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Zakat on Silver: How It Is Calculated

Silver follows the same 2.5% rate as other monetary wealth, but it has its own nisab: 612.36 grams of pure silver. Once your silver reaches that weight and a

Silver follows the same 2.5% rate as other monetary wealth, but it has its own nisab: 612.36 grams of pure silver. Once your silver reaches that weight and a lunar year has passed, Zakat is due on its market value.

Purity first, as with gold

Silver is often alloyed. Sterling silver is 92.5% pure, so pure weight = total weight × 0.925. A 800-gram sterling item therefore contains 740 grams of pure silver. Bullion and coins are usually fine silver and need no adjustment, but check the stamp before assuming purity.

What counts as silver wealth

Count silver bars, coins, and silver held as stored wealth. Ordinary household items in daily use — the cutlery you eat with — are not wealth held for value and are not counted. Silver kept in a drawer as an investment, or silverware kept unused as a store of value, is counted. If you are unsure which side of that line an item falls on, a qualified scholar can advise.

The jewellery difference

As with gold, scholars disagree about silver jewellery worn as personal adornment. One widely followed position charges Zakat on all silver above the nisab; another exempts jewellery in normal personal use. This guide does not settle that question — it flags it, because pretending there is one agreed answer would be misleading.

Worked example

All prices and rates in this example are illustrative, not live rates.

A woman owns 800 grams of sterling silver jewellery and 300 grams of fine silver bullion. Her pure silver is 800 × 0.925 = 740 grams, plus 300 grams, giving 1,040 grams in total. At a market price of $0.95 per gram, the value is 1,040 × $0.95 = $988. Because 1,040 grams is above the 612.36-gram nisab, and a lunar year has passed, her Zakat is 2.5% × $988 = $24.70.

Common mistakes

Using total weight instead of pure weight, which overstates sterling silver by 7.5%.
Testing silver against the gold nisab, or gold against the silver nisab — each metal has its own threshold.
Forgetting silver held abroad or in a safe deposit box.
Paying Zakat on silver below the nisab while ignoring other wealth that would push the total above it.

When scholars differ

Besides the jewellery question, scholars differ on whether silver should be pooled with cash and gold under one nisab or tested separately. The practical approach most people take is to add all monetary wealth together and test the total against the silver nisab, but if you hold silver alone in large amounts, the separate 612.36-gram test above is the one to use. Consult a qualified scholar for your own case.