Fatwa #1861523 April 2010Pakistan
What is the correct method to determine the value of gold jewellery for Zakat payment? Method 1, 2 or else?
Question
Subject: How to determine value of gold jewellery for Zakat payment.
My wife possesses gold jewellery. Usually gold jewellery is made up of gold mixed with some other metal e.g. copper. In market, per unit cost of pure gold is different from gold jewellery. One method is that we get weighed the jewellery and estimate the cost using per unit cost of gold jewellery. The second method might be to take the jewellery to a jeweler and get estimated the amount of pure gold used in the jewellery. Then calculate the cost using per unit cost of pure gold.
What is the correct method to determine the value of gold jewellery for Zakat payment? Method 1, 2 or else?
Answer
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalāmu ῾alaykum wa Rahmatullāhi Wabarakātuh
The amount of nisāb is 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver. If a person owns gold, silver or cash to the value of the nisāb he will have to give zakāh. The most common practice in South Africa is where the woman take the jewellery to a jeweller and have it weighed. The jeweller will tell you exactly how much of gold one possesses and will even tell you what zakā’at you ought to pay. You should find out the price of gold/silver in Pakistan and calculate it to the above given nisāb.
And Allāh Ta῾āla Knows Best
Wassalāmu ῾alaykum
Ml. Ebrahim Desai,
Student Dārul Iftā
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Dārul Iftā