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Gold you own as wealth is subject to Zakat at 2.5% once it reaches the nisab and a full lunar year has passed. The nisab for gold is 87.48 grams of pure gold.
Gold you own as wealth is subject to Zakat at 2.5% once it reaches the nisab and a full lunar year has passed. The nisab for gold is 87.48 grams of pure gold. Below that weight, no Zakat is due on gold alone, although gold still counts toward your total wealth when you test against the silver nisab.
Gold is rarely pure. Jewellery is usually 22, 18 or 14 karat, and Zakat is charged on the pure gold content, not the total weight. Convert first: pure weight = total weight × (karat ÷ 24). So 100 grams of 22-karat gold contains about 91.67 grams of pure gold, and 100 grams of 18-karat gold contains 75 grams.
When you buy jewellery, the price includes making charges and the shop's margin. Zakat ignores those. Value the gold at its melt value — pure weight × the current market price per gram — not at what you paid for it.
Bullion bars and coins are straightforward: their pure weight is usually stamped on them. Jewellery follows the same rule, with one honest difference: scholars disagree about jewellery worn as personal adornment. One widely followed position charges Zakat on all gold above the nisab, worn or not; another exempts jewellery in normal personal use. If your gold is worn daily, ask a qualified scholar which position to follow, and then stay consistent.
Gold you inherit counts like any other gold once it is yours. The lunar year counts from when you took ownership, not from when the previous owner bought it.
All prices and rates in this example are illustrative, not live rates.
A woman owns 120 grams of 22-karat jewellery. Her pure gold is 120 × 22 ÷ 24 = 110 grams. At a market price of $65 per gram, the melt value is 110 × $65 = $7,150. Because 110 grams is above the 87.48-gram nisab, and a lunar year has passed, her Zakat is 2.5% × $7,150 = $178.75. Note that she originally paid $8,000 including making charges — that figure plays no part in the calculation.
The personal-use jewellery question above is the main difference for gold. A second difference is whether gold should be tested against the gold nisab or pooled with other wealth under the silver nisab. For either question, the safe course is to ask a qualified scholar and apply one position consistently.