Zakat (a thread)

It purifies your wealth as Allah says in the Qur'an: It keeps one away from sin and saves the giver from the moral ill arising from the love and greed of wealth. Through Zakat, the poor are cared for; these include widows, orphans, the disabled, the needy and the destitute.

As one of the pillars of Islam, zakat is a form of obligatory charity that has the potential to ease the suffering of millions.

Many people are stuck with the misconception that Zakat can only be paid during  the sacred month Ramadan which is not right. Zakat is an annual duty and so you can pay it at any time of the year after your wealth has exceeded the Nisaab amount.

zakat is 2.5% of wealth that has been in one’s possession for a lunar year. If wealth amounts to less than a threshold figure, termed the nisab, then no zakat is payable. If wealth amounts to more than the nisab, zakat becomes obligatory.

To determine the nisab, the are two measures: either gold or silver.

Gold: The nisab by the gold standard is 3 ounces of gold (87.48 grammes) or its cash equivalent. This is approximately Rs.400,400 for gold on 26 April 2020, but will vary with the market value of gold.

Silver: The nisab by the silver standard is 21 ounces of silver (612.36 grammes) or its equivalent in cash. This is approximately Rs.25,361.484 on 26 April 2020.

A person will be liable for zakat after the money has been in his/her possession for a lunar year.

End of thread #Zakat