'…and those in whose wealth there is a recognised right, for the needy and deprived' (Quran | 70:24-25)
Zakat is an obligatory act of worship for every sane, adult Muslim who possesses wealth above a minimum threshold known as the Nisab.
If your wealth equals or exceeds the Nisab and has been in your possession for one full lunar year, you are required to give 2.5% of that wealth as Zakat.
Current Nisab value (12-Feb-2026)
Using value of silver – £1,188.44
Using value of gold – £10,444.75
Zakat calculator
Support displaced people and build schools, clinics, boreholes and livelihoods
Zakat with Zamzam Foundation
Through your generous Zakat donations, we are able to support:
- Poor and needy individuals and families.
- Somali refugees and displaced communities.
- Emergency aid (food, shelter, clean water).
- Clinics, schools, wells, and boreholes.
- Livelihood support to lift families out of poverty.
Sacdia Badal has a small patch of land in the Beledweyne area of Hiran. Thanks to the seeds, tools and training we provided, she is managing to grow crops to feed her family – despite the hotter, drier conditions caused by climate change.
“Before we couldn’t afford to plough our land, even when we needed it most,” she explains, taking a break from harvesting a bumper tomato crop. “But now our land has been ploughed. We received seeds, and we were given training in how to cultivate properly. This support has made a real difference.”
The positive difference your zakat can make
Zakat is more than an obligation
Zakat is far more than a financial duty. It is a means of supporting those less fortunate, sustaining communities, and restoring balance within society.
Islam teaches us that wealth is not an entitlement—it is an amanah, a trust from Allah. We are accountable for how we use it.
By giving Zakat:
- We express gratitude for Allah’s blessings
- We support the poor and vulnerable
- We purify our wealth in the sight of Allah.
For those blessed with the ability to give, Zakat should be paid willingly and with sincerity—seeking Allah’s pleasure and mercy.
Dhigan Adan Mohamed lives in Dhalandool, an overcrowded camp for displaced people in the south-central city of Baidoa.
“We were fortunate to be selected as beneficiaries of Zamzam’s housing project, which has provided us with a permanent shelter,” she says. “Before we had this house, we lived in a makeshift shelter, struggling with overcrowding and lack of privacy and exposure to the elements”
Every day is a long day for Dhigan, fetching water and preparing meals for her seven children while finding what casual work she can in the limited time in between. “With a roof over our heads, we can focus on rebuilding our lives and planning for the future,” she says.
When is Zakat due?
Zakat is due once a year, provided you meet the conditions for paying it.
There is no fixed date in the Islamic calendar for Zakat. Instead, your Zakat becomes due one lunar year from the date you first reached the Nisab.
That date then becomes your Zakat anniversary going forward.
If your circumstances change:
- If your wealth drops below the Nisab or you fall into debt, Zakat is not due that year
- Your Zakat date will reset once you reach and maintain the Nisab again for a full lunar year.
Who can receive Zakat?
Islam outlines eight categories of people eligible to receive Zakat:
- The poor
- The needy
- Administrators of Zakat
- Those whose hearts are to be reconciled
- Those in bondage
- Those in debt
- In the cause of Allah
- Travellers (including refugees and displaced people)
Our Zakat policy
Zamzam UK follows a robust Zakat policy based on the framework developed by Islamic Relief’s independent Zakat Advisory Board.
This policy was developed over several years and consulted on globally, including with Islamic Relief Somalia. We adopted and adapted it to ensure:
- Full compliance with Islamic teachings
- Clear eligibility criteria for all Zakat-funded projects
- Transparency and accountability to donors
We are committed to being open about how Zakat is collected, managed, and distributed.
Zakat FAQs
Yes, we welcome your support. If you have a heart for Somalia and its people, we sincerely hope that Zamzam Foundation UK can be an effective conduit for your Zakat to support lifesaving and life-changing programmes in Somalia all the year round, whenever you choose to pay.
In 2023 ZZF’s emergencies, livelihoods, health, education and water projects benefited 1,282,525 people. With the support of your Zakat donations, we hope to help many more Somalis through these programmes in the years to come.
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam alongside faith (shahada), salah (prayer), sawm (fasting) and hajj (pilgrimage). Muslims are expected to pay Zakat to redistribute wealth to those less fortunate if they have reached the age of puberty, are of sound mind, and have been above the qualifying wealth threshold for at least one full lunar year.
The minimum amount of wealth required, known as nisab, can be calculated in your local currency based on the equivalent cost of a certain weight of gold or silver. Those eligible to pay Zakat should give 2.5% of their surplus wealth. Check out our Zakat Calculator to work out how much you should pay.
There are eight categories of people who are eligible to receive Zakat:
- The poor
- The needy
- Administrators of Zakat
- Those who have a reconciliation of the heart (people who have embraced Islam)
- People who have been enslaved
- Those in debt
- In the cause of God
- Travellers (including refugees)
The four key categories for Zamzam in this list are numbers 1,2, 7 and 8. Through your Zakat donations to Zamzam UK we can support the poor, the needy and displaced people individually across Somalia (categories 1, 2 and 8) and also support transformative community projects that are Zakat-eligible (under category 7).
Your Zakat donations help us fund emergency interventions providing food, shelter and clean water to individuals; the building of clinics, schools and water infrastructure projects such as wells and boreholes ‘in the cause of God’; and support for individual livelihoods to lift families out of poverty.
Our donation options on this website enable you to choose between giving Sadaqah (voluntary charity) or giving Zakat. When you choose the Zakat option your donation goes into a separate Zakat fund that is used mostly to assist Zakat-eligible individuals (the poor, the needy and displaced people) but also to support Zakat-eligible community projects. Your Zakat will be spent in one or more of five programme areas – emergency response, livelihoods, water, education, or health – when you pay your Zakat to us via this website.
Zamzam Foundation UK and ZZF in Somalia will ensure between us that your Zakat is only used to fund the Zakatable elements of projects we implement using these funds. We are ourselves eligible to receive some of your Zakat as administrators of Zakat (category 3 of the eight categories of eligible Zakat recipients). Our policy is to reserve 12.5% of Zakat donations for administration.
Zamzam Foundation and Zamzam UK take our shared responsibility as collectors and distributors of Zakat very seriously. We are accountable to do so not only to our beneficiaries and our donors but also to Allah (SWT).
We have adopted the Zakat policy developed by Islamic Relief and developed our own adapted version, and we are grateful to Islamic Relief for authorising us to do so. This is a policy developed over several years by Islamic Relief’s independent Zakat Advisory Board to ensure that it is in keeping with Islamic teachings and guidance. In developing the policy Islamic Relief consulted with all its offices around the world to secure their buy-in, including Islamic Relief Somalia.
By following this policy we can ensure that your Zakat is only spent on projects that meet appropriate and specific Zakat criteria. Islamic Relief is in the process of providing specialist training to relevant Zamzam Foundation staff to ensure the policy is correctly implemented. Responsibility for correct implementation will rest solely with Zamzam Foundation and Zamzam UK staff.