Zakah is fardh upon a person who possesses the following 5 qualities;

• The person is a Muslim
• The person is free i.e. not a slave
• The person is sane
• The person is mature i.e. has reached the age of 15 or, in the case of a male, has experienced a wet dream before the mentioned age. And in the case of a female has experienced menses or a wet dream before this age.
• The person is the complete owner of such wealth which consists of the following four qualities;
  
  1. The wealth is equal to the nisab i.e. a specific amount fixed by the shariah upon which zakah becomes obligatory
  2. It is beyond the owner’s needs and necessities. Examples of necessities are clothes, furniture, utensils, a home, a car etc.
  3. It is free from such debt which would be equal or even more than the amount of wealth which is currently in the owner’s possession.
  4. It has the tendency to increase (whether in value or physically) such as gold, silver, cash, inventory, livestock (i.e. cattle, goats, sheep) camels and horses.

ZAKAH OF GOLD

Zakah becomes compulsory on gold within one’s possession when it amounts to 87.84 gm or more. Once a lunar year has elapsed from the day of possession, the owner will be obliged to give 2.5% of that gold or it’s equivalent in cash from the total amount of gold, in Zakah. It should be borne in mind that all gold objects will be accounted for while calculating the total amount of gold within ones possession e.g. raw gold, gold nuggets, gold jewelry, gold utensils etc.

ZAKAH OF SILVER

Zakah becomes compulsory on silver within one’s possession when it amounts to 612.36 gm or more. Once a lunar year has been completed from the day this silver came within the owner’s possession, the owner will be required to pay 2.5 % of that silver or its equal value in cash from the total amount, in Zakah. Likewise, similar to the zakah of gold, all silver objects will be accounted for while calculating the total amount of silver within one’s possession.

ZAKAH OF INVENTORY

A tradesman will assess his inventory based on the nisab of gold and the nisab of silver. Thereafter he will calculate the Zakah which is due based on each value. Whichever yields more zakah will be discharged accordingly in order to benefit the needy even more.

WHO IS ENTITLED TO ZAKAH?

• A poor person who has very little wealth to the extent that it is less than the ‘nisab’.
• A needy person who has no wealth at all.
• A person who has been employed to collect zakah. Such a person’s wages for his services will be paid to him from the zakah fund.
• A person whose heart needs to become connected to the religion of Islam. However in the present era such a person will not receive any zakah due to Islam becoming self-sufficient.
• A slave who has agreed to pay to his/her master a fixed amount of money in return for their freedom.
• A person who is in dept and does not have enough funds to pay off that dept.
• A person who intends to go in the path of Allah but does not possess the required funds for it. For example;
  1. A mujahid who does not have the means to purchase necessary weaponry or war supplies.
  2. A person wishes to perform the obligatory pilgrimage but does not possess the necessary expenses for it.
  3. A student who wishes to acquire Islamic knowledge but does not have sufficient money to pay for his tuition.
• A traveler who does not have sufficient money to reach home with.