Zakat Nisab in the UAE 2026: The Dirham Value, Gold, Salary and Zakat al-Fitr

In the UAE, the Zakat nisab for cash and savings is the value of 85 grams of pure (24-karat) gold, according to the UAE Fatwa Council. There is no fixed figure in dirhams: you multiply 85 by the price of a gram of 24-karat gold on the day your Zakat is due. At 533 dirhams a gram, the price Emarat Al Youm reported on 31 August 2026, that comes to about AED 45,305. If your zakatable wealth is at or above the nisab and has been for a full lunar year, Zakat is 2.5% of it.

This guide is written for everyone who pays Zakat in the UAE, Emiratis and the many residents from South Asia, the Arab world, Southeast Asia and beyond. It covers the nisab by gold karat, the gold or silver question, Zakat on salary savings and on jewellery, and Zakat al-Fitr for 2026. We do not issue rulings: in the UAE, general fatwas are the role of the UAE Fatwa Council, and for your own situation you should ask a scholar you trust.

What is the Zakat nisab in the UAE?

The nisab is the minimum amount of wealth that makes Zakat due. In a statement on Zakat on gold, silver, cash and trade goods, reported by Al Etihad on 8 April 2024, the UAE Fatwa Council set the gold nisab at twenty shar'i dinars and said that the nisab for cash is the equivalent of 85 grams of pure gold. Because most gold sold in the UAE is not pure, the Council also gave the nisab in the karats people actually buy:

• 24 karat: 85 grams
• 22 karat: 92.73 grams
• 21 karat: 97.15 grams
• 18 karat: 113.4 grams

How much is the nisab in dirhams today?

The Council was clear that the nisab has no fixed cash value. It is set by the gold price at the time Zakat becomes due. So the calculation is always the same: 85 multiplied by today's price for a gram of 24-karat gold in dirhams.

As a dated example only: Emarat Al Youm reported 24-karat gold at 533 dirhams a gram on 31 August 2026, which puts the nisab at about AED 45,305 (85 × 533). Gold moves every day, so check the price on your own Zakat date. Jewellers, banks and the daily gold rate published in UAE newspapers all show it.

Our Zakat calculator works in US dollars. If you use it, convert your dirham totals first; the dirham has long been pegged to the dollar at about 3.67, so the conversion is easy.

Gold or silver nisab? A note for Hanafi residents

The UAE Fatwa Council states the cash nisab in gold. The silver nisab, which the Council gives as 595 grams of pure silver, is worth far less in dirhams, so more people pass it and pay Zakat. Many scholars of the Hanafi school, which a large share of residents from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan follow, advise using the silver nisab for cash because it benefits more people in need.

Neither choice is a shortcut. If your savings sit between the two thresholds, the standard you follow decides whether Zakat is due, so ask a scholar from your own school which one to use and then apply it consistently each year.

How to calculate Zakat on your salary in the UAE

Most scholars do not treat a monthly salary as zakatable the moment it arrives. What counts is the money you still hold. The simplest method, used by many salaried residents, is to choose one Zakat date in the Islamic calendar and repeat the same steps on that date every year:

• Add up your cash and every bank balance: current and savings accounts in the UAE, and any accounts in your home country.
• Add gold and silver that is zakatable for you (see the jewellery section below), shares and funds, business stock, crypto, and money owed to you that you expect to be repaid.
• Subtract debts that are due now, such as a credit card bill you must pay this month.
• Compare the total with the nisab on that day. If it is at or above the nisab, multiply by 2.5%. For example, AED 80,000 in savings means AED 2,000 of Zakat.

Gratuity, pensions and home-country assets

Expatriate finances raise questions that a simple calculator does not answer. Scholars differ on whether end-of-service gratuity that you have not yet received, or a pension you cannot access, is zakatable before you get it. They also differ on how to treat a property you are buying to rent out or to sell. These are exactly the cases to take to a scholar, rather than to a website, including this one.

What most agree on is that Zakat is calculated on your zakatable wealth as a whole, wherever it is held. Savings in Karachi, Kochi or Cairo count alongside savings in Dubai.

Zakat on gold jewellery in the UAE

The UAE Fatwa Council said there is no Zakat on gold or silver jewellery kept for wearing and adornment, which is also the position of the Maliki school traditionally followed by Emiratis. Gold bars, coins and gold bought as savings or investment are different: they are zakatable once they reach the nisab and have been held for a lunar year.

The Hanafi school takes the other view and holds that Zakat is due on jewellery as well. If you follow it, weigh your jewellery and count its pure gold content: 100 grams of 21-karat gold contain 87.5 grams of pure gold, and 100 grams of 18-karat contain 75 grams. Our guide to Zakat on gold explains the calculation and the difference of opinion in more detail.

Zakat al-Fitr in the UAE in 2026

For 2026, the UAE Fatwa Council set Zakat al-Fitr at 2.5 kilograms of rice per person, or AED 25 in cash, as reported by Al Khaleej on 8 February 2026. It set fidya, for someone who cannot fast, at AED 20 for each day missed.

Zakat al-Fitr is paid for every member of the household before the Eid prayer. Many scholars prefer that it is given where you live, so if you want to send it to Gaza, ask your scholar first and send it early. Our guide to Zakat al-Fitr covers who pays it and when.

Paying your Zakat to Gaza from the UAE

Most scholars allow Zakat to be sent to another country when the need there is greater, provided it reaches people in the eight categories named in Surah At-Tawbah (9:60). Families in Gaza are among those many donors in the UAE choose.

You have several routes. Licensed UAE organisations collect donations and send aid to Gaza; our guide to UAE organisations helping Gaza lists what each says about its work. You can also give through us: we accept crypto only (BTC, ETH or USDT), so you check your Zakat amount in dirhams in your wallet or exchange and send the equivalent from our Zakat donation page. Zakat gifts go to Zakat-eligible relief for families in Gaza, our running costs are not paid from Zakat, and our partners are checked before funds move.

We are not registered as a charity in the UAE. The UAE has laws on collecting donations and on virtual assets, so please check the rules that apply to you before giving. If you are new to crypto, read how to donate crypto to Gaza and how to send USDT on TRC-20 first. For the full picture of giving from the UAE, see donate to Gaza from the UAE, or read the Arabic version, التبرع لغزة من الإمارات.