THE GOLD AS BEING MONEY AND MERCHANDISE FROM ISLAMIC LAW PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

In this article, we examine the nature of gold as a precious metal with regard to two basic issues: the gold is both money/ribevî (subject to interest) and merchandise. In this context, the reasons for the acceptance of gold as money within the framework of the chemical properties of gold were investigated. Then, the opinions of fuqaha (Islamic lawyers) about gold were discussed. In this regard, the convictions of the fuqaha who accept gold as ribevî are divided into two: A majority of them accepted gold as money while not raising any concern regarding the use of other goods as money. On the other hand, a minor group accepted only silver and gold as money and opposed to the use of other materials as money. The relevant opinion holders make up the majority of the classical philosophical doctrine. Among those who accepted gold as merchandise, Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyimc considered only the ornaments of women, which is exempt from zakat (tax), in this class. Some of the modern-era researchers say that gold has completely lost its nature of being subject to interest today. In this article, we objectively evaluated and compared these expressed views by taking into account the evidence and the counterarguments.