Short answer
It depends on what you own. In the Hanafi school, if your only zakatable wealth is gold, use the gold nisab. If you have cash, silver, or a mix of assets, add them together and use the silver nisab, because it is lower and better for the poor. The Shafi'i school does not add gold and silver together.
The nisab of gold is 20 mithqal (about 87.48 grams) and of silver 200 dirhams (about 612.36 grams). Cash, trade goods and mixed assets are added together by value and measured against whichever nisab is lower, which today is silver.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Gold and silver are not added together: each must reach its own nisab on its own.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ set two thresholds: 200 dirhams of silver and 20 dinars of gold. In his time the two were close in value. Today the gold nisab is worth many times more than the silver one, so the choice makes a real difference. See today's nisab for both in your currency.
The Hanafi rule is simple:
- Only gold and nothing else zakatable: use the gold nisab.
- Only silver: use the silver nisab.
- Cash, savings, shares or business stock, or any mix (for example some gold jewellery plus money in the bank): add the values together and compare the total with the silver nisab.
The reason is a principle the Hanafi jurists apply to zakat: where two measures are possible, use the one more beneficial to the poor. Cash has no nisab of its own, so it is measured by the lower of the two. A woman with gold jewellery below the gold nisab and a modest bank balance will often owe zakat under this rule. Our zakat on gold calculator handles carats and weight.
Some contemporary scholars argue for the gold nisab for cash, because silver has fallen so far in value that the silver threshold now catches people of modest means. That is a respected minority view. The mainstream Hanafi fatwa remains the silver nisab, and anyone who wants to follow the other view should do so on the advice of a scholar they trust.
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:34
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَحْبَارِ وَٱلرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ ﴿٣٤﴾
O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah - give them tidings of a painful punishment.
Gold and silver are named as the wealth on which Allah's right is due.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1405
Sahih... ليس فيما دون خمس أواق صدقة ...
"There is no zakat on less than five awaq (of silver)."
Five awaq equal 200 dirhams, the silver nisab.
Sunan Abi Dawud 1573
Graded sahih... وليس عليك شيء حتى يكون لك عشرون دينارا ...
"Nothing is due from you on gold until you have twenty dinars."
Twenty dinars is the gold nisab.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Zakat, chapters on silver, gold, and adding gold to silver. Gold and silver are combined to complete the nisab, and trade goods are valued by what benefits the poor.
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the zakat of wealth. Valuing by the more beneficial nisab for the poor.
- al-Majmu', Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the zakat of gold and silver. The Shafi'i view that gold and silver are not combined.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.