Now cryptocurrency has been declared halal as ts permissible under Saria Law. A London mosque is the first mosque in the entire world who has accepted a donation in the form of cryptocurrency. It’s The Shacklewell Lane Mosque in Hackney which announces that it is hoping to raise at least 10000 euros in cryptocurrency in Ramadan. Ramadan is a considered a blessed month for the Muslims. Muslims are asked to give away 2.5% of their wealth during the month of Ramadan as zakat. they allowed two cryptocurrencies which were bitcoin and Ethereum.
“We are trying to appeal to a wider audience with the new money. Its big in the Islamic world and we have set up a platform for wealthier Muslims outside our community to support and donate to our mosque.” ,” Erkin Guney, the chairman of the board of trustees, told The Hackney Gazette.
The Research
Last month, Muhamad Abu Bakar of Blossom Finance in Indonesia researched about the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to determine if they fit with Islam’s strict definition of earning and money. One of the members of Blossom Finance said: several recent fatwah issued by prominent Muslim scholars offered incomplete or contradictory opinions on the topic,” said Matthew Martin who is the CEO of Blossom Finance.
He also stated that “With all the confusion out there, we wanted to offer clear guidance supported by solid research that benefits both laypeople and practitioners of Islamic finance.”
Bitcoin is Permissible
His study concluded that bitcoin is permissible in principle as it is accepted as it has become one of the important means of payments and is accepted by a wide variety of global merchants. This is a great news for Muslims all overall the world as bitcoin was considered Haram before. Now Muslims can be a part of the crypto-world without any worries about religious restrictions.
Bitcoin Wallet
The bitcoin wallet address used by the mosque received only one donation worth over 100 euros at today’s prices. Not much but definitely it has taken a start for something good. And we are surely more people will donate more when they will learn about it. The Members of the mosque are hopeful that they will receive a lot of donations soon. Gurmit Singh, the founder of Blockchain startup Combo Innovation who helped advise the mosque on setting up the bitcoin wallet, is also hopeful for more donations.
Mr. Singh also stated that “If Muslims, who make up a quarter of the world’s population, hold just 1 percent of bitcoin – or £1.04 billion – then £26 million in Zakat contributions is due. It is likely the actual figure is much higher. Currently, hardly any mosques or Islamic charities accept Zakat in cryptocurrency. They are potentially losing out on millions of pounds.”
