Short answer: zakat is an obligatory pillar of Islam: 2.5% of your savings each lunar year once they reach the nisab, paid only to the eight groups named in the Quran. Sadaqah is any voluntary charity, of any amount, at any time, to anyone in need, including non-Muslims and your own close family. Every zakat is a kind of sadaqah, but not every sadaqah is zakat. If you miss zakat, you owe it and it stays a debt; if you skip sadaqah, you only miss its reward.
The difference in one table
| Zakat | Sadaqah | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A pillar of Islam, an act of worship | Voluntary charity, and any good deed |
| Ruling | Fard (obligatory) | Sunnah and recommended |
| Who must pay | An adult, sane Muslim with wealth over the nisab for a lunar year | Anyone, rich or poor |
| How much | 2.5% of zakatable wealth (different rates for crops and livestock) | Any amount, even a smile |
| When | Once a lunar year (hawl) on the wealth you hold | Any time, best when there is need |
| Who receives | Only the eight groups in Quran 9:60 | Anyone in need, and any good cause |
| Non-Muslims | Not allowed | Allowed |
| Your parents, children, spouse | Not allowed | Allowed, with a double reward |
| Descendants of the Prophet ﷺ (Banu Hashim) | Not allowed | Allowed by most scholars |
| Building a masjid or school | Not allowed (Hanafi and most scholars) | Allowed, and can be sadaqah jariyah |
| Intention | Must be intended as zakat when given or set aside | Any good intention |
| If not given | A sin, and it stays a debt to pay | No sin; you miss the reward |
| Openly or in secret | Giving openly is fine, to encourage others | In secret is better (2:271) |
Work out your own zakat with the zakat calculator, and check today's threshold on the nisab page.
Zakat in brief
۞ إِنَّمَا ٱلصَّدَقَٰتُ لِلْفُقَرَآءِ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينِ وَٱلْعَٰمِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَٱلْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَٱلْغَٰرِمِينَ وَفِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۖ فَرِيضَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌۭ
Innamas sadaqaatu lilfuqaraaa'i walmasaakeeni wal 'aamileena 'alaihaa wal mu'al lafati quloobuhum wa fir riqaabi walghaarimeena wa fee sabeelil laahi wabnis sabeeli fareedatam minal laah; wal laahu 'Aleemun Hakeem
"Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise."
Quran 9:60 · translation by Sahih International
The verse names the poor, the needy, those who collect zakat, those whose hearts are being brought closer, freeing captives, those in debt, the cause of Allah, and the stranded traveller. When the Prophet ﷺ sent Mu'adh to Yemen, he told him to teach that Allah has made zakat obligatory on their wealth, "taken from their rich and given to their poor".1 Who exactly falls in each group is set out on who can receive zakat.
Zakat is due only from an adult, sane Muslim. There is no zakat on the wealth of a child or of someone who is insane. It must be given to a person as their property (tamlik), which is why it cannot be used to build a masjid or pay for a funeral. You may pay it early, before the year is complete, once you own the nisab.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali
- Zakat is due on the wealth of children and of the insane, and their guardian pays it from their wealth. Most of them also do not allow zakat for building mosques.
Sadaqah in brief
مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَٰلَهُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنۢبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِى كُلِّ سُنۢبُلَةٍۢ مِّا۟ئَةُ حَبَّةٍۢ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُضَٰعِفُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Masalul lazeena yunfiqoona amwaalahum fee sabeelil laahi kamasali habbatin ambatat sab'a sanaabila fee kulli sumbulatim mi'atu habbah; wallaahu yudaa'ifu limai yashaaa; wallaahu Waasi'un 'Aleem
"The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing."
Quran 2:261 · translation by Sahih International
مَا نَقَصَتْ صَدَقَةٌ مِنْ مَالٍ
Mā naqaṣat ṣadaqatun min māl
Charity does not decrease wealth.
Sahih Muslim 2588, from Abu Hurayrah
Sadaqah is not only money. The Prophet ﷺ said that smiling at your brother, enjoining good, guiding someone who is lost and removing a stone from the road are all sadaqah,2 and that every subhanallah, alhamdulillah and la ilaha illallah is sadaqah too.3 Charity whose benefit keeps going after you die, such as a well or a copy of the Quran, is sadaqah jariyah.
Why the words overlap
In 9:60 the Quran calls zakat as-sadaqat, and in 9:103 it says "take from their wealth a charity (sadaqah) by which you purify them". So in the texts, "sadaqah" can mean the obligatory zakat, and scholars say which is meant from the context. In everyday use today, "sadaqah" means voluntary charity, and that is how this page uses it.
Between the two sit other obligatory payments, each with its own rules:
- Zakat al-fitr: due before the Eid prayer from every Muslim who has the means. In the Hanafi school it is wajib.
- Fidya: for fasts a person can never make up.
- Kaffarah: the expiation for breaking a fast on purpose or breaking an oath.
- A vow (nadhr): if you vowed to give charity, it becomes obligatory.
Giving to your family
Zaynab, the wife of Ibn Mas'ud, asked whether she could give charity to her husband and the orphans in her care. The Prophet ﷺ said she would have two rewards: the reward of kinship and the reward of charity.4
Zakat cannot go to your parents or grandparents, your children or grandchildren, or your spouse, because you already support them. Abu Hanifa held that a wife may not give her zakat to her husband either; his students Abu Yusuf and Muhammad allowed it. Zakat may go to brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and cousins who are eligible, and it is better given to them. Voluntary sadaqah may go to anyone in the family.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- The same for parents and children. A wife may give her zakat to a poor husband, following the hadith of Zaynab.
- Maliki and Hanbali
- The same for parents and children. On a wife giving to her husband there are two views in each school.
Giving to non-Muslims
Zakat may not be given to non-Muslims. Voluntary sadaqah may be given to non-Muslims who are not at war with Muslims, and it is rewarded.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali
- The same in substance: zakat is for Muslims, voluntary charity is for all. Scholars of all schools discuss the group "whose hearts are being brought closer" (9:60); many said its share was for Muslims or was suspended after the early period.
Which should I give first?
Zakat comes first, because it is a duty and a debt. Once your zakat is paid, give sadaqah as much as you can, regularly and quietly. The Quran praises both: "If you disclose your charitable expenditures, they are good; but if you conceal them and give them to the poor, it is better for you" (2:271).
FAQ
What is the main difference between zakat and sadaqah?
Zakat is obligatory: 2.5% of savings above the nisab each lunar year, paid to the eight groups in Quran 9:60. Sadaqah is voluntary charity of any amount, at any time, to anyone.
Can sadaqah count as zakat?
Only if you intended it as zakat when you gave it, or when you set the money aside. Charity given as voluntary sadaqah cannot be counted as zakat afterwards.
Can I give zakat to my parents?
No. Zakat cannot go to parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren or a spouse. Voluntary sadaqah to them is allowed and doubly rewarded.
Can sadaqah be given to non-Muslims?
Yes. Voluntary sadaqah may be given to non-Muslims and is rewarded. Zakat may not.
Is zakat al-fitr zakat or sadaqah?
It is a third kind: an obligatory charity paid before the Eid prayer, by everyone with the means, with its own amount and rules. In the Hanafi school it is wajib.
Sources
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1395, from Ibn Abbas.
- Jami at-Tirmidhi 1956, from Abu Dharr; graded sahih by al-Albani.
- Sahih Muslim 1006, from Abu Dharr.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1466, from Zaynab, the wife of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.
- Sahih Muslim 2588, from Abu Hurayrah.
- On zakat to relatives, non-Muslims and mosques: al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah, book of zakat, and al-Kasani, Bada'i al-Sana'i; for the other schools, their standard manuals.
- Quran 9:60, 9:103, 2:261 and 2:271, Arabic from the Uthmani text, translation by Sahih International.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.