Islamic Economics

Islamic Economics

Analysis of the Zakat System from the Perspective of Justice (Examining the First Nisab in the Basis of Zakat)

Document Type : Original Article

Author
hojjat-allah dalvand
imam sadegh univercity
10.22034/iec.2026.2078070.2967
Abstract
The zakat system, as a tax collection system, is highly complex and contains diverse tax bases and tax rates. Since the tax system designed by the lawgiver is certainly based on justice, analyzing the zakat system from the perspective of justice is of particular importance. One of the criteria for tax justice in conventional economics is the rule of horizontal justice, which is to collect the same tax from the same people; this article shows that the first nisab in the nine bases of zakat (cash, four grains, and three gifts) is determined on the basis of justice and targets people with equal levels of wealth, which is consistent with the rule of horizontal justice.The method is as follows: first, the difference in the nature of the base of money (gold and silver coins) and livestock is examined, and with its help, the determining factor in the level of wealth of individuals is determined, and finally, the level of wealth of individuals in these two bases is calculated based on the factor determining the level of wealth.
Keywords
Analysis of the Zakat system
Tax justice
Redesigning the Zakat System