BITCOIN AS ISLAMIC MONEY: A QAWA’ID FIQHIYYAH ANALYSIS OF SHARIAH COMPLIANCE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14421/jiecem.2026.7.1.3044Keywords:
Legal Maxims, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Islamic MoneyAbstract
The rapid growth of Bitcoin necessitates a rigorous assessment of its permissibility within the framework of Islamic finance, which mandates that financial instruments adhere to Shariah principles. This study addresses a gap in the literature by moving beyond micro-transactional analysis to conduct a macro-level, doctrinal investigation. It evaluates Bitcoin’s properties as a potential form of money through the lens of classical Islamic legal maxims (qawa’id fiqhiyyah). The research employs a qualitative, doctrinal legal methodology, analyzing primary jurisprudential sources and secondary literature on cryptocurrency. The findings reveal that Bitcoin’s extreme price volatility constitutes excessive uncertainty (gharar fahish), invalidating its role as a stable store of value and unit of account, and thus disqualifying it as Shariah-compliant money (thamaniyyah). The study concludes that Bitcoin cannot be classified as Islamic money but rather as a speculative digital asset, providing critical insights for Islamic financial institutions and policymakers. Moreover, the pattern of cryptocurrency adoption in Muslim communities and its comparative analyses are necessary to be further investigated.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Mohammad Yahdi, Shofwah Syafira, A. Faozan Adhima
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