Must Money Be Limited to Only Gold and Silver? : A Survey of Fiqhi Opinions and Some Implications

This paper attempts to provide a survey into the issue of money in Islam. Specifically, it looks at the views of Muslim scholars (primarily past fiqh scholars), on whether money has to be limited to gold and silver or not and discusses some implications of the findings of this brief survey on present day opinions. In this connection it discusses some general points on gold and silver as money, from a historical and ‘contextual' perspective, followed by some points that are agreed upon by the majority of scholars. It also compares the views of scholars who take the position that only gold and silver can be used as money and the evidences given to support their stand with the views of those who do not limit money to only gold and silver, together with their evidences