Only the pure metal counts#
Jewellery is alloyed — pure gold is too soft to wear. Zakat is due on the gold content, not on the gross weight of the piece, so valuing what the scales say at the spot price overstates the holding by whatever fraction is alloy.
Karat is parts out of 24. A 22-karat piece is 22/24 gold, which is 91.67% — so 8% of that bangle is not zakatable at all.
| Karat | Pure gold | In 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| 24k | 100.00% | 100.0 g |
| 23k | 95.83% | 95.8 g |
| 22k | 91.67% | 91.7 g |
| 21k | 87.50% | 87.5 g |
| 20k | 83.33% | 83.3 g |
| 19k | 79.17% | 79.2 g |
| 18k | 75.00% | 75.0 g |
| 17k | 70.83% | 70.8 g |
| 16k | 66.67% | 66.7 g |
| 15k | 62.50% | 62.5 g |
| 14k | 58.33% | 58.3 g |
| 13k | 54.17% | 54.2 g |
| 12k | 50.00% | 50.0 g |
| 11k | 45.83% | 45.8 g |
| 10k | 41.67% | 41.7 g |
| 9k | 37.50% | 37.5 g |
| 8k | 33.33% | 33.3 g |
| 7k | 29.17% | 29.2 g |
| 6k | 25.00% | 25.0 g |
Each piece is valued at its own purity and then summed. Averaging karats across a collection goes wrong as soon as the pieces weigh different amounts: a 10 g 9-karat ring and a 100 g 24-karat bar hold 103.75 g of pure gold, not the 75.6 g that an average of 16.5 karat over 110 g would suggest.
A worked example#
- 100 g of 22-karat gold
- gross weight
- × 91.67% purity
- 91.67 g pure gold
- × $134.64 per gram
- $12,342
The Zakat on gold nisāb is 85 g, which is $11,444 today. This holding is above it on its own — though what governs is your total zakatable wealth, and whether metals pool with cash depends on the madhhab.
Prices are quoted per troy ounce (31.1034768 g), not the ordinary ounce. See gold price per gram for that conversion.
Jewellery you wear: where the schools part company#
This is the question people are usually really asking, and it is a genuine difference rather than a matter of preference. Gold and silver held as bullion or investment are zakatable on every view. What divides the schools is gold jewellery worn for personal use.
- Zakatable (Hanafi)
- Worn jewellery is assessed like any other holding of the metal.
- Not zakatable (Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali)
- Jewellery in genuine personal use is treated as a possession in use rather than stored wealth, and falls outside the assessment.
Rizq Trackr does not pick between them. You choose the school, and the result states which position produced your figure and why — so you can check it against what you have been taught, or take it to someone who can.
Work it out#
The calculator takes weight and karat directly, applies the madhhab you choose, and shows every line of the working — including which holdings counted and which did not.