Zakāt, made simple.

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is a yearly act of worship where you give a small share of the wealth you have held for a full year to people who qualify to receive it. For most kinds of wealth the rate is 2.5 percent. It is not a tax, and it is not the same as charity you choose to give when you feel like it. It is a right that those in need have over wealth that sits and grows.

You pay 2.5 percent of your zakatable wealth once a full lunar year has passed and your total is at or above the nisab. If you would rather track your year using the regular solar calendar, the rate is slightly higher at 2.577 percent, because the solar year runs about eleven days longer than the lunar one.

The nisab is the smallest amount of wealth you need before Zakat becomes due. It is set at the value of 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver. Since the price of these metals moves every day, the dollar figure moves with the market. Many scholars prefer the silver value because it is lower, which means more people give and more reaches those in need. The app shows you today's nisab in your own currency and lets you choose which standard you want to follow.

Zakat is due on a Muslim who has reached the age of puberty, is of sound mind, and owns wealth at or above the nisab for a full lunar year. In the Hanafi school a child's wealth is generally not subject to Zakat. The other three schools hold that it is, and a guardian pays it on the child's behalf.

Your Zakat year begins on the day your wealth first reached the nisab. One full lunar year later, that same date becomes your Zakat day, and it repeats every year. Many people choose a day in Ramadan because it is easy to remember and the reward is greater. If your wealth falls below the nisab during the year and you follow the Shafi'i or Hanbali view, your year starts again from the next time you reach the nisab. In the Hanafi view what matters is that you hold the nisab at the start and the end of the year, even if it dipped in between. The app helps you set this date and reminds you when the day comes around.

Yes. Money in your chequing account, your savings, cash at home, and money in digital wallets all count at their full value on your Zakat day. Only what remains on that day matters, not the money that passed through your hands during the year.

Gold and silver are always zakatable when you hold them as bars, coins or investment, valued at what you would receive if you sold them today. Everyday jewellery is where the schools take different views. In the Hanafi school gold and silver jewellery is zakatable whether you wear it or store it. In the Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools jewellery kept for genuine personal use is exempt. You can pick your school in the app and it will treat your jewellery to match.

These are not zakatable, no matter how valuable they are. Your home, your car, furniture, clothing and the tools you use for daily life all sit outside of Zakat. Zakat falls on wealth that grows or is held as value, not on the things you use to live.

It depends on why you hold them. If you actively trade shares to profit from short term price moves, you pay 2.5 percent on their full market value, because you are treating them like goods for sale. If you hold them for the long term for growth or dividends, you pay only on the zakatable share of what the company owns, such as its cash, money owed to it, and inventory. A widely used estimate for this is about 25 percent of the value. That figure comes from research by Mufti Faraz Adam and a team of scholars who studied the balance sheets of large listed companies. If your fund publishes its own zakatable ratio, you can use that instead.

Yes. If it is a defined contribution plan, which covers most modern accounts such as an RRSP, a 401k, a SIPP or an IRA, Zakat is due each year on the zakatable share of what the fund holds, usually around 25 percent or the figure from your fund's factsheet. The fact that you cannot reach the money until retirement does not remove what is owed, because the wealth and its growth still belong to you. A defined benefit or final salary pension works differently. It counts as a soft claim on future income, so nothing is due on it until you actually receive it. You can choose whichever treatment matches the guidance you follow, including waiting until the money is in your hands, if that is the view you take.

A TFSA is really just a wrapper, so what matters is what sits inside it. If it holds cash, you count the full amount. If it holds shares you are keeping for the long term, you apply the same zakatable ratio you would use for any long term investment. Because the money is easy to reach, nothing about the account itself lowers what is due.

For ordinary coins and payment tokens such as Bitcoin or Ether, Zakat is due on the full value of your holding on your Zakat day, whatever your reason for holding them. For tokens that stand for something else, such as a share in a project or access to a service, the treatment follows whatever sits underneath. This is still a new area, so it is worth confirming your own situation with a scholar.

If you bought the property to resell it, it is treated like goods for trade and its full value is zakatable. If you are renting it out or holding it for the long term, the building itself is not zakatable. Only the rental income you have saved by your Zakat day counts, and you would include that with your cash.

For a business you pay Zakat on the wealth that is liquid or held for sale. That means cash, the stock and inventory you keep for customers, and money owed to you that you expect to recover. The fixed things you use to run the business, such as your premises, your equipment and your vehicles, are not zakatable.

It depends on the kind of debt. Money you lent, and payments owed to you from selling trade goods, are zakatable every year while they are outstanding. You can pay on them each year, or wait and pay for all the years at once when the money comes back to you. Softer claims, such as unpaid salary, an inheritance you have not received yet, or a settlement, are not counted until the money is actually in your hands.

You can subtract debts that are due now or within the coming year. If you have a long term loan such as a mortgage, you do not subtract the whole balance. You subtract only the payments due over the next twelve months, and only the capital part, since interest is never counted. Overdue bills and arrears can be subtracted in full. Debts that are not yet due, and any unlawful or interest based amounts, cannot be deducted.

Zakat is not taken from income as you earn it. It is calculated on what you still have on your Zakat day. Whatever remains of your salary in your accounts on that day counts, together with your other zakatable wealth. Money that arrived and was spent during the year is not counted.

A student loan does not cancel your Zakat. You may deduct the payments that are due now or within the coming year, but not the full balance of a long term loan. On the other side, someone genuinely overwhelmed by debt can qualify to receive Zakat, since people burdened by debt are one of the eight groups the Quran names.

Not to those you are already required to support, so not to your spouse, your children, or your parents. Beyond that circle, giving to an eligible relative such as a brother, sister, cousin, aunt or uncle is encouraged. It counts as Zakat and as keeping ties of kinship at the same time.

Superannuation is treated like other retirement savings. Following the approach in this app, Zakat is due each year on the zakatable portion of the fund, around 25 percent or the figure your fund reports. Some scholars hold that compulsory, locked super is not due until you can access it. If that is the guidance you follow, choose the defer option.

A final salary or defined benefit pension is not zakatable until you actually receive the money. A workplace pension or SIPP where contributions are invested is treated like other retirement savings, with Zakat each year on its zakatable portion. An ISA is only a wrapper. A cash ISA counts in full, and a stocks and shares ISA follows the same ratio as your other long term investments.

The Zakat described above is the yearly 2.5 percent on the wealth you have built up, known as Zakat al-mal. Zakat al-Fitr is separate. It is a small fixed amount given on behalf of every member of the household at the end of Ramadan, before the Eid prayer, and it is due whether or not a person has wealth. Zakat Simple calculates Zakat al-mal, the yearly Zakat on your wealth.