When should I pay my zakat?
A once-a-year obligation for Muslims
Zakat is due once a year, provided you meet the criteria for paying. The criteria include being in possession of the nisab (minimum wealth requirement) for a full lunar year.
What this means is that there is no precise time in the calendar when all Muslims pay zakat. Instead they pay individually at different times in the course of the year, depending on the date when they reached the nisab threshold before sustaining that level of wealth for a year.
Once you have established the point in the lunar Islamic calendar (known as the Hijri calendar) when you reached the nisab wealth threshold, a year forward from that date becomes the date when your zakat is due.
That same due date then becomes your zakat anniversary when payment is due in future years – unless you fall below the wealth threshold or into debt, in which case you do not need to pay zakat that year and your due date will need to be recalculated once you reach the nisab threshold again and sustain it for a year.
The positive difference your zakat can make
CLEAN WATER
£260 provides 10 families with clean water for life*
Through drilling of a community borehole providing a plentiful supply of water from deep below ground for people and their animals
Success story
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.
