Zakah Due on Cash, Gold and Silver

22-7-2019 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamalaikum
I have 64gram of 9ct 18ct and silver . And cash in bank. Do i add the value of the gold and silver to my cash and pay zakat on total
Jazakallahu kheiran

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The Nisaab (minimum amount liable for Zakah) of gold is 84 grams of pure gold, and the Nisaab of silver is 595 grams. If the gold and the silver you mentioned are not kept as jewelry for ornament only, then they should all be added to the cash, and then 2.5 percent of the total amount must be paid as Zakah. This is provided that the total amount reaches the Nisaab and you had possessed it for a complete lunar year.

Since 9 and 18 Karat gold are not pure gold, then Zakah is obligatory on the amount of pure gold that they have in them. Whatever that amounts comes out to be, you add that amount to the silver and the cash. The way to know the amount of pure gold in the 9 and 18 karat gold, is as follows:

First find out how many grams of each you do own, then multiply that number (of grams) by the number of the karat (either by 9 or 18), then divide the result by 24 (for each karat). The resulting number will be the amount of grams of the pure gold in each of the karats.

If this total constitutes the amount of Nisaab, then you must pay Zakah on that total (the pure gold added to the silver and whatever cash you own). If you cannot calculate it by yourself, then ask the Zakah authorities to calculate it for you in the country where you live.

Combining the gold and silver amounts and adding cash to them in order to reach the amount of Nisaab is the view of the majority of scholars. Moreover, the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Makkah issued a Fatwa regarding this issue and permitted adding cash to the gold and silver amounts in order to reach the amount of Nisaab.

Allah Knows best.