Khums: Who Must Pay, What Counts and How to Calculate It

For most Shia families in Pakistan, khums matters more than zakat. Under Ayatollah Sistani’s rulings, paper money, bank balances and jewellery carry no zakat today. What is left of your salary or business profit at the end of your khums year carries khums instead. That covers almost everyone with a regular income.

This guide explains the rules as Ayatollah Sistani gives them in Islamic Laws (the khums chapter, rulings 1769 onwards, on sistani.org). When you have your figures, use the khums calculator. It splits the amount into the two shares and can add your khums date to your calendar. We are a calculator site, not a marja or a fatwa office. Where something is unclear, ask your marja’s office or his representative.

The Quranic basis

“And know that whatever you gain of anything, one fifth of it is for Allah and for the Messenger, and for the near relatives, the orphans, the needy and the traveller.” (Surah al-Anfal 8:41)

Shia jurists read “whatever you gain” broadly, to cover every kind of gain, not only spoils of war. This is why khums in Ja’fari fiqh is a yearly duty on ordinary earnings.

The seven things khums applies to (Sistani)

Islamic Laws lists seven categories:

1. Surplus income from earnings and gains (fawa’id al-makasib): salary, business profit, rent, freelance income, and other gains left over after the year’s expenses.
2. Mined products, such as gold, silver, salt or oil taken from a mine.
3. Treasure troves, meaning buried wealth that someone finds.
4. Lawful property mixed with unlawful property, where the owner cannot tell how much is unlawful or who it belongs to.
5. Gems taken by diving in the sea.
6. Spoils of war.
7. Land bought by a non-Muslim (dhimmi) from a Muslim.

Categories 2 to 7 rarely touch an ordinary household. The first one is the khums nearly every working person owes, and it is what the rest of this guide covers.

Surplus income: how the yearly calculation works

Ruling 1769 says that whoever earns through trade, a craft, a job or any other work must pay khums on it. Ruling 1782 adds that once a year passes, khums is due on whatever exceeds the year’s living expenses. So the formula is simple:

Khums = 20% × (income received during the khums year − reasonable expenses of that year), counting only what is still in hand on the khums date.

“In hand” covers more than cash. It includes bank balances, money lent to others that you can recover, stock bought for a shop, and things bought from income that are still unused. Ruling 1797 says provisions bought from the year’s profit and still left at year end are liable, valued at the year-end price if it has gone up.

Setting your khums year (ra’s al-sana)

• When it starts: in Sistani’s Summary of the Rules of Worship, employees, traders and craftsmen start their khums year when they begin working. For someone with no job, each gain, such as a gift, has its own year, counted from when it was received.
• Which calendar: guides based on his rulings (for example the World Federation’s Khums: A Brief Guide) say the date can follow the Islamic or the Gregorian calendar. Many people in Pakistan choose an easy date such as 1 Muharram, or 1 January.
• Paying early: ruling 1783 allows you to pay khums on a profit whenever you receive it, or to wait until the end of the year. To move to a new, easier date, people usually do a full calculation and pay on that day. You cannot push the date later to delay payment. Ask the office how to fix a new date in your case.

The first year, if you have never paid

Your first calculation is the hardest one. It has to cover every saving and asset that came from income on which khums was never paid and that was not spent as an expense within its own year. That can include an old bank balance, a plot bought as an investment, or gold kept as savings. Things bought from income and used within the same year, such as your house, furniture, clothes or car, are generally not liable. Sistani’s Dialogue on Khums tells people with a backlog from earlier years to consult the marja or his deputy and reach a settlement (musalaha). If you are unsure what year an item was bought, or with what money, take that question to the office as well.

What counts as expenses (ma’una)

Ruling 1792 exempts what you spend on food, clothing, furniture, buying a house, your son’s wedding, your daughter’s jahez (trousseau), ziyarah and similar needs, as long as the amount is not beyond your status. Ruling 1795 counts Hajj and ziyarah costs as living expenses of the year. Ruling 1793 adds vows, kaffarah, and gifts or charity you give, again within your status.

Item	Usually	Condition
Household bills, food, school fees, medical costs	Expense, no khums	Spent within the year
House you live in, bought within the year	Expense, no khums	You need it and it fits your status
Car or motorcycle for family or work	Expense, no khums	Bought and used within the year, suits your status
Wedding costs, jahez	Expense, no khums	Customary for your family’s status
Hajj, Karbala or Mashhad ziyarah	Expense, no khums	Paid within the year
Ration, cloth or other goods still unused	Khums due	On their value at the khums date
Cash and bank savings from income	Khums due	On the balance at the khums date
Second plot, shares or gold bought to invest	Khums due	Investment, not a living need

“Status” (sha’n) is real and personal. A senior doctor in Lahore and a clerk in Hyderabad have different reasonable expenses. Spending that is wasteful or plainly beyond your standing does not count as an expense. Note too that ruling 1773 says money you save by living frugally is still liable. Being thrifty does not raise your expense allowance.

What is excluded, and what is not

Gifts: not exempt in Sistani’s rulings

Many people assume gifts are free of khums. In Sistani’s rulings they are not. Ruling 1770: a person who acquires property without earning it, for example a gift, must pay khums on it if it exceeds his living expenses for the year. His office gives the same answer on sistani.org: khums is due on the excess “if a year runs over it”. So Eid money, a cash gift from an uncle abroad, or a gifted gold set kept as savings is part of your income. Khums is due on whatever of it is left on your khums date. A gift you use within the year, like jewellery a woman wears, is treated as an expense in the office’s answers. Followers of other maraji’ should check, because this is one of the points where they differ.

Inheritance: generally exempt

Ruling 1771 exempts property inherited in the normal Shia way. There are exceptions. Property inherited in another way, such as through ta’sib, is treated as a gain and is liable. If the deceased owed khums on the property and did not pay it, the heirs must pay it from the estate (ruling 1772). Any profit you later make from the inheritance, such as rent, is ordinary income.

Mahr

Ruling 1771 also exempts the mahr a wife receives, along with property received in a khul’ divorce and lawful blood money (diyah). Profit she later earns from investing the mahr is income in the normal way.

Special cases: saving for a house, unused items, business capital

Saving for a house

This is the hardest rule for young families. Savings carried past the khums date are liable, even if you are saving for a house. The World Federation’s guide based on Sistani’s rulings says savings for future years are liable. Buying for future years is not an expense, unless the thing would be unavailable later or very hard to get. What helps:

• A house bought, or a payment made on it, within the same khums year from that year’s income is an expense (ruling 1792).
• Ruling 1803: if you borrow for a necessary or reasonable expense, such as a house or car for your own use, you may deduct repayments from the income of later years while the debt remains. This is how a house loan or a payment plan with a builder is treated.
• We could not find a general exemption in his published rulings for house savings held over several years. If you are in real difficulty, ask his office about your case.

Items bought from income and left unused

Under ruling 1797, provisions left over at the khums date are liable. Under ruling 1798, household furniture that was used during the year is generally not liable even when no longer needed. An air conditioner still in its box, a stack of unstitched suits, or a full year’s wheat bought in bulk and still in store are counted at their value on the khums date. Clothes normally kept for future years are an exception.

Capital for business

Sistani’s Summary of the Rules of Worship says that business capital and necessary business tools are not excluded from khums. If a shopkeeper puts this year’s profit into stock or a new machine, khums is due on that amount. Once khums has been paid on a sum, it is never charged again, but the profit it earns later is new income. Ruling 1801 lets a trader set business losses against profit from the same year.

The two shares: Sahm-e-Imam and Sahm-e-Sadat

Ruling 1851 divides khums into two halves.

• Sahm-e-Imam (10% of the surplus): must be given to a fully qualified jurist or spent on purposes he authorises. By obligatory precaution that jurist is the most learned marja. In practice, pay it to your marja’s office or an authorised representative (wakil) who gives an official receipt.
• Sahm-e-Sadat (10%): for a Sayyid who is poor, orphaned, or stranded on a journey, and who is a Twelver Shia. You may not give it to someone you are already obliged to support, such as your wife or children. The khums chapter of Islamic Laws does not mention a permission requirement for this half. Many people still give it through his representative for convenience and checking, and his office can confirm the current position. If you hand it over yourself, make sure the recipient really is a Sayyid and in need. The ruling asks for proof such as two reliable witnesses, or the name being well known in the area.

Sayyids generally may not receive zakat from non-Sayyids. Sahm-e-Sadat exists to meet their needs instead, as explained in who can receive zakat.

Paying in rupees

Ruling 1805 lets you pay khums from the item itself or pay its monetary value. Most people in Pakistan pay in PKR by bank transfer or cash to the representative. Value unused goods, gold and foreign-currency savings at their market rate on your khums date, not the price you paid.

Zakat and khums for Shia in Pakistan: the difference

	Zakat (Sistani)	Khums (Sistani)
On what	9 things only: wheat, barley, dates, raisins, camels, cows, sheep, gold and silver coins used as currency	Surplus of yearly income, plus six other categories
Cash and bank	Not zakatable: paper money is not gold or silver currency (ruling 1915)	20% of what is left at the khums date
Rate	Varies: 2.5% on coins, 5% or 10% on crops	20%
Who receives	The eight Quranic groups (9:60)	Marja (Sahm-e-Imam), needy Sayyids (Sahm-e-Sadat)

See the Shia zakat calculator for the zakat side. Zakat al-fitr (fitrana) at the end of Ramadan is still due for Shia as well.

Pakistani banks deduct 2.5% zakat from savings accounts on 1 Ramadan unless the account holder has filed a CZ-50 declaration on grounds of fiqh. Many followers of Fiqh-e-Jafaria file it. The deduction is a state collection; it is not your khums and does not reduce it. Read bank zakat deduction in Pakistan for the form and deadlines.

Worked example in PKR

This example is hypothetical. Ali is a salaried employee in Karachi. His khums date is 1 Muharram, and he paid khums last year. On this year’s 1 Muharram:

• Bank and cash: Rs 6,20,000. Of this, Rs 2,00,000 is money on which he already paid khums last year, so the untaxed part is Rs 4,20,000. This includes Rs 30,000 left from a Rs 50,000 Eid gift from his uncle.
• Ration and cloth bought from salary, still unused: Rs 15,000 at today’s prices.
• A motorcycle bought in Rajab for commuting (Rs 2,80,000): an expense, excluded.
• His wife’s mahr gold: hers, and exempt.
• Unpaid hospital bill from this year, owed to the hospital: Rs 35,000, deducted.

Untaxed savings	Rs 4,20,000
+ Unused items	Rs 15,000
− This year’s debts for expenses	Rs 35,000
Surplus	Rs 4,00,000
Khums (20%)	Rs 80,000
Sahm-e-Imam (10%)	Rs 40,000
Sahm-e-Sadat (10%)	Rs 40,000

Once Ali pays the Rs 80,000, the money he has left counts as khums-paid money. If next year he still has, say, Rs 5,00,000 of it untouched, no khums is due on that part again. Only new surplus is counted.

Two quick cases

• A student with no job receives Rs 1,00,000 from relatives over the year and has Rs 40,000 left. With Sistani, khums is due on the Rs 40,000 once a year has passed from when each gift was received, or on her chosen khums date: Rs 8,000.
• A shopkeeper puts Rs 3,00,000 of this year’s profit into new stock. The stock is not an expense, so Rs 60,000 khums is due on it, valued at the khums date.

Common mistakes

• Taking 20% of total savings. Money already taxed is not charged again. Only this year’s untaxed surplus counts.
• Treating gifts as exempt. In Sistani’s rulings, a leftover gift is income.
• Forgetting unused goods, stock in the shop, and money lent to friends that you can get back.
• Counting the bank’s 1 Ramadan deduction as khums. It is a separate state collection.
• Giving Sahm-e-Imam to any religious cause you like. It needs the marja’s authorisation.
• Letting years pile up. The first calculation grows harder each year. Settle with the office and then keep a fixed date.

Other maraji’

This guide follows Ayatollah Sistani, the marja most followed in Pakistan. Followers of Ayatollah Khamenei and other maraji’ agree on the 20% and the two shares. They differ on details such as gifts, business capital, and how each share may be paid. Check your own marja’s published rulings or his office.

What to do now: set a reminder with our tool

1. Choose your khums date and note it down.
2. On that date, list your untaxed savings, unused items, trade stock and this year’s unpaid debts.
3. Enter them in the khums calculator to see the surplus, the total and both shares.
4. In the same calculator, enter your khums date and tap Add khums date to calendar. It downloads an .ics file with your next five yearly khums dates and an alert three days before each one.
5. Pay Sahm-e-Imam to your marja’s office or wakil and keep the receipt. Give Sahm-e-Sadat to deserving Sayyids.

One caution: the calendar file repeats the same Gregorian date every year. If your khums year follows the Hijri calendar, like 1 Muharram, the date moves about 11 days earlier each year. Either update the reminder each year, or choose a Gregorian date for your khums year.

Frequently asked questions