The Qatar Zakat Fund (صندوق الزكاة) is today the Zakat Affairs Department (إدارة شؤون الزكاة) of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, the state body that collects zakat and distributes it inside Qatar. Its site, zf.org.qa, publishes eight ways to pay, accounts at QIB, QIIB, AlRayan Bank and Dukhan Bank, a calculator that on 1 October 2026 set the cash nisab at QAR 41,097.5 from a 24-carat gold price of QAR 483.5 per gram, a fatwa desk, and an assistance application you can file and track online with a Qatar ID. In 2025 it reported zakat expenditure of QAR 335 million. Our zakat hub covers the rules; this review covers the institution and how to use it.
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What the Zakat Affairs Department is, legally
The department's own history page sets out the legal chain. The Zakat Fund was established by Law No. 8 of 1992 as a body with legal personality and financial and administrative independence, charged with collecting zakat and spending it on the Shariah-prescribed categories, and it began operating in 1995. The founding law was amended by Law No. 21 of 1994 and Law No. 11 of 1999. Law No. 12 of 2021 then regulated the receipt and disbursement of zakat funds more broadly. Emiri Decision No. 57 of 2021, which allocates ministerial competencies, placed the administration and organisation of zakat affairs with the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, and Emiri Decision No. 37 of 2022 on the ministry's organisational structure made the Zakat Affairs Department an administrative unit reporting directly to the minister.
The published competencies matter for a payer deciding whether to trust it. The department prepares the annual estimated budget of zakat revenue and expenditure, receives zakat and disburses it on the lawful categories, receives and decides applications from those entitled, promotes the obligation and answers questions about it, maintains a database of zakat recipients, and studies permit applications from legal entities that wish to receive and disburse zakat, following up their reports. That last competency is the one that governs other collectors in Qatar: under Law 12 of 2021 a charity collecting zakat does so under a permit the department oversees. Our Zakat Fund provider profile carries the house verdict that this is what government zakat infrastructure should look like, mostly, and the pages fetched for this review support it.
Every published way to pay
The collection channels page lists eight routes. You can pay at the main office in the Zakat Affairs Department building on Salwa Road at the Central Market signals, at the collection branch offices listed on the site's branch locator, by requesting the fast collection service, through collection boxes in mosques, by Visa card online through the Hukoomi government portal, through ATMs at approved banks, by bank transfer to the department's accounts, or by bank cheque. The bank accounts page publishes a current account IBAN at each of the four Islamic banks: Qatar Islamic Bank, Qatar International Islamic Bank, AlRayan Bank and Dukhan Bank. Direct online payment pages are hosted through QIB and Dukhan Bank payment gateways, and the card checkout asks only for the amount, your name, country, mobile number and email.
- Main office on Salwa Road, Central Market signals intersection, PO Box 2535 Doha, switchboard 44701600, email info@zakat.gov.qa
- Collection branch offices, searchable on the site's branch locator by name and area
- Fast collection service, requested through an online form or by phone, for payers who want the department to come to them
- Mosque collection boxes across the country
- Visa or debit card through the Hukoomi e-government gateway, or through the direct payment pages run with QIB and Dukhan Bank
- ATM payment at approved banks, bank transfer to the published IBANs at QIB, QIIB, AlRayan or Dukhan, or a bank cheque
- The department's mobile app, which according to its App Store listing by the Ministry takes credit card, NAPS debit, Apple Pay, direct transfers to the zakat accounts at Islamic banks, and fast collection requests
Zakat al-fitr can be paid online during Ramadan through a dedicated page, and the site's quick links page gathers direct payment, zakat al-fitr, the calculators, the app downloads and the collection point map on one screen. For payers who want to speak to someone before paying, the zakat payers portal lists two mobile numbers for calculation enquiries, 55188889 and 55188887, and the fatwa section lets you submit a question and follow it up by reference number. A receipt is issued for every channel except the mosque box, which is the one route we would avoid for a large payment for that reason alone.
How the department's calculator works, and what it asks for
The site runs seven calculators: zakat on money, on gold and silver, on shares held for trading, on shares held for investment, on companies, on livestock and on date palms. The money calculator displays the inputs it uses before you type anything. On 1 October 2026 at 09:20 Doha time it showed a 24-carat gold price of QAR 483.5 per gram and a cash nisab of QAR 41,097.5, which is 85 grams of gold at that price. It then applies 2.5% for a lunar (Hijri) year or 2.5775% for a solar (Gregorian) year, the latter being the department's adjustment for the eleven extra days. You enter one or more amounts, it tabulates the zakat on each, and a button adds the total to a payment cart for direct settlement.
The shares calculators are the distinctive part. The investment version is keyed to a financial year, and the department issued its bulletin of zakat ratios for QSE-listed companies for the 2025 financial year on 10 June 2026, covering 45 companies across banking, financial services, insurance, services, goods and other sectors. That bulletin is what lets a long-term shareholder pay zakat on the company's zakatable assets per share rather than on market value, and it is not something a generic calculator can provide. The company calculator has a separate training course page for finance staff. Our own zakat calculator handles cash, gold, shares and business assets in one pass and uses a live gold price, but it cannot apply the department's per-company ratios, so for a QSE portfolio use theirs.
| Calculator | Zakat Affairs Department (zf.org.qa) | HalalWallet /zakat/calculator |
|---|---|---|
| Nisab source | Department's posted gold price, QAR 483.5 per gram on 7 Oct 2026 | Live gold price feed |
| Rate | 2.5% Hijri or 2.5775% Gregorian, selectable | 2.5%, lunar year assumed |
| Shares held for dividends | Per-company ratios from the annual bulletin, 45 companies for FY2025 | Approximation by sector; no per-company ratio |
| Shares held for trading | Full market value | Full market value |
| Livestock and date palms | Dedicated calculators | Not covered |
| Pay from the result | Adds to cart and settles online | Links to this review and the payment channels |
The assistance side: who may apply and how it is tracked
The beneficiary portal offers three services: a new assistance request, a follow-up on an existing request, and a reconsideration request. A new request is filed online; the follow-up screen asks for your Qatar ID number and the file number issued when the request was registered, and returns the status. The reconsideration service covers appeals against a decision, requests to be excused from a required document, a change of beneficiary, and in-kind requests, for which the site says three price quotations must be attached. Enquiries go to the switchboard on 44701600. The site does not publish the full eligibility criteria or the document list on the pages we fetched, which means an applicant learns the requirements inside the online form; the department's stated competency to decide applications according to the Shariah categories is the governing rule.
Scale is published in the news feed. The department reported assistance of QAR 86,181,171 in the first half of 2026, more than QAR 53 million in the first quarter of 2026, and QAR 6.8 million in May 2026 reaching 2,889 entitled families inside Qatar. For 2025 it reported total zakat expenditure of QAR 335 million, and a 17% rise in revenue in the first quarter of 2026 against the prior year. The news items name the officials quoted, which is more disclosure than most zakat bodies in the region offer, though the annual reports link on the site led to an under-construction page when we checked, so a payer who wants audited accounts rather than press figures has to ask for them.
Zakat Fund versus Qatar Charity versus sending it home
A payer in Qatar has three honest choices. The Zakat Affairs Department distributes inside Qatar, issues receipts on every channel but the mosque box, and is the body the law designates. Qatar Charity is a licensed charity that also accepts zakat and runs programmes abroad as well as locally; its collection operates under the permit regime the department oversees, and we did not fetch its pages for this review, so its channels are not compared line by line here. Sending zakat home to family or a trusted collector in your country of origin is the choice many expatriates make, and our guide on whether expats in Qatar should pay zakat locally or send it home sets out the scholarly positions on transferring zakat away from the place where the wealth sits.
| Route | Receipt | Where it is spent | Convenience | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zakat Affairs Department | Yes, every channel except mosque boxes | Inside Qatar, on the Shariah categories, with published half-year totals | App, card, transfer, ATM, branch, collection visit | Residents who want state-level accountability and local distribution |
| Qatar Charity | Yes, per its own process | Qatar and international programmes | Online and branch, not compared here | Payers who want overseas beneficiaries through a licensed body |
| Sending home | Depends on the recipient | Family or community abroad | Remittance cost and timing | Expats with known need at home, subject to the transfer ruling |
One technical point favours the department for anyone holding Qatari shares or funds: its per-company zakat ratios exist nowhere else, and our guide to zakat on gratuity, shares and funds in Qatar shows how large the difference can be between paying on market value and paying on zakatable assets.
Verdict for payers and for applicants
If you are a resident whose wealth sits in Qatar, pay through the Zakat Affairs Department. Use the money calculator to confirm you are above the QAR 41,097.5 nisab posted on 1 October 2026, use the investment shares calculator with the FY2025 bulletin if you hold QSE shares, and pay by transfer to the published IBAN at your own Islamic bank or by card through the Hukoomi gateway so that a receipt exists. Avoid the mosque box for anything larger than a small sum. If you are an expatriate with dependants in genuine need at home, read the transfer ruling first and consider splitting: the local obligation through the department, the rest to known need abroad, with a receipt in both cases.
If you are applying for assistance, file online, write down the file number, and track it with your QID on the follow-up screen rather than by phone. If a document is impossible to obtain or a decision seems wrong, the reconsideration service is the published route, and in-kind requests need three quotations attached before they will be considered. Whichever side of the counter you are on, the department's switchboard is 44701600 and its address is on Salwa Road at the Central Market signals. Our complete 2026 guide to zakat in Qatar covers what counts as zakatable wealth before you reach either calculator. Facts checked against zf.org.qa, islam.gov.qa on 1 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the zakat nisab in Qatar right now?
The Zakat Affairs Department's money calculator showed a cash nisab of QAR 41,097.5 on 1 October 2026, derived from a 24-carat gold price of QAR 483.5 per gram, updated at 09:20 Doha time that day. The figure moves with the gold price, so check the calculator on the day you pay. Wealth above it is zakatable at 2.5% for a lunar year or 2.5775% for a solar year.
How do I pay zakat online in Qatar?
Three published routes: the department's direct payment pages run with QIB and Dukhan Bank, card payment through the Hukoomi e-government gateway, or the department's mobile app, which takes credit card, NAPS, Apple Pay and direct transfers. You can also transfer to the department's published current account at QIB, QIIB, AlRayan Bank or Dukhan Bank from your own banking app.
Is the Qatar Zakat Fund the same as the Zakat Affairs Department?
Yes. The Zakat Fund was created by Law No. 8 of 1992 and began work in 1995; after Law 12 of 2021 and Emiri Decisions 57 of 2021 and 37 of 2022 its functions sit with the Zakat Affairs Department, a unit of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs reporting directly to the minister. The site still uses the zf.org.qa address and the Zakat Fund name in places.
Can expats apply to the Zakat Fund for help?
The beneficiary portal accepts online applications and tracks them by Qatar ID and file number, which any resident holds, and the department's competency is to decide applications according to the Shariah categories of entitlement. The site does not publish nationality criteria on the pages we fetched, so file the request and let the department decide; its May 2026 release refers to entitled families inside Qatar without limiting them to citizens.
Does the Zakat Fund give a receipt?
Every electronic and bank channel produces a record: the card gateways email a confirmation, bank transfers show on your statement against the published IBAN, and branch and fast collection payments are receipted on the spot. Mosque collection boxes are the one channel with no receipt, which is why we recommend them only for small amounts.
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How much zakat does Qatar distribute each year?
The department reported total zakat expenditure of QAR 335 million for 2025 and QAR 86,181,171 of assistance in the first half of 2026, following more than QAR 53 million in the first quarter. In May 2026 alone it reported QAR 6.8 million reaching 2,889 entitled families inside Qatar. These are press figures from the department's news feed; the annual reports page was under construction when we checked.
