---
title: "What is Nisab? | IslamicOpenFinance™"
description: "The minimum amount of wealth above which zakat becomes due; for money it is set by reference to gold or silver."
url: https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/nisab/
lang: en-GB
source: "IslamicOpenFinance"
---

[Glossary](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/) / [Social finance and zakat](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/#social)

Social finance and zakat

# Nisab

The minimum amount of wealth above which zakat becomes due; for money it is set by reference to gold or silver.

The nisab is the minimum threshold of wealth that makes zakat obligatory. IFSB-26 describes zakat as due on wealth exceeding a minimum amount held for one lunar year. For money and trade goods the nisab is classically measured by reference to gold or silver, so its value in currency changes with their prices, and zakat institutions publish the reference they use.

## Sources

- [IFSB-26 Core Principles for Islamic Finance Regulation (Financial Market Infrastructures), 2021: Definitions, Zakah (minimum amount)](https://www.ifsb.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IFSB-26_En.pdf)

This entry explains a term; it is not a Shariah ruling. Approving a product is for each institution's own Shariah board and regulator.

## Related terms

[**Zakat** An obligatory annual contribution on qualifying wealth above a minimum threshold, paid to specified categories of recipients.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/zakat/) [**Hawl** The full lunar year for which qualifying wealth must be held above the nisab before zakat becomes due on it.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/hawl/) [**Zakat base** The pool of qualifying wealth on which zakat is calculated, after including zakatable assets and deducting what the method allows.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/zakat-base/)

**Social finance and zakat**

1. [Zakat](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/zakat/)
2. [Waqf](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/waqf/)
3. [Sadaqah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/sadaqah/)
4. [Qard hasan](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/qard-hasan/)
5. [Zakat recipients (asnaf)](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/zakat-recipients/)
6. [Cash waqf](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/cash-waqf/)
7. [Nazir (waqf trustee)](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/nazir/)
8. [Zakat base](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/zakat-base/)

[All 221 terms](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/)