Short answer
Yes. In the Hanafi school silver is zakatable in every form, jewellery, coins, bars and silverware, once your silver alone reaches 612.36 g (52.5 tola), or once its value added to your other zakatable wealth reaches the silver nisab. Zakat is 2.5 percent. The other three schools exempt silver jewellery worn in the normal way.
Zakat is fard on all silver owned for a lunar year at or above the nisab of 200 dirhams, given as 612.36 g in Hanafi fatwas, whether worn, stored or used. Silver is added by value to gold, cash and trade goods, and an alloy counts as silver when silver is more than half of it.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Silver jewellery worn in a permitted way carries no zakat, including a man's silver ring. Silver vessels, bars and coins are zakatable.
- Maliki
- Silver jewellery worn in a permitted way is exempt; other silver is zakatable.
- Hanbali
- Silver jewellery worn in a permitted way is exempt; other silver is zakatable.
Explanation
Silver (chandi in Urdu) is one of the two metals the Sharia treats as money in itself, so it carries zakat whatever shape it takes. The Prophet ﷺ set its nisab at five awaq, which is 200 dirhams. Hanafi fatwas in South Asia give this as 612.36 g or 52.5 tola; some other bodies use about 595 g. You can see its value today on the nisab page.
In the Hanafi school all of these count: silver jewellery, anklets and rings, including ones worn daily; silver plates, cutlery and decorative pieces; coins and bars. Sterling silver and other alloys that are more than half silver count as silver.
How to work it out:
- Weigh your silver.
- Value it at today's silver price on your zakat date.
- Add it to your cash, gold and other zakatable wealth, and subtract debts that are due.
- If the total reaches the silver nisab, pay 2.5 percent. You may also give 2.5 percent of the silver itself by weight.
Because the silver nisab is low, a person with a little silver jewellery and a modest bank balance often owes zakat in the Hanafi school (see gold or silver nisab). Silver has its own rule only when it is all you own: then it must reach 612.36 g on its own.
Aisha reported that the Prophet ﷺ saw silver rings on her and asked whether she paid their zakat. On this hadith and the general verse on gold and silver, the Hanafis include worn silver. The other schools exempt jewellery worn in the normal way but agree that hoarded silver, bars and silverware are zakatable. See also zakat on jewellery you wear.
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:34
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَحْبَارِ وَٱلرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ ﴿٣٤﴾
O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah - give them tidings of a painful punishment.
Silver kept without paying its due is condemned.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1405
Sahih... ليس فيما دون خمس أواق صدقة ...
"There is no zakat on less than five awaq of silver."
The nisab of silver is five awaq, 200 dirhams.
Sunan Abi Dawud 1565
Graded sahih... أتؤدين زكاتهن قلت لا أو ما شاء الله قال هو حسبك من النار ...
""Do you pay their zakat?" She said, "No," or what Allah willed. He said, "That is enough to take you to the Fire.""
Aisha's silver rings: the Hanafi evidence for zakat on worn silver.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the zakat of silver. No zakat below 200 dirhams; a quarter of a tenth above it; jewellery and vessels included; an alloy mostly of silver counts as silver.
- Minhaj al-Talibin, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the zakat of gold and silver. The Shafi'i exemption of permitted jewellery.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.