Charity Project PK spends your Zakat donations in the most effective way possible to relieve the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people.
We spend the funds on the first category of Zakat – the poor and needy. We take the responsibility of delivering your donations very seriously. We know that we are accountable to you, to the people we serve, and, ultimately, to Allah.
An independent Zakat Advisory Board, made up of a group of respected scholars, has ratified our Zakat policy, and continues to provide advice to ensure our Zakat policy is Shari’ah-compliant.
We are one of only five UK based charities with HQAI (The Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative ) accreditation. The HQAI are an independent and objective assurance body, which examines how we use your donations in detail every year, and makes sure they are being used as effectively as possible.
We don’t say that we have a ‘100% donation policy’. The truth is, it costs every single charity money to deliver relief- and we think you’d prefer us to be real about it.
Find out more about reasons you can trust Charity Project PK with your donations here, as well as how we spend your donations.
Mohamed Hamza, Charity Project PK Aid Worker.
Zakat (zakaat, zakah), or almsgiving, is one of the five pillars of Islam. This means that Zakat is mandatory for Muslims, along with the other four sacred pillars of prayer (salah), fasting (sawm), pilgrimage (Hajj) and belief in Allah and His Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) (shahadah). For every sane, adult Muslim who owns wealth over a certain amount – known as the Nisab – he or she must pay 2.5% of that wealth as Zakat.
Qur’an 70:24-5
Eligible Muslims pay Zakat once a year, and it is due as soon as one lunar (Islamic) year has passed since meeting or exceeding the Nisab (certain amount of wealth). The Zakat of every Muslim is then distributed to those who meet the criteria to receive it. At Charity Project PK, your Zakat is distributed with the utmost care to ensure that the most vulnerable, including children, those affected by war, disease and climate disasters, have access to the help that they need.
You can use our Zakat Calculator to find out if you’re eligible to pay Zakat.
The Nisab is the minimum amount of wealth a Muslim must possess before they become liable to pay Zakat. This amount is often referred to as the Nisab threshold.
Gold and silver are the two values used to calculate the Nisab threshold. The Nisab is the value of 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of silver.
Current Nisab value (1 December 2023)
Zakat is not just a fundamental pillar of Islam, it is also a revolutionary concept which can end extreme poverty – that is the power of Zakat!
Qur’an 2:110
It is also a right that the poor have over us.
“Those in whose wealth there is a recognised right for the needy and the poor.”(Qur’an 70:24-25)
Picture this: if just the ten richest people in the world paid Zakat – that would be a staggering £7.7 billion! The power of that money in tackling poverty would be huge.
When you give Zakat to Charity Project PK, your donation is used in the most effective way possible to relieve the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people.
Your Zakat has funded some of our crucial work with people and communities living in disaster and war zones: drought and famine-struck countries across East Africa and communities affected by conflict in Syria. Your generosity has enabled communities to build sustainable livelihoods in the face of climate change, and enabled better lives for vulnerable orphans and families across the globe.
Alhamdulillah, you have the power to transform people’s lives.
Give your zakat today!
Fitrana is a donation often in the form of food that is given before Eid prayer, therefore it must be given before the end of Ramadan. Fitrana must be given by every self-supporting Muslim who has food in excess of their needs, on behalf of themselves and their dependants.
Your Zakat donation should amount to 2.5% of your total zakatable wealth. Therefore, if your total assets (after any debts owed) amounted to £10,000, you would pay £250. Use our free and easy Zakat Calculator to calculate how much you owe.
Please note that for any specific queries, it is advisable to contact your local imam. You can also call our office on 020 7593 3232.
During Ramadan, Charity Project PK has a scholar available to issue specific guidance.
Here’s a list of Frequently Asked Questions that you can use for further guidance:
No, zakat is only prescribed for Muslims.
There are eight categories of people who are eligible to receive Zakat.
A poor person is someone whose property, in excess of his basic requirements, does not reach the nisab threshold. The recipient must not belong to your immediate family, therefore; your spouse, children, parents and grandparents cannot receive your zakat. Other relatives, however, can receive your zakat.
For every year that you owe Zakat, take 2.5% from the total wealth you had at the end of that year and pay that in Zakat. If you are not sure how much wealth you had, you must estimate it to the best of your ability. E.g. It is now Ramadan 2022. You have not paid Zakat for the last 5 years. You need to work out how much wealth you owned every Ramadan for the last 5 years and pay 2.5% of that.
You must pay zakat with the intention of paying it. Therefore, it is important that you make an intention to give a donation as a zakat payment.
It is to be paid on the total savings regardless of what was paid on it in the past. Therefore, you would pay 2.5% of £10,000, £250.
The majority of the scholars from the past favoured the opinion that it should be paid. This is the same for both the child and the insane person. Therefore, their guardian should take the Zakat from the person’s wealth and pay it on their behalf. However, some opinion suggest that it is not due on children and insane people, so please discuss with a scholar.
The best way for you to do this would be to take the jewellery to a jeweller and ask them to value just the gold and silver parts of the jewellery. The valuations they give will be the total on which you have to pay Zakat. Precious stones are not liable for Zakat.
Yes, as it is as if s/he is just storing your money.
If the money is paid back, then it is liable for Zakat (provided the lender meet other criteria for paying Zakat). However, if the money is not paid back, then the intention for lending would need to be reviewed. If the lender was fairly sure that s/he was not going to receive it back and s/he is unable to refer it to a judiciary, then in such cases it is usually not payable. However, there are many variables and hence this question should be referred to a scholar.
The general answer would be yes, however we would strongly urge you to consult a scholar about this.
For the time that you were renting the house out and did not have the intention of selling, you do not pay Zakat on the house. But you would still have to pay it on the rent you earned just like any other wealth you have. You must include it in Zakatable assets from the day you made the intention to sell the house. You must also pay it on the selling price of the house. However, if you are paying in advance, you would need to estimate this. You would need to do the same for every year after that in which the house is still for sale. But to be absolutely clear, please discuss this with a scholar.
Every year at the time of paying Zakat, you would need to calculate the total bulk selling price for all the goods for sale in your shop. E.g. All the clothes for sale in your shop add up to a total selling value of a particular sum of money. You would add this to your other zakatable wealth when calculating your total payment.
We have a zakat policy which has been reviewed by scholars and is available on our website.
You can also watch this YouTube video series where scholars answer FAQs.
We ensure our content is reviewed and verified by qualified scholars to provide you with the most accurate information. This webpage was last reviewed by Mufti Billal Omarjee.
Page last reviewed: 11 March 2023
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