Pakistan's most influential religious seminary has declared Bitcoin, stablecoins, and other digital tokens forbidden under Islamic law — but the country's new crypto regulator and one of its largest charities are publicly pushing back. On June 10, Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi issued a fatwa signed by Mufti Taqi Usmani and other senior scholars, calling crypto 'merely the recording of fictitious numbers in an account.' The ruling arrives as Pakistan ranks third worldwide for grassroots crypto adoption, behind only India and the US, according to Chainalysis.
The fictitious numbers ruling
Mufti Taqi Usmani, who advises Meezan Bank — Pakistan's second-largest lender by market value — on Shariah, stated that crypto does not count as real wealth, or maal, under Islamic law. The fatwa effectively bans purchases with Bitcoin, stablecoins, and all other digital tokens. Given Mufti Usmani's stature, the ruling carries weight far beyond the seminary's walls.
The charity that disagrees
Saylani Welfare International Trust, one of Pakistan's largest charities, issued its own 37-page fatwa roughly 13 months ago — before July 2025 — treating crypto as a recognized right, not conventional wealth. Saylani considers crypto permissible if transactions are not prohibited by law and do not expose individuals to unlawful harm. In July 2026, the charity held an emergency meeting in Karachi to stand by its ruling. It has since sent its fatwa to the Council of Islamic Ideology and the State Bank of Pakistan, effectively asking the state to weigh in.
A regulator asks for nuance
Bilal bin Saqib chairs the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), created by ordinance in July 2025 and locked in by law in 2026. He asked Jamia Darul Uloom to treat speculative tokens and asset-backed tokens differently, pointing to sukuk on blockchain, gold-backed tokens, and fully reserved stablecoins. The plea suggests the regulator sees room for a Shariah-compliant digital asset market — if scholars will draw a line.
The stablecoin deal that raised eyebrows
Pakistan's finance ministry agreed in January 2026 to explore World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin. World Liberty Financial is a platform associated with President Donald Trump. Analysts told Al Jazeera the deal amounted to paying for Trump White House access. The timing — a conservative religious body banning all crypto just as the government eyes a Trump-linked stablecoin — isn't great.
A precedent from 2008
Mufti Taqi Usmani's rulings have shaped markets before. In 2008, he judged that up to 85% of sukuk failed Shariah tests, leading global issuance to fall from $50 billion to about $15 billion in a year. Meanwhile, Malaysia's Securities Commission's Shariah Advisory Council resolved in 2020 that digital assets count as maal and may trade on registered exchanges. That split — between market-shaping prohibition and permissive precedent — is now playing out in Pakistan.
The Council of Islamic Ideology and the State Bank of Pakistan have received both fatwas. How they rule will determine whether the country's fast-growing crypto scene stays in a grey zone or gets a clear — and potentially restrictive — Shariah-based framework.
