I Sell Gold and Diamonds. How to Calculate the Zakat I Owe?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

We have a jewellery business in which we sell gold and diamonds. How do we calculate Zakat for the inventory of the store and my wife personal jewellery and her diamonds ?

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

There are two separate considerations here:

(1) the zakat on the trade goods in your possession for your business, and (2) your wife’s personal jewellery collection.

The basis is that trade goods are zakatable. Hence, you would need to calculate and pay zakat upon the current market value of both the gold, diamonds and any other precious metals or otherwise in your possession.

Your wife, however, need only calculate the zakat on her gold as diamonds are not in and of themselves zakatable. This is contrary to silver which is inherently zakatable just like gold.

Please see: Zakat: A Comprehensive SeekersHub Reader

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.