Most people in Pakistan know the nisab as "seven and a half tola of gold or fifty-two and a half tola of silver." Zakat charities abroad quote grams instead. These are the same thresholds in different units. Once you can move between the two, you can check your own holdings without relying on someone else's rounded figure.
The two thresholds in grams and tola
The hadith set the thresholds in coins of the time. Sahih al-Bukhari 1447 says no zakat is due on less than five awaq of silver, which is 200 dirhams. Sunan Abi Dawud 1573 gives 200 dirhams of silver and 20 dinars of gold, with one-fortieth payable once a year has passed. Later scholars turned those coin weights into modern units.
Islamic Relief gives the nisab as 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver. Pakistan's Zakat and Ushr Ordinance 1980 uses 87.48 grams of gold and 612.32 grams of silver. With a tola of 11.6638038 grams, these weights come back to the familiar Pakistani figures:
| Threshold | Tola | Grams (exact conversion) | Grams as published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold nisab | 7.5 | 87.4785 g | 87.48 g (Islamic Relief and the Ordinance) |
| Silver nisab | 52.5 | 612.3497 g | 612.36 g (Islamic Relief); 612.32 g (Ordinance) |
| One tola | 1 | 11.6638 g | Bullion trade standard of 180 grains |
The small gaps in the silver figure come from rounding the tola at different points. Using 612.32 g or 612.36 g changes the rupee threshold by only a few rupees at normal silver prices. It is not a reason to delay paying.
Testing gold jewellery: weigh the piece or the pure gold?
Pakistani jewellery is usually 22 karat, which is 22 parts gold in 24. A set that weighs 8 tola on the scale contains less than 8 tola of pure gold. That difference can decide whether a person who owns only gold has reached the gold nisab. Scholars and zakat bodies take different approaches here, so the table below shows both readings rather than choosing one.
Example (illustrative prices, not today's rates): someone owns 8 tola of 22K jewellery and nothing else zakatable. Assume 24K gold at Rs 30,000 per gram and 22K at Rs 27,500 per gram (22/24 of the 24K rate).
| Step | Weigh the whole piece | Count only the pure gold |
|---|---|---|
| Weight used | 8 × 11.6638 = 93.31 g | 93.31 × 22/24 = 85.53 g |
| Compared with 87.48 g | Above the nisab | Below the nisab |
| Value of the jewellery | 93.31 g × Rs 27,500 = Rs 2,566,036.84 | Same jewellery, same value |
| Nisab entered in the calculator | 87.48 × Rs 27,500 = Rs 2,405,700 | 87.48 × Rs 30,000 = Rs 2,624,400 |
| Zakat at 2.5% | Rs 64,150.92 | Rs 0 |
Comparing weights and comparing values give the same answer as long as both sides use the same rate. Valuing the gold nisab at the 22K rate is the same as weighing the whole piece. Valuing it at the 24K rate is the same as counting only the pure gold. The Zakat Estimate Calculator takes the nisab as a rupee figure, so the rate you multiply 87.48 g by is where you apply your scholar's view.
Zakat Estimate CalculatorEnter your jewellery value and the nisab worked out at the rate your scholar's method uses, then read the threshold status before the amount.Silver on its own
Silver works the same way, at much lower rupee amounts. At an illustrative Rs 350 per gram, the silver nisab of 612.36 g is worth Rs 214,326.
Silverware and old coins are often less than pure silver too, so the same question of weighing the piece or its pure content can arise.
When you own more than one kind of asset
The gold test above applies to someone whose zakatable wealth is gold alone. Islamic Relief says the gold nisab must be used when assets are entirely gold, and the silver nisab when they are entirely silver. Pakistan's Ordinance follows the same pattern: 87.48 g of gold for a person whose assets are only gold, and the value of silver for everyone else. Once you also hold cash, savings or trade goods, the question becomes which threshold to use for the total. That choice can change the answer completely, and it has its own guide: gold or silver nisab and how the choice changes zakat.
Turning a weight into a rupee nisab you can use
- Pick the metal your method tells you to use: gold for gold-only wealth, silver for silver-only wealth, and your scholar's choice for mixed wealth.
- Get a per-gram rate for that metal on your zakat date. If your dealer quotes per tola, divide by 11.6638 to get a per-gram rate.
- Multiply: 87.48 × gold rate, or 612.36 × silver rate. Use the rate that matches your method on purity (24K or the karat of your jewellery).
- Enter that figure as the nisab, value your gold at the rate for its own karat, and keep both on the same date.
If you are not sure how a jeweller's tola price becomes a per-gram rate for 22K, reading a gold jewellery quote works through the conversion step by step.
What this guide does not settle
- Whether regularly worn jewellery is zakatable. Scholars differ, and the calculator counts whatever value you enter.
- Which price to use: a jeweller's selling rate, the buyback rate or a published market rate. Each gives a different value for the same gold.
- Gemstones, polki and enamel. These are not gold, and whether and how they count is a separate question.
- Zakat deducted at source from bank accounts. The government notifies its own rupee nisab each zakat year under the Ordinance, and exemption by declaration is a legal process outside this calculation.
The same nisab idea reappears in Fitrana: in the Hanafi view it is due from someone who owns wealth equal to the nisab beyond basic needs. See how the Fitrana amount per person is set.