Zakah on gold jewelry worn by women

22-4-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

I have 250 gm of gold jewelry which my daughter and I wear. How much Zakah must be paid on it? Sometimes my husband pays it.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds.  I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is no common view concerning Zakah [obligatory charity] payable on the jewelry worn by women. Some scholars believe that it is obligatory; others believe it is not. But it is safer to give the Zakah on this kind of jewelry in accordance with many Hadeeths that hold this view. For example, a woman once came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam accompanied by her daughter who had two thick golden bracelets around her wrist. He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked: “Do you give the Zakah of this?” She replied, “No” He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Would you be pleased that Almighty Allaah puts two fences of Hell around you on the Day of Judgement?” [An-Nasaa’i and Abu-Daawood] In another Hadeeth narrated from Umm Salamah she said, “I was wearing some shining golden jewelry and I said to the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ‘Is this a treasure?’ He said: ‘Anything that reaches the amount in which the Zakah is due, and Zakah is paid on it, is no longer a treasure.’” [Abu-Daawood]

Allaah Knows best.