Shia (Ja’fari) Zakat Calculator

This calculator follows the rulings of Ayatollah Sistani in Islamic Laws (Taudhih al-Masa’il), one of the leading marja’s today, followed by many Shia Muslims in Pakistan, India and Iraq.

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Zakat in Ja’fari fiqh (Sistani)

• Nine items only: zakat is due on wheat, barley, dates, raisins, camels, cows, sheep, and gold and silver coins.
• Gold nisab: 20 shar’i mithqal, about 69.12 g (ruling 1912). Silver nisab: 105 common mithqal, about 483.84 g (ruling 1913).
• Currency: zakat applies only when gold or silver is minted and used in transactions as money; modern paper money and coins of other metals do not qualify (ruling 1915).
• Jewellery: not zakatable while gold and silver are not used as currency (ruling 1916).

Because of this, the calculator usually shows zero zakat for cash, bank money and jewellery in Ja’fari mode. Use the khums calculator for your yearly surplus, and read who must pay khums and what counts.

Followers of other maraji’ (for example Ayatollah Khamenei) should check their marja’s rulings, which may differ in details.

Ja’fari zakat at a glance

Item	Zakat in Ja’fari fiqh (Sistani)	Note
Wheat, barley, dates, raisins	10% if watered by rain or rivers, 5% if irrigated by pumps or carried water	Only above the nisab of about 847 kg; see the ushr calculator
Sheep and goats	1 for 40, rising in steps	Grazing freely all year, not working animals
Cows and buffaloes	1 calf for 30, rising in steps	Same conditions
Camels	1 sheep for 5, rising in steps	Same conditions
Gold and silver coins used as money	2.5%	Gold from 69.12 g, silver from 483.84 g (ruling 1913)
Paper money, bank balances, shares, crypto	No zakat	Khums applies to the year’s surplus
Jewellery	No zakat (ruling 1916)	Khums applies if bought from untaxed income and not needed
Trade goods	Zakat is recommended, not obligatory	Khums applies to profits

Why paper money carries khums, not zakat

In Ja’fari fiqh the zakat on gold and silver is tied to coins that are actually minted and used as money, which is what the dinar and dirham were. Today’s notes and bank balances are not gold or silver, so zakat does not apply to them (ruling 1915). That does not mean savings are untouched: once a year, on your khums date, 20% of what is left from the year’s income after your expenses is paid as khums. This is why the Shia calculator above usually shows zero zakat for a salaried family, and the khums calculator shows what they owe instead.

Worked example in rupees (Sistani)

Raza lives in a village near Jhang and follows Ayatollah Sistani. On his dates he has Rs 10,00,000 in the bank, of which Rs 4,00,000 is saved from this year’s income and the rest was already taxed with khums; his wife’s 6 tola of gold jewellery; two buffaloes fed at home on bought fodder; and a wheat harvest of 1,000 kg from land watered by a tube well.

• Cash and jewellery: no zakat.
• Buffaloes: no zakat; they are fewer than 30 and are not grazing animals.
• Wheat: above the nisab and irrigated, so zakat is 5% = 50 kg, or its value.
• Khums: 20% of the Rs 4,00,000 surplus = Rs 80,000, half sahm-e-imam and half sahm-e-sadat.

A Hanafi neighbour with the same wealth would pay 2.5% zakat on the cash and the jewellery, and ushr on the wheat with no minimum quantity.

Sistani, Khamenei and other maraji’

All the major Shia maraji’ limit obligatory zakat to the nine items and apply khums to the yearly surplus, so the overall picture is the same. They differ in details, such as the exact nisab weights, how the year is counted and what counts as an expense for khums. The figures on this page and in the calculator follow Ayatollah Sistani’s Islamic Laws. If you follow Ayatollah Khamenei or another marja’, check their published rulings or ask their office.

Shia account holders and the bank deduction

Pakistani banks deduct 2.5% zakat from savings accounts on 1 Ramadan. Followers of Fiqh-e-Jafaria can stop this by filing a CZ-50 declaration with each bank before Ramadan; see bank zakat deduction and CZ-50. Fitra (zakat al-fitr) at Eid is obligatory in Ja’fari fiqh too; see the fitrana calculator and follow your marja’s amount.

Using this calculator, step by step

1. Choose Shia (Ja’fari) above. Cash, bank balances and jewellery are shown with zero zakat, with a note explaining why.
2. If you own gold or silver coins that are used as money, enter them; they are checked against the Sistani nisab.
3. For crops or grazing animals, use the ushr and livestock calculator.
4. Then open the khums calculator for the surplus of your year’s income on your khums date.

The calculator gives an estimate from Ayatollah Sistani’s published rulings. For your own case, especially for khums on a business or on a house, ask your marja’s office or a trusted representative.

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