Question
Is Zakat wajib on white gold? The owner does not know whether it contains more than 50% gold.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
White gold is an alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel, silver or palladium. Like yellow gold, the purity of white gold is given in karats.[i] Gold is the predominant metal.[ii]
Zakaat is Wajib on white gold.[iii]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Checked and Approved by
Mufti Nabeel Valli.
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia
[i] “Colored gold – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”, accessed 25 May 2019. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_gold#White_gold.
[ii] A common white gold formulation consists of 90 wt.% gold and 10 wt.% nickel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_gold#White_gold
[iii] بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع (2/ 17)
فَأَمَّا إذَا كَانَتْ مَغْشُوشَةً فَإِنْ كَانَ الْغَالِبُ هُوَ الْفِضَّةُ فَكَذَلِكَ؛ لِأَنَّ الْغِشَّ فِيهَا مَغْمُورٌ مُسْتَهْلَكٌ كَذَا رَوَى الْحَسَنُ عَنْ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ أَنَّ الزَّكَاةَ تَجِبُ فِي الدَّرَاهِمِ الْجِيَادِ وَالزُّيُوفِ وَالنَّبَهْرَجَةِ وَالْمُكْحُلَةِ وَالْمُزَيَّفَةِ.
قَالَ: لِأَنَّ الْغَالِبَ فِيهَا كُلِّهَا الْفِضَّةُ وَمَا تَغْلِبُ فِضَّتُهُ عَلَى غِشِّهِ يَتَنَاوَلُهُ اسْمُ الدَّرَاهِمِ مُطْلَقًا.
الفتاوى الهندية – ط. دار الفكر (1/ 179)
وَحُكْمُ الذَّهَبِ الْمَغْشُوشِ كَالْفِضَّةِ الْمَغْشُوشَةِ وَلَوْ اسْتَوَيَا فَفِيهِ اخْتِلَافٌ وَاخْتَارَ في الْخَانِيَّةِ وَالْخُلَاصَةُ الْوُجُوبَ احْتِيَاطًا كَذَا في الْبَحْرِ الرَّائِقِ