a date” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1417; Sahih Muslim 1016); Allah accepts charity from lawful earnings and makes it grow, as one raises a foal, until it becomes as large as a mountain (Sahih al-Bukhari 1410);
• the best charity is the one given while healthy, when one still clings to one’s money, rather than waiting until death approaches (Sahih al-Bukhari 1419);
• “the upper hand is better than the lower hand”, the upper hand being the one that gives (Sahih al-Bukhari 1429; Sahih Muslim 1033);
• among those whom Allah will shade with His shade on the Day of Judgement is the one who gives so discreetly that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives (Sahih al-Bukhari 1423; Sahih Muslim 1031);
• ongoing charity (sadaqah jariyah), such as a well or a school, is one of the three deeds whose reward continues after death, along with beneficial knowledge and a righteous child who prays for their parents (Sahih Muslim 1631).

“The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills.” (Quran 2:261)

Ramadan is a special time for generosity: see our tips on multiplying good deeds during Ramadan. For particular cases (businesses, inheritance, investments), consult a qualified scholar or a recognised zakat organisation. Discover the other pillars too: prayer and the pilgrimage to Makkah, and listen to Surah at-Tawbah, which contains the verse on the recipients of zakat.