کرپٹو کرنسی کے جواز وعدم جواز کے متعلق اہل علم وافتا کی آرا کا تجزیاتی وتنقیدی مطالعہ

A Critical and Analytical Study of the Opinions of Shari’ah Scholars and Muftīs Regarding Permissibility and Non-Permissibility of Cryptocurrency

Abstract

In the Muslim world, there exist two opinions regarding crypto-currency. The majority of the Muslim scholars is of the opinion that crypto-currency is not Shari’ah compliant and therefore the matters related to it are impermissible and hara̅m while the other group of scholars see crypto-currency, either as an asset or a type currency, which is Shari’ah compliant with certain conditions and restrictions and therefore, according to them, the matters associated with it are permissible and hala̅l. This disagreement among scholars leads to a general hesitation among Muslim community worldwide about acquiring and dealing with crypto-currency. However, remaining isolated and unconcerned from such a contemporary, vast and ever-growing capital market is not good for the Muslims in particular and for the global economy in general. There is a persistent need of a consensus through discussion and serious consideration of the arguments presented from both sides. The paper under review is one such attempt. In this paper, the arguments presented by the proponents and opponents of crypto-currency have been analyzed in the light of Shariah principles as elaborated in fiqh al-mu’a̅mla̅t.

After introducing the subject in the first section, I discuss the opinions of economists and Sharia jurists about the characteristics of ma̅l and money along with their definitions. The third section defines the terminologies related to crypto-currency/coin/token, familiarity with which is essential for understanding the topic, followed by the different purposes of crypto-currency, kinds of crypto assets and the ways those are traded in the markets. The fourth section outlines the arguments of those scholars who question the legitimacy of the crypto-currencies followed by the arguments in the fifth section from the scholars who consider these currencies as legitimate. In the sixth section, I present a point-by-point critical and analytical discussion in the form of questions on the arguments from both sides, while the summary of the paper along with conclusive remarks are covered in last section.