What is Most Beneficial for The Poor?

Contents

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﷽

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين

اللهم اجعلنا منهم

We begin by mentioning the Name of The One True God, Allāh, The Infinitely Caring, Eternally Compassionate. We sincerely praise and thank God to the highest extent, and ask Him to bless, protect, honor, and compliment our Prophet and Messenger Muḥammad, his family, his companions, and those that diligently follow them until the end of times. Dear God, please include us from amongst them.

Mandate of Charity (Zakāh & Ṣadaqah)

Allāh ﷻ^{^[1]} regularly commands us and teaches us to give Zakāh (mandatory charity) and Ṣadaqah (optional charity) in the Qurʾān, “يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا - Believers! Spend your wealth for the sake of Allāh!”^{^[2]} He ﷻ also says who Zakāh should go to when He says, “إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ - Zakāh can only be given to the poor, the needy, the [...]”^{^[3]}

There is a well known guiding principle in Zakāh that one should do what is “أنفع للفقراء والمساكين - What is more beneficial for the poor and needy.” This is especially clear from the Ḥanafī school,^{^[4]} and is seen in other schools as well.^{^[5]} The question arises though - as we look at the community of Los Angeles and Orange County in the year 2025 - which metric of niṣāb^{^[6]} should we use? Should it be gold or silver?

What is “Niṣāb”?

First, let us briefly explain the niṣāb of Zakāh. The Prophet ﷺ^{^[7]} said, “لَيْسَ ... فِيمَا دُونَ خَمْسِ أَوَاقٍ صَدَقَةٌ - There is no Zakāh due on less than 5 awāq (singular: ūqiyyah) of silver.”^{^[8]} Ūqiyyah refers to 40 silver coins (dirham), not to be confused with the modern currencies called dirham. Thus, we know the niṣāb of silver is 200 dirhams. So if someone has 200 silver coins, they have to pay Zakāh. There are other narrations which define the niṣāb for gold. For example, the Prophet ﷺ said, “لَيْسَ عَلَيْكَ شَىْءٌ حَتَّى يَكُونَ لَكَ عِشْرُونَ دِينَارًا - You do not pay Zakāh unless you have 20 dīnārs (gold coins).”^{^[9]}

How much must they pay? When the great companion Abū Bakr Al-Ṣiddīq (raḍiya Allāh ʿanh^{^[10]}) sent the noble companion Anas ibn Mālik (raḍiya Allāh ʿanh^{^[11]}) as a Zakāh collector to Baḥrayn, he wrote him a letter saying “هَذِهِ فَرِيضَةُ الصَّدَقَةِ الَّتِي فَرَضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَلَى الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالَّتِي أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهَا رَسُولَهُ - This is the obligatory charity (Zakāh) that the Messenger of God ﷺ^{^[12]} obligated on the Muslims and that God commanded His Messenger to enact.” At the end of that letter, the great companion Abū Bakr Al-Ṣiddīq (raḍiya Allāh ʿanh^{^[13]}) wrote, “وَفِي الرِّقَةِ رُبْعُ الْعُشْرِ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ إِلاَّ تِسْعِينَ وَمِائَةً فَلَيْسَ فِيهَا شَىْءٌ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَشَاءَ رَبُّهَا - In regards to silver, 1/40^th (meaning 2.5%) is to be paid in Zakāh. If it happens to be 190 silver coins (dirhams), then there is no Zakāh due, unless the person wants to donate.”^{^[14]} That is also mentioned in the great companion ʿUmar ibn Al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍiya Allāh ʿanh^{^[15]})’s letters detailing Zakāh, wherein he states at the end, “فِي الرِّقَةِ إِذَا بَلَغَتْ خَمْسَ أَوَاقٍ رُبُعُ الْعُشْرِ - If one has 5 ūqiyyah of silver, then 1/40^th of it is due in Zakāh.”^{^[16]} The same percentage, that is 2.5% or 1/40^th, also applies to gold. The Prophet ﷺ said, “وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكَ شَىْءٌ حَتَّى يَكُونَ لَكَ عِشْرُونَ دِينَارًا فَإِذَا كَانَ لَكَ عِشْرُونَ دِينَارًا وَحَالَ عَلَيْهَا الْحَوْلُ فَفِيهَا نِصْفُ دِينَارٍ - You do not pay Zakāh unless you have 20 dīnārs (gold coins). If you have 20 dīnārs (gold coins), and you have it for an entire lunar/hijrī year, then you have to pay 1/2 a dīnar in Zakāh (i.e., 1/40^th aka 2.5%).”^{^[17]}

From these narrations, many jurists (fuqahāʾ) view gold and silver to have a separate niṣāb. That is to say that the niṣāb for silver is 200 silver coins, and the niṣāb for gold is 20 gold coins, and that the gold is not to be compared to silver as a standard.^{^[18]} In brief, they prefer those narrations which mention that the Prophet ﷺ taught that 1/2 a dīnar (gold coin) is to be paid in Zakāh once someone owns at least 20 gold coins for a year.^{^[19]} Other scholars only looked at the narrations of silver, and would always do a conversion of the value of gold to silver.^{^[20]} These scholars who prefer to always compare the value of gold to 200 silver coins (dirhams) give preference, most likely^{^[21]}, to the numerous and stronger narrations that focus on Zakāh of wealth being based on 200 silver coins (i.e., the ḥadīth of Abū Bakr Al-Ṣiddīq and ʿUmar ibn Al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍiya Allāh ʿanhumā^{^[22]}) in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī and Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik, respectively, that came earlier).

It should be noted that, for the remainder of this discussion, we will be looking at the values of the gold and silver niṣāb because we are applying it to cash/currency (nuqūd). From the above narrations of the Prophet ﷺ, it is clear that someone who has 200 silver coins for a year must give 5 silver coins in Zakāh and someone who has either 20 miqthāl of gold (or the equivalent to 200 silver coins) must give a 1/2 miqthāl of gold in Zakāh.

As mentioned earlier, this discussion will be focused on the Muslims of Los Angeles and Orange County in the year 2025. Before we do that, we need to convert 200 silver coins and 20 mithqāls of gold into units we can easily measure. Shaykh Joe Bradford (ḥafiẓahu Allāh wa raʿāh - May God preserve him) writes on his Niṣāb Calculator, “The Niṣāb amounts [...] are derived from the following authoritative sources: For the Hanafi school, according to the Fatwa of Mufti Muhammad Shafi of Deoband, the Niṣāb is 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver. For the Shafii, Hanbali, Maliki schools, according to the Dar al-Ifta of Al-Azhar and of Jordan, the Mufti of the Federal Territory’s Office of Malaysia, and the Wizārat al-Awqāf of both Morocco and the KSA, the Niṣāb is 85.0 grams of gold or 595.0 grams of silver. This is also the standard adopted by AAOIFI.”^{^[23]} It should be noted that regardless of which weights we use, the outcome will be nearly identical.

As of 1:15 a.m. on Friday, March 21, 2025^{^[24]}:

	Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī - AAOIFI	Ḥanafī (Deoband, Mufti Shafīʿ)
Silver	$633.77	$652.16
Gold	$8277.41	$8518.64

Let’s explore some scenarios using the higher niṣāb calculation for the sake of consistency.

Zakāh due on Silver Niṣāb: $652.16 * .025 = $16.31
Zakāh due on Gold Niṣāb: $8518.64 * .025 = $212.97

Defining the Question and Its Application

Simply put, what is the question at hand, and why does it matter?

The question is as follows: should the niṣāb of Zakāh be based on (a) the value of 20 mithqāls of gold or (b) the value of 200 silver coins. In the past, this was not really an issue because 20 mithqāls of gold was equal to 200 silver coins, or only marginally different.

Why it matters: If we employ the niṣāb at the value of silver, then someone who possesses $650 for one lunar/hijrī year must not only pay Zakāh, but will not be eligible to receive Zakāh. If we employ the niṣāb at the value of gold, then someone who possesses $8,500 for one lunar/hijrī year must not only pay Zakāh, but will not be eligible to receive Zakāh.

At the end of the day, both approaches are completely valid, in their respective contexts. Scholars, zakāh givers, and zakāh recipients - we hope - will have their efforts accepted and rewarded by Allāh. It is with this background that we can try and add a layer of nuance to this discussion. We can look back and comfortably say that there are giant scholars from the tābiʿūn^{^[25]} and the leading jurists (fuqahāʾ) who held each opinion, thus we find comfort in saying there is correctness in both. Based on that, we can, perhaps, prefer one opinion over the other based on other principles we have available to us, like doing “ما هو أنفع للفقراء - what will be better for the poor”^{^[26]}.

Gold or Silver? Who is “Poor”?

Allāh has created the niṣāb to establish a baseline of ghinā (rich-ness or self-sufficiency). So what is expected from the paying of zakāh is giving someone currently in need an amount that will hopefully make them, or help them become, self-sufficient.^{^[27]} One has to ask, will giving a poor person in LA or Orange County $17 make them self-sufficient?

At the same time, no one should ever belittle any amount given for the sake of Allāh. Allāh ﷻ actually criticizes the hypocrites for doing this, “الَّذِينَ يَلْمِزُونَ الْمُطَّوِّعِينَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي الصَّدَقَاتِ وَالَّذِينَ لا يَجِدُونَ إِلا جُهْدَهُمْ فَيَسْخَرُونَ مِنْهُمْ سَخِرَ اللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ - As for those who criticize believers who donate extra for the sake of Allāh as well those believers who work just to earn a little money just so they can give it - they mock the believers for their chairty, Allāh mocks them right back, and they will have a painful punishment.”^{^[28]} The honorable companion, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (raḍiya Allāh ʿanh^{^[29]}) said that when the Muslims were told to give charity, the poor Muslims went to find physical labor jobs just so they could earn money to donate, even though it would not be a lot. When they donated, the hypocrites would say things like, “إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَنِيٌّ عَنْ صَدَقَةِ هَذَا - God does not want this measly charity of yours!” And if someone wealthy gave a large amount, the hypocrites would also comment saying, “مَا فَعَلَ هَذَا الآخَرُ إِلاَّ رِيَاءً - This other person who gave more just did it to show off!”^{^[30]}

With that being said, let us take a moment to focus on how much money a Muslim needs to have in their bank account for an entire lunar/hijrī year: either ~$650 or ~$8,500. The following is an idea about potentially conceptualizing being “poor” or “needy” in Los Angeles and Orange County from a sociological and financial perspective, and does not explicitly employ any texts from our Sharīʿah (Muslim life and legal code). “As of March 2025, the average rent in Los Angeles, CA is $2,167 per month. This is 39% higher than the national average rent price of $1,559/month, making Los Angeles one of the most expensive cities in the US. When you rent an apartment in Los Angeles, you can expect to pay about $1,709 per month for a studio, $2,167 for a one-bedroom apartment, and around $2,993 for a two-bedroom apartment.[...]”^{^[31]} “Because the average rent in Los Angeles is $2,167, you’ll want to make about $7,223 per month or $86,676 per year. The general guideline is to pay no more than 30 percent of your monthly income on rent. However, you’ll want to consider additional factors, such as your monthly bills and other expenses. [...]”^{^[32]}

Average rent by unit type for a handful of LA/OC cities^{^[33]}:

	Studio	One Bedroom	Salary to live comfortably
Los Angeles, CA	$1,709/month	$2,167/month	$86,676/year
Anaheim, CA	$1,956/month	$2,086/month	$83,436/year
Irvine, CA	$2,702/month	$2,879/month	$115,152/year
Pomona, CA	$1,586/month	$1,753/month	$70,116/year
Huntington Beach, CA	$2,198/month	$2,457/month	$97,956/year

The lowest cost of rent per month from the above list - Pomona, CA - is just about $1,600 for a studio. That is nearly 250% (2.5x) more than the silver niṣāb of ~$650. And if we assume someone makes the salary to live comfortably, ~$70,000, and then only has ~$650 in the bank account at the start and end of the lunar/hijri year, that person will have less than 1% of their yearly salary saved. Many people would consider this individual poor.

It is also crucial to note that many property managers require a security deposit to start the lease contract (if not during the application process). Generally speaking, the security deposit is 1 month’s rent (although it can be higher depending on the region). That means someone who has barely crossed the value of the silver niṣāb does not have sufficient funds to pay the security deposit, potentially opening the door for homelessness!

It must be noted that we cannot create some artificial halfway niṣāb between silver and gold.^{^[34]} We must pick either the silver, or the gold. The usual theory behind “what is best for the poor” is that more people give zakāh. If more people give, more people receive. Which is true. But in this scenario, we have to ask ourselves, is the individual living in Pomona, CA with only about a month’s worth of rent in their bank account (including any retirement accounts, stocks, etc) poor? Are they someone we can view as a faqīr or miskīn? Obviously the niṣāb is a standard measure to determine that; but if we compare someone who has $8,500 saved over a year vs $800 over a year - in LA/OC - is there a clear difference in financial stability? Then compare someone who has $800 over a year vs someone who has $600, or even $100 saved; I would think most people would see a huge difference between $8,500 vs $800 as opposed to $800 vs $600.

I cannot help but think of the companion who was intimate with his wife while fasting in Ramaḍān. He came to the Prophet ﷺ saying he has destroyed himself. The Prophet ﷺ then discussed the expiation (kaffārah) of this major violation, and asked if he could free a slave, to which he replied in the negative. Then the Prophet ﷺ asked if he could fast 2 straight months, to which he replied in the negative. Then the Prophet ﷺ asked if he could feed 60 poor people, to which he replied in the negative. Then someone brought a large basket of dates for the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ called that man and told him to donate this basket of dates to make up for (kaffārah) violating the fast. The man replied - and this is the point I am trying to make - “In all of Al-Madīnah, is there anyone poorer or more in need of these dates than me?”^{^[35]}

Principles of Ease (Taysīr) and Precaution (Iḥtiyāṭ)

Lastly, Abū Ḥanīfah (raḥimahu Allāh^{^[36]}) and his circle were proponents of “raʾy al-mubtalā” (the self-assessment of the individual in question) as opposed to defining standard measurements.^{^[37]} If Abū Ḥanīfah (raḥimahu Allāh^{^[38]}) ever did himself define quantities, then it was for the purpose of ease (taysīr), and was often limited to employing only the amount mentioned by Allāh or the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ out of precaution (iḥtiyāṭ). In the case of zakāh, Abū Ḥanīfah (raḥimahu Allāh^{^[39]}) and his circle went with the hard and fast standard given by Allāh and the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: that of the niṣāb of 200 dirhams (or 20 mithqāls of gold). If someone has it (after debts have been accounted for), they are considered “wealthy” and must pay zakāh. If someone does not have the niṣāb, then they are not required to pay. That is clear and agreed upon. But how does one decide who receives zakāh? Allāh ﷻ gives us the categories of those can receive zakāh, but did not detail the conditions to be included within that category. Allāh ﷻ says, “إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ - Zakāh can only be given to the poor, the needy, the [...]”^{^[40]} Allāh did not define fuqarāʾ or masākin by mentioning an amount of gold, silver, or the number of animals they need to own. Thus, many jurists left this as a flexible category that will differ by time and place and is subject to the judgment of those in charge of collecting and receiving Zakāh. However, Abū Ḥanīfah (raḥimahu Allāh^{^[41]}) and his circle, out of both ease (taysīr) and precaution (iḥtiyāṭ) employed that same metric of “richness” (ghinā) - that of the niṣāb - to determine not only who does pay and does not pay, but also to determine who is eligible to receive Zakāh.^{^[42]} Thus, ease (taysīr) is a guiding principle in the Ḥanafī School when it comes to Zakāh.^{^[43]} Thus, if someone does not reach the niṣāb, nor do their extra possessions^{^[44]} reach niṣāb ḥirmān al-zakāh (which is based on the niṣāb)^{^[45]}, they qualify as a zakāh recipient.

Conclusion

In summary, sticking to the theme of both ease (taysīr) and precaution (iḥtiyāṭ), perhaps we can keep the Gold Niṣāb as the standard for determining Zakāh-Giving Eligibility in LA and Orange County. Thus, someone who HAS the silver niṣāb, but NOT the gold niṣāb, is NOT required to pay Zakāh (i.e., it is not farḍ or wājib on them). This is also the conclusion and fatwā^{^[46]} given by the American Fiqh Academy^{^[47]}.^{^[48]}

Note: This does not mean someone who has met the silver niṣāb but not the gold niṣāb cannot give charity. At the end of the letter of the great companion Abū Bakr Al-Ṣiddīq (raḍiya Allāh ʿanh^{^[49]}), he wrote, “فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ إِلاَّ تِسْعِينَ وَمِائَةً فَلَيْسَ فِيهَا شَىْءٌ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَشَاءَ رَبُّهَا - If it happens to be 190 silver coins (dirhams), then there is Zakāh due, unless the person wants to donate.”^{^[50]} Thus, there is no question that someone who does not even meet the silver niṣāb is totally allowed to give charity (ṣadaqah).
Note: As mentioned earlier, if someone has 200 silver coins (or 85/88 grams of silver) for a lunar/hijrī year, then Zakāh must be paid on that silver amount, because that is a clear cut and unchanging standard set by the Prophet ﷺ as seen in the earlier narrations.^{^[51]}

If we were to provide a more nuanced answer, we can, based on the conclusion above, employ the gold niṣāb as the default standard and then combine it with the self-assessment of the individual in question (raʾy al-mubtalā). In simple terms, a person will ask his or herself if they are in need of Zakāh if they have crossed the silver niṣāb but have not crossed the gold niṣāb. Examples:

A 15 year old girl who lives with her parents, both of whom have the gold niṣāb, has just reached the silver niṣāb. She plans on living as a dependent of her parents until she gets married. Her parents are probably going to cover all of her expenses and university tuition during that time. — Her self-assessment will probably lead her to the conclusion that she is not from the category of the poor and needy (fuqarāʾ and/or masākīn), and decides to pay Zakāh. — In this scenario, it is likely her parents will pay Zakāh on her behalf.
A 20 year old man who was gifted a 1oz gold coin by his now deceased grandmother. He works part time to pay college tuition, and tries to keep ~$500 in his bank account at all times. He has reached the silver niṣāb (mainly due to the gold coin) but not the gold niṣāb. His self-assessment will probably lead him to the conclusion that he is not required to (wujūb) give Zakāh.
A 43 year old mother of 4 children and is recently divorced. She has reached the silver niṣāb but not the gold niṣāb. She is the sole caretaker of her 4 children, ranging from 6 - 16 years of age. She lives paycheck to paycheck, and any out of the blue expense will likely put her into debt. Her self-assessment will probably lead her to the conclusion that she is in need of Zakāh.
A 75 year old father of 3 has reached the silver niṣāb but not the gold niṣāb. He lives with his oldest child who has fully undertaken all of the father’s expenses. His self-assessment will probably lead him to the conclusion that he is not from the category of the poor and needy (fuqarāʾ and/or masākīn), and decides to pay Zakāh. — In this scenario, it is likely his eldest child will pay Zakāh on behalf of his father.

Allāh knows best.

Checked and approved by Shaykh Mawlāna Dr. Abū Zaynab Furhan ibn Mazhar Zubairi (ḥafiẓahu Allāh wa raʿāh - May God preserve him and lovingly look after him [as well as his family, teachers, and students])

اللهم فهمنا

ربنا زدنا علما

اللهم فقهنا في الدين وعلمنا التأويل

اللهم معلم آدم وإبراهيم ومحمد علمنا مما علمتهم

اللهم ارزقنا علما نافعا وحكمة بالغة

اللهم افتح علينا فتوح العارفين

يا فتاح يا عليم

اللهم صل وسلم على نبيك المصطفى الكريم