Scholars agree that Zakat is due on jewelry kept as savings. But they differ in their view on jewelry kept for permissible use. As a conclusion, zakat is not due on usable jewelry if it is within reasonable limits.

Zakat on jewellery

There is no zakat on jewlery other than gold and silver.This means that there is no zakat on precious stones such as rubies or diamonds, regardless of their market value. Zakat is due only on gold and silver. ‘A woman came to see Allah’s messenger with her daughter, and the girl had two thick gold bracelets. 

This hadith is definitive on this question and is supported by another hadith in authentic anthologies.

Some scholars have discussed at length the difference of opinion among scholars on this issue, arriving at the following conclusions:

1-Zakat is payable on jewellery kept as savings or for investment. The same applies to jewellery kept for personal use if the use is forbidden, such as gold and silver plates and cutlery, or gold jewellery for men, or women’s jewellery that is clearly excessive.

2-Zakat is not payable on jewellery kept for permissible use, such as women’s jewellery – within reasonable limits – and a man’s silver ring, as it cannot grow. Moreover, it is an article of personal need, like one’s clothes and furniture.

3-The same applies to permissible jewellery owned by a woman who wears or lends it freely, or is owned by a man for his family’s use or who lends it.

4-Jewellery and other gold and silver articles that are liable to zakat pay 2.5% annually in zakat, together with the person’s other property, if any.

5-It is a condition for zakat payable on such jewellery that the jewellery is, in itself or together with the person’s other zakatable property, above the threshold of zakat, i.e. 85 grams of gold. In arriving at this figure, the value is considered, not the weight, because there is an added value for the manufacture of the jewellery.[1]