Shacklewell Lane Mosque in London will go in the record as the first mosque in the British history to accept cryptocurrency form of donation during Ramadan. CCN.com extensively interviewed the mosque’s advisor Zayd al Khair, the mosque’s chairperson Gurney Erkin and finally Gurmit Singh, the founder of Combo Innovations- the company responsible for handling the transaction process. In his interview, Singh revealed that he advised the mosque of the wide-ranging benefits it could get from accepting crypto-based donations given zakat is compulsory for Muslims worldwide most of whom use cryptocurrencies.
“There were a number of mosques overseas that also broadcasted their acceptance of cryptocurrencies for alms-giving. It seems we may be the first in Britain to go that road” said Guney. Gurmit. Singh stepped in to advise the mosque free of charge after local banks failed to find their stand on the matter.
Singh perspective
Singh goes ahead to elaborate what constitutes money in the Muslim faith. A recent publication by a Muslim scholar (Mufti Abu Bakar Muhammad) declared that Bitcoin is compliant with sharia law. His term paper is arguably the reason behind the $1000 price as well as opening the market to Muslim investors who were previously uncertain on whether or not the cryptocurrency qualified to be termed as money according to the strict definitions offered by scholars.
In the Islam faith, commodities with an essential value such as silver, salt, and gold are regarded as currency. The gold standard, therefore, allows for gold-backed currencies (blockchain for instance) to be sharia-compliant.
Singh further submitted that from a financial point of view, the principles which surround an Islamic based blockchain economy can help steer it to the 21st century. The blockchain-based transactions will allow for global penetration accessing everyone including those with limited access to the old-system financing but have smartphones with them. The acceptance and implementation of this new system are set to revolutionize the way the mosque carries out its operations moving forward.
Resolution
In the end, the mosque’s leadership acknowledged that cryptocurrencies can be used as a viable means of alms-donations and consequently added Ethereum and bitcoin addresses to its website for Sadaqah and Zakat offerings. “The offering will be used to feed the poor in our local community and also others who are in need. We will also set aside some portion to assist in the immediate renovations required in the mosque.” Guney told CCN
