[2017-11-30] Turkish religious figures: Bitcoin does not suit Islam

[fanatseal2]

The conservative religious organization has declared that Bitcoin, the most famous cryptocurrency and right now, also the most expensive one, is not corresponding with the principles of Muhammad’s teachings. This organization, quite surprisingly, resides not in the Middle East, where in some countries, the TV shows are dedicated to what suits Islam and what does not, but in the relatively secular Turkey.

The Diyanet, which is how the Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey is also called, has stated that because Bitcoin is not controlled by any authority and has properties which easily allow its use as a...Read more BTC

[meer45]

This statement made me laugh. It's obviously a placeholder of a statement, until the government expresses their opinion. The government will definitely not be thinking about bitcoin positively, but I think they haven't done the necessary research yet to come up with solid arguments against it. That's why this initial message was sent out to frighten people off of bitcoin, before the government assumes a position officially.

[Guardian.P]

do not think that I as a prejudiced attitude to Islam, but not only bitcoin does not suit Islam, there are many things that do not arrange, Again look at the bad side of this coin is not to find a positive

[darkangel11]

Bitcoin is not controlled by any authority and has properties which easily allow its use as a means of money laundering, it is not good for those who consider themselves devout followers of Islam.

Since when are the followers of a religion so concerned with control and authority? Shouldn't a religion be something more than a group of slaves controlled by a central government. What if that government had decided that calling for prayers is against the law as it disturbs people? I'm pretty sure those "religious figures" would quickly start to instigate people against the law and the government. They are law abiding citizens as long as it fits them and as long as their pockets are full.

[sindikat]

do not think that I as a prejudiced attitude to Islam, but not only bitcoin does not suit Islam, there are many things that do not arrange, Again look at the bad side of this coin is not to find a positive

I don't like Islam and I do not hide. Islam is against bitcoin. Many supporters of this religion lives in poor countries. If bitcoin will help them get out of poverty they will get a good education. This will mean that Muslims will become atheists. Where Islamists to recruit terrorists? All the troubles in the world from poverty.

[Slow death]

and what is it that fits Islam? will it be the terrorist attacks? the disgusting customs they have? They should not go on giving a nonsensical hunch with this weird religion. At the end of the article it says the following:

" Interestingly enough, the authorities of Iran, one of the most conservative countries in the world with very strong Islamic traditions, did not say anything about Bitcoin in terms of religion, at least lately. What they actually stated on cryptocurrency is that they are ready to welcome it after the necessary regulations are developed. "

what matters is what will the government do

[bbc.reporter]

They will throw everything at it including the kitchen sink hehe. On reading that news, I now truly reckon that bitcoin has finally arrived and reached the mainstream.

Also, who would have imagined a religious organization would make a comment against bitcoin 3 years ago?

[hatshepsut93]

Any religion can be used to justify almost anything because such systems are based on blind trust - believers very often agree with anything their clergy tells them without trying to reach any conclusions on their own by reading holy texts of their religion. So, the statement that Bitcoin does not suit Islam can not be logically proven as true or false - different religious leaders will have different opinions, so what is really important is who will have more influence and followers in the Muslim community. Bitcoin is probably still of the radar of most mainstream religions, but it's likely that we'll start hearing more statements in the future as Bitcoin's popularity increases.

[Mark Promo]

Religious figures should do their work. When they begin to interfere in the economy and finance of the state, this always ends badly.

[ivanpoldark]

One of the main features of Islam religion is a large number of different movements inside it. Iran`s and Arab Emirates government welcomes bitcoin and blockchain techology, maybe they have political harmony with their local islamic  religious leaders. Actually, it is very strange to hear that particularly turkish muslims goes against bitcoin, i thought it is quite secular country.

[buwaytress]

Gotta hand it to whomever gave them this idea, and to the journalist who caught it! Turkey is one of those hard-to-place countries when it comes to Islam. Secular since last century, yet a hot bet for extremism in the midst of ongoing efforts to embrace Western values. Gambling and alcohol, clearly prohibited, are okay.

It is worth noting that the global financial system (and banking) is wholly unsuited to Islam, mainly due to its many concepts of unbacked money, non-guaranteed trading of value, and of course interest (or usury as Islam sees it).

Would be really interesting to dig deeper into this, if only from a sociological perspective. The concept of Bitcoin being halal/haram has been debated for at least ten years in Muslim governments.

[dietmarfritz59]

This seems like not a great source. The article may be true yes, but who will really listen. Will Islams not invest anymore, or is this just something to draw attention to Bitcoin?

[Cubanlinx81]

The are just afraid of the ability bitcoin has to free the people in the Islam world of the corrupt governments many of them live under. Charging interest is forbidden in Islam; not profiting for an investment. This a very good example of FUD being used to distract people from the potential of bitcoin.

[J. Cooper]

Gotta hand it to whomever gave them this idea, and to the journalist who caught it! Turkey is one of those hard-to-place countries when it comes to Islam. Secular since last century, yet a hot bet for extremism in the midst of ongoing efforts to embrace Western values. Gambling and alcohol, clearly prohibited, are okay.

I would really like to read the passage where they think bitcoin isn't halal. Because in the end it's all about interpretation, so they can interpret it as being haram now but suddenly change their mind when it becomes a lot more popular and adopted.

It is worth noting that the global financial system (and banking) is wholly unsuited to Islam, mainly due to its many concepts of unbacked money, non-guaranteed trading of value, and of course interest (or usury as Islam sees it).

Would be really interesting to dig deeper into this, if only from a sociological perspective. The concept of Bitcoin being halal/haram has been debated for at least ten years in Muslim governments.

The only reason they don't condemn the global financial system is because it's everywhere. Ideologically they could/should be against UT but it's practically impossible to do. They can't start bartering again. This is indeed quite an interesting topic but I think the bottom line is pretty clear. They will loosen up laws against certain things (e.g. Gambling, drinking etc) when they eventually get influenced by the west. So you could look at Turkey as a buffer state for Asia against the west. But slowly they do adopt the lifestyle of the west partially.

[cybersofts]

Religious figures should do their work. When they begin to interfere in the economy and finance of the state, this always ends badly.

LOL The question is simple; does USD suit Islam or not? If USD suit islam so does BTC, and if not, then Muslims should stop using both of them. The only difference between USD and BTC is USD is physical while BTC is digital... I don't know why religions figures always want to interfere in something that they never understand and end up given their followers bad motivations and leave them stranded without any proper solution.

[Lancusters]

It seems to me that bitcoin as a bone in the throat of all who now have the power. For this reason, they are all United front against cryptocurrency. I'm sure this is just the beginning. We have to go through an active phase of this confrontation. Bitcoin gives us freedom. For freedom we must fight.

[Taki]

I don't want to be a judge, but don't you think that time when Mohammed said his principles by which people should to live there were not such technologies as Blockchain, Internet and even electricity as I know.
I think many of rich Turks have invested in bitcoin and crypto-currencies already and I doubt that they will change something after this announcement, well maybe only the most religious ones.

[Siren]

No offense meant, but Islam has nothing to do with bitcoin. And I don't think that any religion encompasses bitcoin as well. And for sure there are a lot of our Muslims brother who have heavily invested on it, so what they gonna do now? dump their bitcoins? I don't think so. I think this is just like issuing a fair warming to some Muslims that they will outlaw bitcoin, the question is are they going to follow it? Since bitcoin is pseudo anonymous anyways, how will the Muslims leaders know if they followers are not indeed into bitcoin? And I still can't get about Muslim leaders interested on authorities on something that they can't control.

[Rahar02]

Bitcoin is just an alternative currency and people have a right to choose whether use it as a medium of exchange, as an asset or an investment, but a group in Turkey cannot decide it's suitable for a religion or not. Once again, they can state it as whatever they want and it does not change the fact that bitcoin is a new technology in the monetary system which even though it fluctuate a lot until today.
In the term of "money laundering" there are a lot of things which could be used as the object to do it, but the government can regulate and overwatch trading activity in the country.

[abircrypt]

This is not exactlt right. There are various opinions to it in Islam. Infact, some say that Bitcoin might be more in line with Islam, please have a look at the link below:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/is-bitcoin-halal-how-cryptocurrency-conforms-with-islam-and-sharia