Structural Repricing of Gold and Niṣāb Governance: Wealth Zakat Determination in Fiat-Money Economies, 2021–2025

Abstract

Gold has always been significant as a measure of wealth and monetary value in Islamic legal and economic thought. Today, in the era of fiat currency, the value of gold continues to shape the definition of wealth and financial obligations. The study in this article focuses on the structural repricing of gold from 2021 to 2025 to make observations about the determination of the wealth zakat niṣāb in the current fiat money system. It notes that the gold rush of this period should not be regarded as a regular cyclical movement. Rather, it is an economic repricing, as central banks diversified their holdings, geopolitical and inflationary risks took their toll, the interest-rate transition was nearing its end, there were de-dollarisation themes, and institutional gold buying as a store-of-value asset had surged. The results from the daily gold futures data for the period 2021-2025, obtained using a classical proxy of gold niṣāb with 85 grams, show that the gold price in monetary terms per unit of 85 grams of gold (gold niṣāb) increased from USD4,899.91 per niṣāb in 2021 to USD9,420.96 per niṣāb in 2025. The analysis indicated that the problem faced by zakat is not simply a technical issue but a conversion to the local currency. It is a question of Islamic legal governance: How to uphold the classical niṣāb, how to stabilise gold prices, how to ensure that society trusts the system, how to simplify administration, and how to implement distributive justice? The concept of Niṣāb Governance within the Structural Repricing Framework is an amalgamation of the principles of Zakah, Qawāʾid fiqhiyyah, maqāṣid al-sharīʾah and Islamic governance theory. The framework distinguishes between the fixed quantity, niṣāb (a juristic quantity), and its valuation fiat (an administrative quantity). It recommends the following prevention measures: transparency in methodology, periodicity of review, smoothing based on volatility, public disclosure, and Sharīʾah-governance oversight. The article contributes to the study of Islamic law by introducing the calculation of niṣāb in the context of ijtihad administration, rather than automated price calculation.