Nisab is the single number that decides whether you owe Zakat at all. Get it wrong and you either pay when you did not have to, or fail to pay when you did.
The two thresholds
Classical fiqh gives nisab in weights of precious metal, not in currency:
- Gold: 87.48 grams, sometimes stated as 20 mithqal or 7.5 tola.
- Silver: 612.36 grams, sometimes stated as 200 dirhams or 52.5 tola.
At the time these were set, the two were roughly equivalent in value. They are not today. Silver has fallen a long way against gold, so the silver nisab is now a far lower threshold in shillings.
Why does the choice matter so much?
Because it decides who pays. Using the gold threshold, only people with substantial savings owe Zakat. Using the silver threshold, many more households cross the line and become payers, and correspondingly more money reaches eligible recipients.
The majority contemporary view, including most Zakat institutions, is to use the silver threshold, on the reasoning that it is more favourable to the poor and that the purpose of the two figures was to name the same modest level of surplus wealth.
A minority hold that gold better reflects the intended standard of "wealth beyond need" in a modern economy. If you follow a scholar who holds this, follow them consistently rather than switching year to year to whichever is convenient.
How do I work out nisab in shillings?
Do this on your Zakat date, every year, because metal prices move:
- Find the current local price per gram of silver, or of gold if you use that threshold.
- Multiply by 612.36 for silver, or 87.48 for gold.
- That figure is your nisab for this year.
Jewellers in Kampala, Arua and most district towns will quote a current per-gram price. Use a buying price rather than a retail selling price, because you are valuing what the metal is worth, not what a shop charges for a finished piece.
Does nisab apply to each type of wealth separately?
No. You add your qualifying wealth together, cash plus gold plus business stock plus receivables, and compare the combined total against a single nisab. Someone with a little cash and a little gold, neither of which reaches nisab alone, may well owe Zakat once they are added.
Livestock and agricultural produce are the exception. They have their own separate thresholds and rates and are not pooled with cash.
Must I stay above nisab all year?
Yes, in principle. The lunar year runs from the day your wealth first reached nisab. If it stays at or above that level through to the same date next year, Zakat is due on the amount you hold on that date, not the average and not the lowest point.
The commonly followed position is that brief dips within the year do not reset the clock. A sustained fall below nisab does; the year begins again when you next cross it.
A practical habit
Write your nisab figure and the date you calculated it on the same sheet as your Zakat working. When someone in the family asks why the amount changed from last year, the answer is on the page.
If your situation involves business partnerships, agricultural land or inherited gold, take the specifics to a scholar. The threshold is simple; applying it to a complicated balance sheet is not always.