Zakat is 2.5% of qualifying wealth held for a full lunar year — simple in principle, confusing in practice. The questions everyone asks are the same: am I above nisab?, which assets count?, and what do I do about debts? This guide answers all three with a worked example.
When zakat becomes obligatory
Three conditions must all hold:
- Nisab — your zakatable wealth reaches the minimum threshold.
- Hawl — you have held that wealth for one lunar (hijri) year.
- Ownership — the wealth is fully yours and in your possession (not, say, a pension you cannot access yet).
What is nisab in 2026?
Nisab is defined as the value of 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver. Because silver is far cheaper per gram, the silver nisab is much lower in rupee terms — and scholars who use it as the benchmark mean more people qualify to pay. In practice, most calculators in Pakistan show you both and let the silver value decide.
Gold and silver prices move daily, so a fixed rupee figure printed in an article goes stale fast. Our zakat calculator pulls today's Pakistan bullion rates and computes live nisab for you — that is the number you should use, not last month's.
Which assets count?
- Cash in hand and in bank accounts.
- Gold and silver — jewellery included, at current market value (not what you paid).
- Business assets — stock-in-trade and inventory at wholesale value, plus business cash.
- Investments — shares, mutual funds and savings certificates at current value.
- Money owed to you that you expect to recover.
Your home, the car you drive, furniture and personal items are not zakatable. Rental property itself is not zakatable either — but rental income you have saved up is.
Don't forget to subtract debts
Immediate debts and upcoming obligatory payments (a loan instalment due now, for example) are deducted from your zakatable total before applying the 2.5%. Long-term debts are a scholarly grey area; many scholars allow deducting only the portion due within the year.
Worked example
- Bank balance: Rs 800,000
- Gold jewellery (60g at current rates): Rs 1,020,000
- Business stock: Rs 500,000
- Less: immediate loan payment due: Rs 200,000
- Net zakatable wealth: Rs 2,120,000
- Zakat at 2.5%: Rs 53,000
First check this net figure against the live silver nisab — if it is above, zakat is due on the whole amount.
Who can receive it?
Zakat goes to the poor and needy, those in debt, and the other categories named in the Quran — not to your own dependents (parents, spouse, children), and by most scholars' view not to the wealthy or to mosques as institutions. When in doubt, give to individuals in genuine need.
Bottom line
Add up the qualifying assets, subtract immediate debts, check against live nisab, and pay 2.5%. The zakat calculator does all of this with today's gold and silver rates — try it before Ramadan or whenever your zakat year completes.