Mufti Taqi Usmani’s fatwa rules cryptocurrency purchases impermissible

• Experts’ opinions formed basis of religious ruling.
• Usmani’s son confirms authenticity of circulated fatwa.
• Buyer advised returning books purchased through crypto.
  

A fatwa issued by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, president of Wifaq-ul-Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan and Darul Uloom Karachi, stated that buying goods with cryptocurrency is not permissible under Islamic law (Shariah), The News reported.

According to the fatwa, based on the findings and opinions of experts consulted so far, cryptocurrency does not qualify as maal (property or wealth) in Sharia but is merely a record of notional numbers in an account.

Mufti Usmani said that purchasing goods through cryptocurrency is not permissible, whether the payment is made using USDT (Tether) or any other crypto token.

His son, Hassan Usmani, confirmed that the fatwa circulating on social media was authentic and had indeed been issued by Mufti Usmani.

The fatwa was issued in response to a question asking whether purchases made using cryptocurrency were valid under Islamic law. The questioner stated that he had bought two books from a person, one using a crypto token and the other using USDT (Tether), and asked whether the transactions were religiously valid and what he should do if they were not.

The questioner also sought guidance on purchasing an educational course from a person who was not authorised to sell it. According to the query, the course’s original owner had prohibited the buyer from copying, retaining or reselling the material, but the buyer had nevertheless kept a copy and started selling it to others. The questioner said he had purchased the course from that person using cryptocurrency and asked whether acquiring the course in that manner was permissible.

The query further explained that the seller created a group for buyers, added them to it after receiving payment and then shared different parts of the course through the group.

The fawa advised the citizen to return the books to the seller, as the purchase through cryptocurrency was impermissible.

Similarly, the fatwa said, the procurement of educational course was also not permissible, which also violated law. The fatwa instructed the questioner not to derive any benefit from the course, and advised him to permanently delete the course, which was stated to be in digital format.