Tag: HalalCrypto

Is a Crypto Asset Mal? Two Schools, One Answer – Part 4

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Illustration reading “Is a Crypto Asset Mal?” with “Classical Economics,” “Digital Innovation,” “MAL! Unsubstantiated Value,” “New Asset Class! Part of the Future,” “Crypto Asset,” and “Two Schools, One Answer – Part 4.”

This paper does not re-argue either view. Part 2 showed that crypto assets, in general, are mal under the Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali schools, referred to together as the Jumhur. [1] Part 3 showed the same conclusion under the Hanafi school, reached through a different structure. [2] This paper places the two findings side by side and asks one question: does the difference in structure change anything in practice? As a quick recap, the Jumhur include permissibility of benefit directly into the definition of mal, so asking whether something is mal already includes asking whether it is lawful (halal). The Hanafi school splits this into two separate steps instead. First, is it mal at all using it as a general term. Second, is it a valid or valuable asset in Shari’ah (mal mutaqawwam).

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Is a Crypto Asset Mal? The Hanafi View – Part 3

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Text reads "Is a Crypto Asset Mal? The Hanafi View — Part 3" above three men discussing an open Quran and cryptocurrency chart on a laptop.

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.

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Mufti Taqi Usmani’s Fatwa on Cryptocurrency

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Text: CRYPTO Cryptocurrency

This note does not seek to examine the various juristic definitions of māl. Rather, it argues that merely describing cryptocurrencies as digital numbers or ledger entries does not seem sufficient to exclude them from the category of māl. The same description applies to modern banking, electronic money, and numerous forms of intangible financial rights. In fact, what we call fiat currencies—such as the Pakistani Rupee or the US Dollar—have themselves largely become ledger entries. The balances held in bank accounts (including those of Islamic banks) are, in reality, digital records.

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Fiqh of Cryptos – Part 1 and Part 2

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Islamic jurisprudence and cryptocurrency symbols with digital economy elements

The most common objection to crypto assets in Shar’iah discussions is not about risk. It is not about volatility either. It is more basic than that. The objection says there is no ‘thing’ here to judge in the first place. A crypto asset, based on this view, is not property that happens to be risky. It is not property at all. It does not exist. It is only an imaginary or a fictional number in a database, created by a computation. And numbers in a database are not wealth or assets (mal).
If this premise is correct, every later question is already settled. Is a crypto asset property (mal)? Does it carry financial or economic value (maliyyah) in the Shar’iah sense? Is it a form of wealth Shar’iah recognizes (mutaqawwam)? None of these questions need to be asked if the object itself does not exist. This series of articles explores these questions in depth.

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