Salam Reader, Most of us pay our Zakat in Ramadan. And with these last few nights upon us, many of us are thinking about it right now. There is no formal obligation to pay your Zakat al-Mal during Ramadan. Everyone’s Zakat anniversary is different, determined by when your wealth first reached the nisab threshold. Technically, your Zakat could be due in Rajab or Dhul Hijjah or any other month of the year. But most Muslims gravitate toward Ramadan anyway. Ramadan is the month when good deeds...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Salam Reader, Assalamu alaykum, During his caliphate, Uthman ibn Affan (ra) made a decision that shaped the way Muslims have calculated zakat ever since. He saw that the state tracking people’s private wealth caused hardship on the Ummah and harm to its owners. So he made a distinction. The state would collect zakat on visible wealth like livestock and crops, but the zakat on a Muslim’s private wealth (gold, silver, and trade goods) would be on the individual to calculate and pay. Since then,...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Salam Reader, I saw a lot of those year-in-review posts last week. As I scrolled through one of the carousels on Instagram, I told my wife I wasn't going to do one. She disagreed. “You have a habit of finishing something and moving on before giving it any room to breathe,” she said. She was right (but don't tell her), and by the end of this email, you'll see what I mean. So here's a quick chronological rundown, one highlight per month, of what came out of 2025. Some of these you might already...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Salam Reader, I'm in Toronto for RIS this weekend. For a while now, I've been asking Muslims a simple question: Did the Muslim community help you learn about money? Over 95% of the people I've spoken to say no. 95%! When I dig deeper, the story is almost always the same: the money conversations we do have in our communities focus on the what. Give charity. Stay away from riba. Both true, both important. But we rarely get into the how. How do we find financial clarity as Muslims? How do we...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Salam Reader, Here's what we're serving this week: 🥗 Starter: Why running finances on assumptions is a bad idea 🍔 Main Course: Black Friday, Cyber Monday and "anchoring" 🍰 Dessert: Half of livelihood, half of wisdome, and half of knowledge Starter 🥗 🔗 See the full post on Instagram Main Course 🍔 A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Khalil, a brother making $70,000 who logs into his bank and has no idea what he can actually afford. Every dollar in his account feels simultaneously spendable and...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Salam Reader, Here's what we're serving this week: 🥗 Starter: How to respond to a turbulent stock market 🍔 Main Course: Khalil's one-account problem 🍰 Dessert: Did the Prophet ﷺ save? Starter 🥗 🔗 See the full post on Instagram Main Course 🍔 Every month, $4,200 hits Khalil’s chequing account. And every month, rent comes out, as does groceries, gas, and his gym membership. He pays for occasional dinners with friends and whatever else comes up. Whenever he’s prompted to check how he’s doing, he...
6 months ago • 5 min read
Salam Reader, Here's what we're serving this week: 🥗 Starter: Money can serve or destroy you 🍔 Main Course: How Muslim couples unintentionally sidestep Islamic inheritance (even with a will). 🍰 Dessert: Ibn al-Jawzi's advice to his son Starter 🥗 🔗 See the full post on Instagram Main Course 🍔 How Muslim Couples Unintentionally Sidestep Islamic Inheritance (even with a will) When Aisha and Ibrahim bought their $500,000 Calgary home five years ago, they did what every home buyer does: went to a...
6 months ago • 6 min read
Salam Reader, Starting this week, I'm including full articles in the email itself (whenever possible) rather than making you click through to MuslimMoney.co. This is the experience I prefer as a reader, so I'm bringing it to you. Here's what we're serving this week: 🥗 Starter: How to answer the most important money question. 🍔 Main Course: Why AI will make money harder, not easier. 🍰 Dessert: When too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Starter 🥗 🔗 See the full post on Instagram Main Course...
7 months ago • 2 min read
Salam Reader, Here's what we're serving this week: 🥗 Starter: A message to every high school senior 🍔 Main Course: A new web app for financial clarity 🍰 Dessert: A quality of the servants of the Lord of Mercy Starter 🥗 🔗 See the full post on Instagram Main Course 🍔 See Where Your Money Went LastMonth LastMonth was born from my frustration working with clients who couldn’t quickly ascertain where their money went over the past month. Many households have over 100 financial transactions every...
7 months ago • 1 min read