Hanbali Zakat Calculator

This calculator follows the relied-upon position of the Hanbali madhab, followed in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

• ✓ Sources listed for each madhab
• ✓ Your data stays on your device
• ✓ Live gold & silver rates

Hanbali zakat rules used in this calculator

• Jewellery: “Zakat is not required on permitted jewellery that is ready to be used or lent out” (Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat, Book of Zakat).
• Combining: gold and silver are added together to complete the nisab.
• Nisab for cash and trade goods: the standard that is best for the poor, which today is silver. The two nisabs, 20 dinars of gold and 200 dirhams of silver held for a year, come from the hadith of Ali (Abu Dawud 1573).
• Debts: subtracted before checking the nisab.

Some well-known scholars in Saudi Arabia, such as the Permanent Committee, hold that jewellery is zakatable. If you follow that view, use the Ahl-e-Hadith calculator, which applies it.

Worked example (Hanbali)

Khalid lives in Riyadh. On his zakat date he has SAR 30,000 in the bank, 50 g of 24K gold bars, his wife’s gold jewellery that she wears, and SAR 10,000 of debt due now. Say gold is SAR 400 a gram (the calculator uses today’s rate).

• Jewellery: permissible and worn, so it is left out.
• Gold bars: 50 g × SAR 400 = SAR 20,000. On its own, 50 g is below the gold nisab of 87.48 g.
• Combining: Hanbali scholars add gold, silver and cash together and use the lower of the two nisabs, which is better for the poor (silver today). SAR 30,000 + SAR 20,000 = SAR 50,000, far above the silver nisab.
• Debt: SAR 50,000 − SAR 10,000 = SAR 40,000.
• Zakat: 2.5% of SAR 40,000 = SAR 1,000.

Under the Permanent Committee’s view used in our Ahl-e-Hadith calculator, the jewellery would be counted and the debt would not be subtracted, so the same person would pay more. The comparison shows both.

Jewellery that is lent or kept

The Hanbali exemption covers jewellery that is permissible for the owner and kept for wearing or for lending to others. It does not cover jewellery kept as savings or for sale, gold bars and coins, or jewellery a man wears that is not permitted to him; these are counted at their value.

When Hanbalis pay zakat

The wealth must stay at or above the nisab for the whole lunar year; if it drops below the nisab during the year, the year starts again when it reaches the nisab once more. Use the zakat date calculator to track your date. In the Hanbali view, zakat on money owed to you by someone who can and will pay is due for every year, but you may pay it when you receive the money; the calculator counts it now.

Hanbali rules and their sources

Question	Hanbali ruling (relied-upon view)	Source
Worn or lent jewellery	Exempt if permissible	Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat
Gold, silver and cash	Added together to complete the nisab	Hanbali manuals on zakat of gold and silver
Nisab for cash	The lower of the two, which is better for the poor (silver today)	Abu Dawud 1573
Debts	Subtracted before the nisab is checked	SeekersGuidance (debts by madhab)
The lunar year	Nisab held throughout the year	Ibn Majah 1792
Contemporary Saudi view	Jewellery zakatable (Permanent Committee)	IslamQA 19901

Worked example in rupees (Hanbali)

Usman, a Pakistani working in Riyadh, follows the Hanbali view. He has Rs 12,00,000 saved in Pakistan, 3 tola of 24K gold coins, his wife’s worn jewellery, and a car loan instalment of Rs 1,00,000 due now. At an example rate of Rs 4,50,000 a tola the coins are worth Rs 13,50,000. Cash and coins are added (Rs 25,50,000), the debt is subtracted (Rs 24,50,000), and the total is above the silver nisab, so zakat is 2.5% = Rs 61,250. The jewellery is not counted. Under the Permanent Committee’s view used in our Ahl-e-Hadith calculator, the jewellery would be added and the debt not subtracted.

Who follows the Hanbali madhab

The Hanbali school is named after Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal of Baghdad, compiler of the Musnad. It is the official school in Saudi Arabia and is followed in Qatar and by many in Kuwait and the UAE. Many Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi workers in the Gulf follow their home madhab (usually Hanafi) while living there; this calculator is for those who follow Hanbali fiqh itself. Its standard texts, such as Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat, Zad al-Mustaqni’ and Ibn Qudamah’s al-Mughni, give the rules used here.

Using this calculator, step by step

1. Enter cash, bank balances and any trade stock, in riyals, rupees or any currency.
2. Enter gold bars, coins and jewellery kept as savings; mark jewellery that is worn or lent so it is left out.
3. Enter debts due now; they are subtracted.
4. Press calculate. Gold, silver and cash are added and compared with the silver nisab.

See how the same numbers come out in every school in the madhab comparison. How we read each source is explained in our methodology.

Frequently asked questions