Zakat on Silver Coated with Gilding or Overlaid with Gold Plates

Question

How should zakat be given on gilded items? For example, a piece of jewellery was made: silver underneath, and on top gilding (lit. “gold water”) was applied or a [gold] plate was overlaid. Should zakat be given by counting it with the silver or with the gold?

Answer

If a silver piece of jewellery is made and gilding is applied to it, that jewellery does not become gold; that gilding cannot be separated from it, so it is as non-existent, and zakat is due on the silver alone. If gold plates have been overlaid which can be separated, then the zakat on those plates will be by the reckoning of gold.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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