# Give Zakat > Source: World Aid Network — https://worldaidnetwork.org/zakat-calculator > Last reviewed: 2026-08-15 ## In short World Aid Network welcomes Zakat-intention gifts for poor patients who cannot pay for cataract surgery or cancer treatment in Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. Work out what you owe on zakat-calculator.org.uk. We do not issue a Shariah ruling — ask a qualified scholar. £200 typically funds one cataract operation. Work out what you owe on the Zakat Calculator UK, then fund cataract surgery or cancer treatment for patients who cannot pay. Calculate what you owe: https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/zakat-calculator Today’s Nisab: https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/zakat-nisab-2026 Pay Zakat: https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/donate World Aid Network is secular and does not issue a Shariah ruling. Ask a qualified scholar. ## At a glance - 2.5%: Usual Zakat rate on net zakatable wealth after one lunar year above the Nisab - £200: Typical partner cost of one complete cataract operation on this site - 3 countries: Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia — our charitable Objects - No cash: Hospital-direct payment for named patients who cannot pay — never cash to individuals ## How to calculate Zakat and give through World Aid Network Work out 2.5% against live Nisab on the Zakat Calculator UK, then give a Zakat-intention gift for cataract surgery or cancer treatment. Consult a scholar. World Aid Network does not issue a Shariah ruling. - Open the Zakat Calculator UK: Go to https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/zakat-calculator. That tool uses live gold and silver prices. - Enter what you own and what you owe: Include cash, metals, shares, ISAs, crypto, accessible pension and business stock. Subtract short-term debts due this year. - Check today’s Nisab: If net wealth is at or above the live Nisab and one lunar year has passed, the usual rate is 2.5% of that net amount. - Give with the intention of Zakat: Pay on https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/donate, or give by card at https://worldaidnetwork.org/donate and tell us the gift is Zakat. Typical partner cost is £200 for one cataract operation. - Ask a scholar if you need a ruling: World Aid Network is secular and does not certify Zakat eligibility. A qualified scholar should decide disputed cases. ## What is Zakat? Zakat is the obligatory annual almsgiving in Islam — one of the five pillars. The usual rate is 2.5% of net zakatable wealth held for one lunar year above the Nisab. World Aid Network is secular. We describe the duty; we do not issue a ruling. Sadaqah is voluntary charity, given at any time, in any amount. Zakat is a duty with rules about who may receive it. If you want the religious status of a gift confirmed, ask a qualified scholar or your local imam. This page is not a fatwa. The eight categories of recipient are set out in the Qur’an (9:60). World Aid Network’s medical programmes serve people who cannot pay for treatment. Whether that meets the category you intend is for you and a scholar to decide. ## Can I give Zakat to World Aid Network? Yes, you can mark a gift as Zakat-intention. We welcome Muslim donors. We fund cataract surgery and cancer treatment for patients who cannot pay, at partner hospitals in Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. We do not claim a verified Zakat product or a Shariah board ruling. Some UK charities sell a “Zakat-eligible” label with their own advisors. We will not do that. Eligibility depends on scholarly interpretation, the patient’s poverty, and how funds are paid. We pay partner hospitals against named patient lists. We never send cash to individuals. If you need a personal ruling — a complex business, a disputed school of thought, or a gift that is not medical care for the poor — skip this page and speak to a scholar. Use the Zakat Calculator UK for the arithmetic, then give where your scholar is satisfied. ## How do I calculate how much Zakat I owe? Add what you own, subtract debts due this year, check the live Nisab, then pay 2.5% if a lunar year has passed. Do that on the Zakat Calculator UK, which uses live gold and silver prices. This World Aid Network page does not calculate your liability. Most cash-only tools miss gold by weight, shares, ISAs, crypto, accessible pension and business stock. The full Zakat calculator on zakat-calculator.org.uk covers those, minus short-term debts, against today’s silver or gold Nisab. That site is operated for World Aid Network’s Zakat giving. Calculate there. Then either pay on that donate page, or give by card here and tell us the gift is Zakat. Either way, treatment is paid to partner hospitals, not as cash. - What you own — cash, gold, silver, ISAs, shares, crypto, business stock, accessible pension, at today’s value - What you owe — short-term debts due this year, not the full mortgage - Check today’s Nisab — if net wealth is at or above it, Zakat is usually due on the whole net amount - Pay 2.5% with the intention of Zakat ## What is the Nisab threshold? The Nisab is the minimum wealth at which Zakat becomes due. It is set as a weight of gold or silver, so the sterling figure moves with the metal price. Do not copy a pound amount from this page. Use today’s Nisab on zakat-calculator.org.uk. The silver weight commonly used is 612.36 grams. The gold weight commonly used is 87.48 grams. Many scholars prefer the silver Nisab because it brings more people into the duty. Schools differ. We will not pick one for you. A figure published in a blog last year is already out of date. Live metal prices are why the dedicated calculator exists. ## What can a Zakat-intention gift to World Aid Network fund? Typical partner cost on this site is £200 for one complete cataract operation. Cancer gifts fund imaging, surgery or chemotherapy for patients who cannot pay — all types of cancer, not research, not NHS care. The same pounds cannot be counted twice. If you restrict the gift to eye surgery, it pays the surgeon, intraocular lens, consumables, anaesthesia and follow-up at a partner hospital. If you restrict it to cancer, it pays treatment costs for a named patient. Unrestricted gifts are allocated inside our Objects. World Aid Network does not run clinics and does not send overseas surgical teams. Clinicians are licensed locally — PMDC in Pakistan, KKI in Indonesia, MMC in Malaysia. ## Is cataract surgery a valid use of Zakat? Many scholars treat medical care for a poor person who cannot pay as a valid use of Zakat. World Aid Network does not issue that ruling. Ask a qualified scholar. A £200 sponsorship still works as voluntary Sadaqah if you prefer not to use obligatory Zakat. Cataracts are a leading cause of preventable blindness. The operation is short. The benefit — being able to see, work and move independently — continues. That is why many donors also give the same gift as Sadaqah Jariyah. Those are different intentions. Pick one with advice if you are unsure. The dedicated Zakat site has its own eye-surgery cause page. This site’s encyclopaedia is the eye surgery programme and the Gift of Sight Appeal. Typical cost here is £200, not a lower figure used elsewhere. ## Can Zakat fund cancer treatment? The same honesty applies. Funding treatment for a patient who cannot pay is widely discussed as Zakat-eligible medical care. We do not certify it. The Cancer Emergency Appeal funds all types of cancer overseas, not research. In Pakistan that includes partner hospitals in cities such as Karachi and Islamabad. We pay the hospital. We do not hand money to the family. If your scholar is satisfied that the patient is among those who may receive Zakat, this is how the pounds move. ## How does a Zakat gift reach a patient? You give. Trustees release a restricted amount to a partner hospital. The hospital treats a named patient who cannot pay. We do not send cash. Gift Aid on UK card gifts starts when Charity Commission registration is granted (application 5290505). The dedicated Zakat site explains how Zakat can be recorded on a segregated ledger there. On worldaidnetwork.org, card checkout is already open. If you pay here, write that the gift is Zakat when you contact us, or use the Zakat donate page on zakat-calculator.org.uk so the intention is marked at checkout. Emergency relief on this site — food, water, hygiene kits and shelter — is a separate programme. Do not assume disaster kits are Zakat-eligible. Ask a scholar. This page is about medical care for people who cannot pay. ## How is Zakat different from Sadaqah? Zakat is obligatory and has rules. Sadaqah is voluntary. Sadaqah Jariyah is ongoing charity whose benefit continues. A cataract operation is often given as Sadaqah Jariyah. Use the Sadaqah eye surgery page if that is your intention. You can calculate Zakat on the Zakat Calculator UK and still give a separate Sadaqah gift here. They are not the same pot unless you decide they are. ## Does Gift Aid apply to a Zakat donation? Gift Aid is a UK tax relief on eligible donations by UK taxpayers. It is not a Shariah concept. Gift Aid on World Aid Network card gifts starts when Charity Commission registration is granted. Ask a scholar if you have a religious question about mixing tax relief with Zakat. Until registration, do not assume a 25% top-up. We will contact donors when Gift Aid becomes claimable. The registration status page carries the live legal position. ## How is this page different from the Zakat Calculator UK? zakat-calculator.org.uk is the live calculator: Nisab, gold by weight, shares, crypto, pension and pay-Zakat checkout. This page is the World Aid Network explainer: what a Zakat-intention gift can fund, how we pay hospitals, and the scholar disclaimer. Use the full Zakat calculator to get the number. Use this page to understand the programmes. Use Sadaqah eye surgery if you are giving voluntarily rather than as obligatory Zakat. Do not treat the two sites as two different liabilities. ## Which countries does a Zakat gift cover? Our Objects are Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia only. Partner hospitals there treat named patients. We do not fund NHS care in Britain and we do not run clinics. Pakistan programmes include partner hospitals in Karachi and Islamabad, among others. Indonesia and Malaysia use locally registered clinicians in the same hospital-direct model. Country detail sits on the eye surgery and cancer pages, and on the dedicated site’s where-we-work section. ## What could a gift fund? - £200 — eye surgery: One complete cataract operation; or cancer: Typical partner cost of several chemotherapy sessions - £400 — eye surgery: Two cataract operations; or cancer: A larger block of cancer treatment sessions - £1,000 — eye surgery: Five cataract operations; or cancer: A substantial cancer treatment grant for patients who cannot pay - £2,000 — eye surgery: Ten cataract operations; or cancer: A larger named-patient cancer treatment grant ## Related pages - Zakat Calculator UK — Live Nisab, gold by weight, shares, crypto and pension. https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/zakat-calculator - Today’s Nisab — Sterling threshold from live gold and silver prices. https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/zakat-nisab-2026 - Pay Zakat — Checkout on the dedicated Zakat site. https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/donate - 100% Zakat policy — How the dedicated site records Zakat ledgers. https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/100-percent-policy - Sadaqah eye surgery — Voluntary £200 cataract gift — not a Zakat ruling. https://worldaidnetwork.org/sadaqah-eye-surgery - Muslim charity & Christian charity — WAN is secular. Muslim donors are welcome. No Shariah ruling. https://worldaidnetwork.org/blog/charity-for-humanity-beyond-faith-labels - Sadaqah Jariyah — Ongoing charity whose benefit continues. https://worldaidnetwork.org/sadaqah-jariyah - Gift of Sight Appeal — Typically £200 for one cataract operation. https://worldaidnetwork.org/appeal/gift-of-sight - Cancer Emergency Appeal — Treatment for patients who cannot pay. https://worldaidnetwork.org/appeal/cancer-emergency - Eye surgery in Pakistan — Partner hospitals, including Karachi and Islamabad. https://worldaidnetwork.org/eye-surgery/pakistan - How we work — Grants to hospitals, not cash to individuals. https://worldaidnetwork.org/how-we-work - Registration status — Charity Commission application 5290505. https://worldaidnetwork.org/about/registration-status - Donate by card — Give on this site and tell us if the gift is Zakat. https://worldaidnetwork.org/donate ## Frequently asked questions ### Is World Aid Network a Muslim charity? No. It is a secular UK CIO. Muslim donors are welcome. We do not issue a Shariah ruling. The full answer is at https://worldaidnetwork.org/blog/charity-for-humanity-beyond-faith-labels. ### Can I give Zakat to World Aid Network? Yes, you can mark a gift as Zakat-intention. We fund cataract surgery and cancer treatment for patients who cannot pay, via partner hospitals. We do not issue a Shariah ruling. Ask a qualified scholar. ### How do I calculate my Zakat? Use the Zakat Calculator UK at https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/zakat-calculator. Add assets, subtract short-term debts, compare with today’s Nisab, then pay 2.5% if a lunar year has passed. This page does not calculate your liability. ### What is the Nisab in 2026? It is a weight of silver or gold, so the pound figure changes with the metal price. Use https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/zakat-nisab-2026 for today’s amount. Do not rely on a copied sterling figure. ### How much Zakat do I pay? The usual rate is 2.5% of net zakatable wealth above the Nisab after one lunar year. £1,000 of qualifying wealth is £25 of Zakat. Get the exact figure from the live calculator. ### Is cataract surgery Zakat-eligible? Many scholars accept medical care for a poor person who cannot pay. World Aid Network does not certify that. Typical partner cost here is £200 for one complete operation. Voluntary Sadaqah can fund the same surgery. ### Can Zakat fund cancer treatment? The Cancer Emergency Appeal funds treatment for patients who cannot pay — all types of cancer, not research. Ask a scholar whether that meets Zakat rules in your case. ### Does 100% of Zakat reach patients? On this site, restricted medical gifts are paid to partner hospitals for named patients, never as cash to individuals. The dedicated Zakat site sets out how it records Zakat on a segregated ledger. Gift Aid is not claimable until Charity Commission registration is granted. ### Does Gift Aid apply? Gift Aid is a UK tax relief. It starts for World Aid Network when registration is granted (application 5290505). Ask a scholar about mixing tax relief with Zakat. ### What is the difference between Zakat and Sadaqah? Zakat is obligatory and rule-bound. Sadaqah is voluntary. Sadaqah Jariyah is ongoing charity. See the Sadaqah eye surgery page if you are giving a £200 cataract gift voluntarily. ### Where does the money go? Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia only. Partner hospitals, locally licensed clinicians, named patients. We do not run clinics and we do not fund NHS care. ### Should I use this calculator or zakat-calculator.org.uk? Use zakat-calculator.org.uk to work out what you owe. Use this page to see what a Zakat-intention gift funds at World Aid Network and to read the scholar disclaimer. ## How you can help Calculate Zakat at https://zakat-calculator.org.uk/zakat-calculator or give by card at https://worldaidnetwork.org/donate --- This is general information, not medical advice, published by World Aid Network. Always consult a qualified clinician about your own health.