Is there logic in today's world that zakat is calculated based on the value of gold and silver?

[Statesman]

I find it suspicious that religious officials today say that zakat is calculated based on gold and silver. The reason is because:

In the past people traded using ordinary metal coins, silver coins, and gold coins. Metal coins held the lowest value, while gold coins held the highest.

Gold and silver jewelry in jewelry stores was regarded as a form of treasure and wealth, given that gold and silver coins were used in trade. Jewelry could be melted down and fashioned into gold and silver coins, which could then be used to purchase valuable items. Consequently, paying Zakat on gold and silver made sense and was logical at that time.

Nowadays everyone makes purchases using paper money and Bank cards. Gold and silver are therefore viewed as ordinary metals—like copper, iron, and others—with no special status. Gold and silver jewelry no longer holds the same kind of value.

Today the trade in gold and silver—and the work of goldsmiths—is often viewed with suspicion, associated with fraud and deception.

In my opinion it is illogical to calculate Zakat based on gold and silver today, since people no longer trade using gold and silver coins.

What is your opinion on this matter?

 

[Abu Muhammad 991]

I think the issue is that we sometimes try to judge religious rulings only through our personal logic. In Islam, the primary basis is not whether something fully makes sense to us, but whether Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) commanded it.

The amount of Zakat being linked to gold and silver is not merely because people once used gold and silver coins. Gold and silver have historically served as stable measures of wealth, while paper currencies rise and fall in value over time.

More importantly, a Muslim follows a ruling because it comes from revelation. Human logic can help us understand wisdom behind a ruling, but it does not determine whether the ruling is valid.

There are many acts of worship where we submit even if we do not fully grasp every wisdom. For example:

• Why are Fajr prayers 2 rak'ahs while Dhuhr is 4?
• Why do we circle the Ka'bah seven times instead of six or eight?
• Why is the sacrifice of an animal on Eid al-Adha an act of worship?

We may understand some benefits, but the foundation is obedience to Allah, not personal reasoning.

If every religious ruling depended entirely on human logic, then each person would create their own version of Islam according to what seems reasonable to them. Islam teaches us that revelation guides reason, not the other way around.

So while discussing the wisdom behind Zakat is beneficial, the real question for a believer is not "Does this fit modern logic?" but rather "What did Allah command and what was the practice taught by the Prophet ﷺ?"

 

[Statesman]

Islam is a religion of logical thinking, rational thinking. Every rule is logical, easy and understandable. Muhammad (peace be upon him) was an ordinary man like other people, and he only said what was logical. Zakat was given on gold and silver because things were bought and sold with gold and silver coins.

 

[Statesman]

I think it is logical and makes sense:

- if the item used to buy other things is paper money then it is logical that zakat is calculated on paper money

- if the item used to buy other things is gold and silver coins then it is logical that zakat is calculated on gold and silver.

What were gold and silver coins 1400 years ago are now paper money and bank cards. Then it is logical and makes sense that zakat is calculated on paper money and not on gold and silver.

 

[Abu Muhammad 991]

I think there is a difference between understanding the wisdom behind a ruling and changing the ruling itself.

In Islam, paper money is already subject to Zakat according to the vast majority of scholars. The question is not whether Zakat is paid on cash—it is. The question is how the Nisab (minimum threshold) is determined.

The Prophet ﷺ specifically fixed Nisab using gold and silver. For example:

"No Zakat is due on less than five Uqiyyah of silver."
(Sahih Muslim 979)

and:

"No Zakat is due on less than twenty dinars of gold."
(Reported in Sunan Abu Dawud and other collections)

Therefore, Muslims do not invent a new Nisab based on what seems logical to us. We use the standards established in the Sunnah and then convert them into today's currencies.

Also, paper money is not a stable measure of value. A currency can lose much of its purchasing power within a few years, while gold and silver have historically remained stores of wealth over long periods. This is one reason many scholars continue to use gold or silver as the reference for Nisab.

More importantly, Islamic rulings are based on revelation first and human reasoning second. Logic is used to understand the ruling, not to replace a ruling that has been established by the Qur'an and Sunnah.

If every generation changed acts of worship whenever circumstances changed, then someone could also ask why we still pray five times a day when modern life is different from life 1400 years ago. The answer is that acts of worship remain tied to divine guidance, not merely changing human circumstances.

So yes, we calculate Zakat on modern money, bank balances, and savings today. But the Nisab itself remains connected to the gold and silver standards that were established by the Prophet ﷺ, unless there is clear evidence to replace them.

 

[Statesman]

I think you are wrong, as are other people who share your opinion who associate nisab with gold and silver.

You are giving gold and silver a special value compared to other forms of payment.

Gold and silver are ordinary metals, just like titanium, lead, iron and other metals, nothing special.

Relevation does not exist in Islam except Quran, everything is human reasoning.

 

[Statesman]

you said: "gold and silver have historically remained stores of wealth over long periods",

gold and silver stopped being stores of wealth a long time ago, and became stores of fraud, deception and delusion.