Chapter on Zakah of Monetary Metals

These consist of gold and silver.

The rate due on them is one quarter of one tenth (2.5%) once the nisab has been reached. The nisab for gold, measured in mithqals, is twenty mithqals; expressed in dinars it is twenty-five and one-seventh, plus nine-tenths, of a dinar. The nisab for silver is two hundred dirhams. A single dirham equals the weight of twelve carob seeds, and one mithqal equals one dirham and three-sevenths of a dirham. Gold and silver may be combined to complete the nisab, and the owner may discharge the zakah from whichever of the two he prefers.

No zakah is required on lawful jewelry kept for personal use or for lending.

Zakah is obligatory on jewelry that is unlawful to wear, as well as on lawful jewelry set aside for hire1 or to cover expenses, provided its weight reaches a full nisab; if its market value is higher, zakah is calculated on that value.

Section

It is forbidden to adorn a mosque with gold or silver. A man is permitted to wear a silver2 ring—even if it weighs more than one mithqal—and it is preferable to wear it on the little finger3 of the left hand. Only the pommel of a sword4 may be plated, even if it is of gold,