Calculating one's zakat step by step: a full example

The seven-step method 1. Set your zakaat date (lesson 2) and, on that day, note the prices per gram of gold and silver. 2. List your money: cash, chequing and savings accounts, foreign currencies, term deposits. 3. Add investments: TFSA, shares, funds, and, according to the position you follow, RRSPs (lessons 4 and 6). 4. Add gold and silver: coins, bars, and, according to the position you follow, worn jewellery (lesson 3). 5. Add merchandise and secure receivables (lessons 4 and 5). 6. Subtract the debts that the position you follow allows (lesson 4). 7. Compare the net total with the nisab: if it reaches it, multiply by 2.5%. The site's calculator ("Zakat" page) follows exactly this logic: boxes for cash, gold, silver, investments, business, receivables and debts; it compares with the nisab calculated from the price entered by the centre and the metal chosen, and gives the amount at 2.5%. It does not choose the position for you: it is up to you to decide what you put in each box.

A full example: Omar and Yasmine's household Fictitious prices of the day: gold $130/g, silver $1.50/g. Gold nisab: $11,050; silver nisab: $892.50. Omar and Yasmine each calculate their zakaat on their own assets (each owns what is in his or her name), but they do the calculation together. Omar: • chequing account $3,200; savings account $9,500; • TFSA in an Islamic ETF held long-term: $14,000; • $2,000 lent to a colleague, who repays regularly; • credit card: $1,100 due this month; • next twelve mortgage payments: $18,000. Yasmine: • savings account $4,800; • 22-carat jewellery that she wears: 60 g, about 55 g of pure gold; • a gold coin kept as savings: 10 g of pure gold.

Omar's calculation • Money and receivable: 3,200 + 9,500 + 2,000 = $14,700. • TFSA: total value method $14,000; zakatable portion method (30% estimate) $4,200. • Debts. Position A (debts due within the year are deducted): 1,100 + 18,000 = $19,100. Position B (only immediate debts are deducted, here the card): $1,100. Position C (nothing is deducted). • With the TFSA's total value: $28,700 before debts. – Position A: 28,700 − 19,100 = $9,600: above the silver nisab, below the gold nisab. Zakaat $240 (silver threshold) or nothing (gold threshold). – Position B: 28,700 − 1,100 = $27,600 → zakaat $690. – Position C: $28,700 → zakaat $717.50. The mortgage therefore changes the result a great deal. Many contemporary scholars do not deduct a whole year of mortgage, but only what is already due [À VÉRIFIER : avis du centre].

Yasmine's calculation • Savings $4,800; gold coin 10 × 130 = $1,300: $6,100. • Position that does not count worn jewellery: $6,100 → above the silver nisab (zakaat $152.50), below the gold nisab (nothing). • Position that counts worn jewellery: 55 × 130 = $7,150 more, giving $13,250 → above both thresholds: zakaat $331.25.

What the example shows The amounts range from almost nothing to over $1,000 for the household, depending on three choices: the threshold (gold or silver), jewellery, and the deduction of debts. These are exactly the three questions to ask the imam the first time. Once settled, the calculation in the following years takes a few minutes.

Intention and payment • Intention (niyya) is a condition: when giving (or when setting the money aside for zakaat), intend that it is your zakaat. It is not necessary to tell the recipient. • A spouse may pay for the other with his or her agreement. • One may entrust one's zakaat to the centre or to a trustworthy organisation that distributes it (wakaala): this is common in Canada. • Zakaat must be given without unjustified delay after the date, according to the majority; it is permitted to pay it early, and advance monthly payments are possible [À VÉRIFIER : présentation].

Forgotten years If you have never paid, or forgot some years: the zakaat remains due. Estimate as best you can, year by year, what you owned on your zakaat date, starting with the oldest, deducting each time the zakaat of the previous year. If you cannot know, make a cautious estimate, pay, and ask Allah's forgiveness. The imam can help you reconstruct these years.

The text: Surah At-Tawba (9), verse 71 وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ ۚ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ سَيَرْحَمُهُمُ اللَّهُ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ﴿٧١﴾

Meaning: "The believing men and believing women are allies of one another: they enjoin good, forbid evil, establish prayer, give zakaat and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those are the ones on whom Allah will have mercy. Allah is Mighty and Wise." The verse speaks of believing men and women together: each fulfils the zakaat of his or her own wealth, and each helps the other to do so.

Arabic text: Tanzil Quran Text (Simple, version 1.0.2), © 2008-2010 Tanzil.net, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence, reproduced without any change (http://tanzil.net). Each verse is on its own line, followed by its number; the basmala, which the Tanzil file places at the start of the first verse, is written on its own line.

Understanding the lesson

Explanation Calculating one's zakaat is not complicated: it is an annual review, like a tax return, but done for Allah. The real difficulty is not the arithmetic, but three interpretive choices (the threshold, jewellery, debts) that explain almost all differences in the result. The example of Omar and Yasmine also shows two principles. Each person is responsible for his or her own assets: the wife's zakaat is not owed by the husband, even though one spouse may pay for the other with his or her agreement. And zakaat is worship: without intention, it is only a gift. Finally, what has not been paid remains due. An honest and cautious estimate of past years is better than forgetting for good.

Lessons to draw from it • Take a moment every year, on the same date, to do the review with your spouse. • Use the site's calculator as a checklist, following the imam's position for each box. • Note your choices (threshold, jewellery, debts) so as to apply them the same way every year. • Form the intention when giving or setting aside the zakaat money. • Make up forgotten years with the imam's help, without waiting.

Key points to remember • Seven steps: date, money, investments, gold, merchandise and receivables, debts, nisab × 2.5%. • Three choices that change the result: gold or silver threshold, worn jewellery, deduction of debts. • Each spouse pays on his or her own assets. • Intention is a condition; no need to inform the recipient. • Forgotten years remain due: estimate and pay.

The main message Zakaat is calculated in a few simple steps; settle once with the imam the three choices that matter, then do your review sincerely every year.