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Covers Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Sudan. North Africa combines two strong traditions: Egypt's fatwa institutions, which publish some of the
Covers Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Sudan. North Africa combines two strong traditions: Egypt's fatwa institutions, which publish some of the most detailed Zakat guidance in the Arab world, and the Maghreb's insistence on local moon sighting, which regularly puts Morocco on a different Ramadan date from its eastern neighbours.
Egypt has no compulsory Zakat deduction, and no single state collection agency. Guidance comes from Dar al-Ifta, Egypt's official fatwa authority, which rules on what counts as Zakatable wealth — for example, that Zakat is due on savings and bank certificates once they reach Nisab and complete a lunar year, but not directly on a salary itself. Actual giving runs through mosques, Al-Azhar-linked charities and relief organisations. Morocco's religious life is overseen by the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, but collection is likewise mosque- and charity-based. Honest note: no single central Zakat collection body or national collection figure was verifiable for Algeria, Tunisia, Libya or Sudan; giving there runs through mosques and local charities.
Morocco is the clearest case in the region: the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs coordinates a local sighting, and the whole country waits for its announcement. Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin there on Monday 8 February, subject to that sighting, with Eid al-Fitr — known locally as Aid Sghir — expected around 10 March. Egypt announces through its own religious authorities; in 2025 it began on 1 March.
The silver Nisab is 612.36 grams, about US$968 at the 1 November 2026 silver price of US$1.58 per gram. Egypt adds a distinctive local convention worth knowing: Dar al-Ifta expresses the Nisab for money as 85 grams of 21-karat gold, rather than the 87.48 grams of pure gold used in many international calculators. The two figures are close, but a reader using an Egyptian source should expect the 85-gram figure and not mistake it for an error.
Egypt publishes an annual minimum. For 2026, Dar al-Ifta set Zakat al-Fitr at EGP 35 per person, calculated from 2.04 kilograms of wheat, and confirmed that it may be paid in cash from the start of Ramadan until before the Eid prayer, with more recommended for those who can afford it. Honest note: no single official Fitrana figure was verifiable for Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya or Sudan in this guide's sources; local mosques announce their own amounts.
All prices and rates in this example are illustrative, not live rates.
A teacher in Cairo holds EGP 100,000 in savings for a full lunar year, with no debts due. Using an illustrative rate of EGP 48 per US dollar purely to make the arithmetic visible, the silver Nisab of about US$968 converts to roughly EGP 46,464, so the savings are above Nisab and Zakat is due on the whole amount: EGP 100,000 × 2.5% = EGP 2,500. Use the live exchange rate on the day of payment, not the illustrative rate used here. Separately, the household owes Fitrana of at least EGP 35 per person for 2026.
Figures are those published for the year stated; always recheck the issuing body's current figure before paying.