هل تعترف الشريعة بثمنية العمالت الرقمية المشفرة؟

Undoubtedly, the emergence of cryptocurrencies and their successful performance recently has imposed upon Shariah scholars the challenge of addressing related Shariah issues and providing Muslims with clear answers as to whether or not they can deal with, or invest in, these currencies. The challenge, however, is in demystifying these currencies and understanding their technicalities and economic implications, because no Shariah rule can be issued about something before having a complete and thorough understanding of its nature. Hence, it is necessary to first study the technicalities of these currencies in order to address their various Shariah issues. Cryptocurrencies involve various Shariah matters, including the very permissibility of their issuance in view of the fact that they are not backed by real valuable assets or supervised by governments or financial authorities, such that people dealing with them are vulnerable to possible fraud and manipulative fluctuations in their values. Other Shariah issues also include trading in them and whether or not they are considered as interest-bearing (ribawi) commodities such that the injunctions pertaining to interest (riba) may apply to them, as they apply to conventional currencies. In addition, they have potentially negative implications for the market, such as their use in money laundering, drugs trafficking and other illegal dealings. This paper treats the Shariah aspects of cryptocurrencies using both an Islamic jurisprudential (fiqh) approach as well as a ‘Higher Objectives of the Shariah’ (maqasid al-shariah) approach - treating their Shariah issues from a macro and philosophical perspective. It is hoped that this paper will provide solid ground for future research to build on its findings.