Skip to main content

Follow-up answers on Bitcoin - Abu Khaled al-Hejazi

Assalamualaikum, Some follow up questions regarding the bitcoin Q&A

My question on majhool is- what do you mean the source of Bitcoins in unknown. Do you mean that the mining is done by unknown entities or that the actual founders of Bitcoin (i.e. Satoshi) was anonymous?

Answer

To reiterate what we said in the QnA previously as well, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are ‘assets’ issued by an unknown (majhool) source which have no real value and no real backing and Majhool here is related to the subject of the issuing the currency.
The shari view towards the issuance of currency is that It should be issued by a centralized authority which undertakes the responsibility of issuing the currency (dirhams and dinars) i.e it is a known body and not unknown (majhool). This is one of the major problems with cyptocurrencies such as bitcoin. So Majhool is not linked to Satoshi or one particular miner, rather it is linked to the whole mining community which is an unknown entity.

Question
So what about whether bitcoin constitutes a valid asset? You mention in your ijtihad that it is a digital asset. 

It is finite etc. But the questions that come to my mind are:

1) whether or not it has 'commercial value' from a shari perspective
2) is it an asset which can be invested in (conceding that it is not a currency)?

Answer

When we say digital asset we don’t necessarily mean it has an intrinsic value. We call it as a digital asset as opposed to a real asset i.e we are calling it a virtual asset. 

For it to have any commercial value it should have an intrinsic value i.e it should be able to provide benefit to the one who holds it. Bitcoin as you know does not fulfill the conditions of what constitutes a currency nor does it provide any benefit to the one who owns it so that it be considered as an asset. There is a very interesting discussion about value of a commodity in the book economic system by Shekh Nabhani. 

So in principle from a shari perspective it doesn’t have a commercial value, this is for the one who argues that the bitcoin is a commodity and not a currency. 

And as you know dealing with any item which doesn’t has any value is considered as gharar, this is what we have discussed in our q&a as well. Let me quote,

Muslim reported in his Saheeh from abu Hurairah who said
أخرج مسلم في صحيحه عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ: «نَهَى رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنْ بَيْعِ الْحَصَاةِ، وَعَنْ بَيْعِ الْغَرَرِ»
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade Gharar transaction sand Hasah transactions "
Tirmidhi also reported a similar hadith from abu Hurairah
وأخرجه كذلك الترمذي عن أبي هريرة..."بيع الحصاة" 
وَمِنْ بُيُوعِ الْغَرَرِ بَيْعُ السَّمَكِ فِي الْمَاءِ وَبَيْعُ الْعَبْدِ الآبِقِ وَبَيْعُ الطَّيْرِ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَنَحْوُ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْبُيُوعِ ‏.‏ وَمَعْنَى بَيْعِ الْحَصَاةِ أَنْ يَقُولَ الْبَائِعُ لِلْمُشْتَرِي إِذَا نَبَذْتُ إِلَيْكَ بِالْحَصَاةِ فَقَدْ وَجَبَ الْبَيْعُ فِيمَا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ
The prophet prohibited the ‘hasah’ Transactions. The  Hasah sale is when the seller says to the buyer: 'When I toss the pebble at you, then the sale between you and I is final.' "The Gharar sale i.e (the sale of ambgious & unknown (majhool, ghayr maloom)) includes selling fish that are in the wate, selling a slave that has escaped, selling birds that are in the sky, and similar type of sales and all of these are prohibited.

I hope it clarifies

Abu Khaled al-Hejazi

Comments

Anonymous said…
Askm Sheikh,

What if crypto currencies are accepted by other nations as a valid legal tender and accepted by the majority of people. Will the Ijhtehad change based on reality or remain same?

Also could you explain how will it differ from USD when we know both (bitcoin/USD) are neither backed by dinar or dirham?

Popular posts from this blog

An advice to Muslims working in the financial sector

Assalam wa alaikum wa rahmatullah wabarakatahu, Dear Brothers & Sisters, We are saddened to see Muslims today even those who practise many of the rules of Islam are working in jobs which involve haram in the financial sector. They are working in positions which involve usurious (Riba) transactions, insurance, the stock market and the like. Even though many of the clear evidences regarding the severity of the sin of Riba are known, some have justified their job to themselves thinking that they are safe as long as they are not engaged in the actual action of taking or giving Riba. Brothers & Sisters, You should know that the majority of jobs in the financial sector, even the IT jobs in this area are haram (prohibited) as they involve the processing of prohibited contracts. If you work in this sector, do not justify your job to yourself because of the fear of losing your position or having to change your career, fear Allah as he should be feared and consider His law regard

Q&A: Age of separating children in the beds?

Question: Please explain the hukm regarding separation of children in their beds. At what age is separation an obligation upon the parents? Also can a parent sleep in the same bed as their child? Answer: 1- With regards to separating children in their beds, it is clear that the separation which is obligatory is when they reach the age of 7 and not since their birth. This is due to the hadith reported by Daarqutni and al-Hakim from the Messenger (saw) who said: When your children reach the age of 7 then separate their beds and when they reach 10 beat them if they do not pray their salah.’ This is also due to what has been narrated by al-Bazzar on the authority of Abi Rafi’ with the following wording: ‘We found in a sheet near the Messenger of Allah (saw) when he died on which the following was written: Separate the beds of the slave boys and girls and brothers and sisters of 7 years of age.’ The two hadiths are texts on the separation of children when they reach the age of 7. As for the

Q&A: Shari' rule on songs, music, singing & instruments?

The following is a draft translation from the book مسائل فقهية مختارة (Selected fiqhi [jurprudential] issues) by the Mujtahid, Sheikh Abu Iyas Mahmoud Abdul Latif al-Uweida (May Allah protect him) . Please refer to the original Arabic for exact meanings. Question: What is the Shari’ ruling in singing or listening to songs?  What is the hukm of using musical instruments and is its trade allowed? I request you to answer in detail with the evidences? Answer: The Imams ( Mujtahids ) and the jurists have differed on the issue of singing and they have varying opinions such as haraam (prohibited), Makruh (disliked) and Mubah (permissible), the ones who have prohibited it are from the ones who hold the opinion of prohibition of singing as a trade or profession, and a similar opinion has been transmitted from Imam Shafi’i, and from the ones who disliked it is Ahmad Ibn Hanbal who disliked the issue and categorised its performance under disliked acts, a similar opinion has been tran