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Covers China, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. East Asia's Muslims are small minorities in very large countries, and the region's
Covers China, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. East Asia's Muslims are small minorities in very large countries, and the region's Zakat life is correspondingly quiet: a mosque here, an Islamic association there, and almost nothing published in English about amounts or totals.
Giving runs through mosques and Islamic associations. There is no East Asian Zakat fund and no published national total for any country in the region. In China, Japan and South Korea, Muslim communities are concentrated in particular cities, and giving is organised by those city communities rather than nationally. Honest note: no single central Zakat collection body or national collection figure was verifiable for any East Asian country in this guide's sources, so no national total is quoted here.
Japan is the one country in the region with a verifiable announcement process in this guide's sources. Its Hilal Vision Committee announced Thursday 19 February 2026 as the first day of Ramadan, and in 2025 its Ruyat Hilal Committee announced 2 March after the crescent was not observed. Honest note: no single moon-sighting authority was verifiable for China, South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau; communities there follow their own mosque's announcement, which may in turn follow a neighbouring country's sighting.
The silver Nisab is 612.36 grams, about US$968 at the 1 November 2026 silver price of US$1.58 per gram. In East Asia the practical point is the same as in South America: the threshold is a weight of silver, and any converted local figure goes stale as exchange rates move. A payer should price the silver weight on the day of payment rather than reuse a converted figure from a previous year.
Honest note: no single official Fitrana figure was verifiable for any East Asian country in this guide's sources. The obligation is one sa' of the local staple food per person, paid before the Eid prayer, and the cash equivalent should be worked out from the local price of rice, or asked of the local mosque or Islamic association.
All prices and rates in this example are illustrative, not live rates.
A worker in Shanghai holds CNY 50,000 in savings for a full lunar year, with no debts due. Using an illustrative rate of CNY 7.20 per US dollar purely to make the arithmetic visible, the silver Nisab of about US$968 converts to roughly CNY 6,970, so the savings are well above Nisab and Zakat is due on the whole amount: CNY 50,000 × 2.5% = CNY 1,250. Use the live exchange rate on the day of payment, not the illustrative rate used here.
Figures are those published for the year stated; always recheck the issuing body's current figure before paying.