How Najm calculates
Ruleset version 2026-10-21. Scholars differ on several of these questions. Where they do, Najm picks a default, says whose view it follows, and lets you switch where switching is simple. Nobody has reviewed these choices for Najm yet.
Informational only. Not investment advice and not a fatwa. Please confirm your zakat and purification with a scholar you trust.
Values used
| Rule | Value | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Zakat rate (lunar year) | 2.5% | National Zakat Foundation: Can a solar year be used for Zakat calculation? Paid on your zakat anniversary in the Hijri (lunar) calendar. |
| Zakat rate (Gregorian year) | 2.577% | AAOIFI Shari'ah Standards, English compilation (Nov 2017): SS 21 and SS 35 AAOIFI SS 35, 3/2/4 adjusts the rate for a Gregorian year. Some scholars reject the adjustment. |
| Long-term shares, zakatable part | 25% of value | National Zakat Foundation: Zakat on share investments, determining a proxyAAOIFI Shari'ah Standards, English compilation (Nov 2017): SS 21 and SS 35 NZF's estimate of zakatable assets per share, calibrated on UK FTSE 100 balance sheets, not Indian companies. AAOIFI SS 35, 4/2/4 permits estimating. |
| Nisab, gold | 87.48 g | Darul Uloom Deoband fatwa 1252/L=467/TL=1433 (gold nisab)National Zakat Foundation: Nisab 7.5 tola. AAOIFI and Qaradawi use 85 g. |
| Nisab, silver | 612.36 g | Darul Uloom Deoband fatwa 1167/926/D=10/1434 (612.360 g silver)Muftionline (Mufti Ebrahim Salejee): silver nisab of 612.36 gNational Zakat Foundation: Nisab 52.5 tola. AAOIFI and Qaradawi use 595 g. |
| Default impermissible-income ratio | 5% | AAOIFI Shari'ah Standards, English compilation (Nov 2017): SS 21 and SS 35 AAOIFI's 5% ceiling on impermissible income for a compliant company, used as a cautious default. |
Zakat on shares
Trading shares (bought to resell) are charged on their full market value. Sources agree on this: National Zakat Foundation: Zakat on stocks and shares; AAOIFI SS 35, 4/2/4 and 5/3/4/13.
Long-term shares have three options:
- 25% of market value (default). An estimate of the company's zakatable assets (cash, receivables, stock for sale) per share. National Zakat Foundation: Zakat on share investments, determining a proxy. It was calibrated on UK FTSE 100 companies, not Indian ones. Indian Shariah screens allow much more cash and receivables than AAOIFI's, so the real figure for an Indian company may be higher.
- Full market value. Held by Abu Zahrah, Khallaf and 'Abd al-Rahman Hasan, and preferred by Qaradawi for individuals (Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Fiqh al-Zakah vol. I (tr. Monzer Kahf)).
- Dividends received only. For when the company's zakatable assets can't be known: OIC International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Resolution 28 (zakat on shares); OIC International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Resolution 121.
Mutual funds and ETFs are treated like shares. Najm has no specific source for this.
Nisab is compared with your zakatable wealth after these rules, so under the 25% option only a quarter of a long-term holding counts towards it. This follows from what the estimate means, but no source states it directly.
Nisab
Silver is the default: 612.36 g (52.5 tola), the figure used by Darul Uloom Deoband and NZF (Darul Uloom Deoband fatwa 1167/926/D=10/1434 (612.360 g silver)). Gold is 87.48 g (7.5 tola). AAOIFI and Qaradawi use 85 g gold and 595 g silver. If gold is your only zakatable asset, the gold nisab applies (Darul Uloom Deoband fatwa 1238/966/D=11/1434 (gold-only holders use the gold nisab); National Zakat Foundation: Nisab). Najm doesn't fetch metal prices; enter today's 999 rate per gram, for example from India Bullion and Jewellers Association: daily rates.
Gold includes jewellery, following the Hanafi position. Other schools exempt jewellery worn personally; Najm has not researched that view.
The zakat year
Zakat is due when you have held at least nisab for a full lunar year. Najm uses the values you enter for your zakat date, and asks whether you held nisab a lunar year earlier (National Zakat Foundation: When to pay Zakat). If you count a Gregorian year, the rate rises to 2.577% (AAOIFI SS 35, 3/2/4; National Zakat Foundation: Can a solar year be used for Zakat calculation?); some scholars reject this adjustment.
Debts
By default only the repayments due in the next 12 months are deducted, capital only. This is the view of the Islamic Fiqh Academy India (Islamic Fiqh Academy India, 5th seminar (1992): Zakat on debts) and NZF (National Zakat Foundation: Which debts can be deducted). Some Hanafi muftis deduct the full outstanding amount; you can switch to that. Interest is never deductible.
Purification
Najm works out purification as dividends received × the company's impermissible-income ratio, following Mufti Taqi Usmani (Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Principles of Shariah Governing Islamic Investment Funds) and the Islamic Fiqh Academy India (Islamic Fiqh Academy India, 9th seminar (1996): Shares). The default ratio is 5%, AAOIFI's ceiling for a compliant company, so it errs on the side of giving more. Replace it with the company's real figure when you know it.
AAOIFI's method is different: the company's total prohibited income per share × shares held, owed by whoever holds the shares at the end of the company's financial year, whether or not a dividend was paid (AAOIFI Shari'ah Standards, English compilation (Nov 2017): SS 21 and SS 35, SS 21, 3/4/6). Najm can't calculate it because it has no company financial data. Usmani also describes purifying capital gains as "more precautious"; Najm does not include that.
Give purification money to the poor and needy without expecting reward for it. It is not zakat, and it should not go to mosques (Darul Uloom Deoband fatwa 602/620/M=5/1438 (giving away impermissible income); Islamic Fiqh Academy India, 2nd seminar (1989): Bank interest).