Get to know the Zakat

Zakat, or Zakatul Maal, is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with prayer, fasting, pilgrimage (Hajj) and belief in Allah (SWT) and His Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAW). For every sane, adult Muslim who owns wealth over a certain amount – known as the nisab – he or she must pay 2.5% of that wealth as Zakat.

“…and those in whose wealth there is a recognized right, for the needy and deprived” (Qur’an 70:24-25)

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Current Nisab Value

Nisab is the minimum amount of wealth a Muslim must possess before Zakat becomes obligatory. The values below are estimates and may fluctuate according to gold, silver, and exchange rates.

CountrySilver NisabGold NisabCurrency
CanadaCAD 2,345 (Ref: May 12, 2026)CAD 18,174 (Ref: May 12, 2026)CAD
USAUSD 1,708 (Ref: May 12, 2026)USD 13,329 (Ref: May 12, 2026)USD
BelgiumEUR 1,457 (Ref: May 12, 2026)EUR 11,356 (Ref: May 12, 2026)EUR
FranceEUR 1,457 (Ref: May 12, 2026)EUR 11,356 (Ref: May 12, 2026)EUR
RwandaRWF 2,498,668 (Ref: May 12, 2026)RWF 19,493,240 (Ref: May 12, 2026)RWF
BurundiBIF 5,086,158 (Ref: May 12, 2026)BIF 39,679,426 (Ref: May 12, 2026)BIF

The silver Nisab is commonly used because it allows more people in need to benefit from Zakat. Please verify the latest market value before calculating your Zakat.

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Zakat FAQs

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is a compulsory donation to charity by all Muslims who reach the minimum threshold for payment (Nisab).

Zakat is 2.5% of your total zakatable (eligible) wealth. Therefore if you have $10,000 of wealth liable to Zakat, you would pay $250.

In explanations of Zakat, you may hear the term ‘hawl’ – which means a lunar year. Therefore, a hawl (lunar year) is 354 days long.
 
You should make your zakat payment one hawl (lunar year) after you become eligible to pay Zakat. However, this is only if your wealth on that date is still at – or above – the nisab threshold and has been so throughout the hawl.
The Nisab is the minimum amount of wealth a Muslim must possess before they become eligible to pay Zakat. This amount is often referred to as the nisab threshold.
 
Gold and silver are the two values used to calculate the nisab threshold. The nisab is the value of 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver.
 
In the Hanafi madhab, the value of silver is used to ascertain the nisab threshold and eligibility to pay Zakat. The other madhabs use the value of gold.
 
United for Assistance advises its donors to use the silver value (which is almost always a lower threshold to gold) because this allows for a greater amount to be eligible for Zakat, which means more help for deserving Zakat recipients.

The Nisab value is what an individual must have before they are required to pay zakat. An individual can calculate this based on the value of gold or silver that they have. However, by using the silver value, it means that more people are likely to be eligible for zakat, which means more money benefiting the poor and needy.