In Hanafi school, saying something is not mal at all is different from saying, it is mal but unlawful. The first claim removes the thing from the law of wealth completely. The second keeps it inside that law and then restricts it. This part deals only with the first question, whether a crypto asset is mal at all. The second question, whether it is also lawful or not, is addressed in the later articles of this series.
Part 2 of this series asked whether crypto assets are property (mal) under the Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali schools. The answer, at the level of the asset class, was yes. But that left one question open: whether specific crypto assets are actually lawful in Shari’ah. That question was deferred, and this series takes it up later, alongside the Hanafi school’s own version of the same question. This part asks whether crypto assets are mal under the Hanafi school, and it needs a part of its own, because the Hanafi school does not approach the question the same way.
