For centuries mankind has used a medium of exchange to facilitate trade and the provision of services in society. To ensure fairness and confidence in trade it has been vital that there be stability and real value in that which was chosen to be the medium of exchange. Quranic injunction has made it clear via many references that the Islamic society operate a bi-metallic currency standard of gold and silver. Whilst the Shariah did not forbid the ownership of other (non gold or silver) currencies, the Islamic state cannot and will not operate any other currency standard, and the fiat based systems where currencies are not backed by any assets at all is completely shunned. Islam made all the rules linked to currency, linked to gold and silver in their capacity as a medium of exchange for all goods and services and as currency for exchange, both as coins and as ore. Gold and silver are both ideal to act as mediums of exchange because they have intrinsic value (including jewellery and industrial use) are widely available, cannot be dominated (monopolised) and there is a regular, yet growing supply of them to meet the needs of growing economies. The annual increase in gold supply for example is 2%.

The Breton Woods agreement in 1944 established that the main economies of the world would operate on a fixed exchange basis with gold fixed at $35 per ounce, and other currencies fixed against the dollar (and therefore gold). This system operated effectively until Richard Nixon unilaterally took the US off the gold standard in August 1971 and utilised a free floating fiat currency with no backing of gold whatsoever. Following this decision, the supply of US dollars globally ballooned and annual inflation trebled from 2% historically that century to an average of more than 6% and peaking at more that 20% in some countries.

Money itself is not wealth, merely one particular measuring unit of wealth, which is dependent upon the soundness of the control over the volume of money. When central banks flood financial markets with money by printing more (increasing liquidity), this does not add wealth; it can accelerate financial transactions but this can create or destroy wealth depending on certain factors as mentioned, for example due to inflation.

In the real economy, wealth is created by the creation of productive hard assets such as agriculture, manufactured products etc, which are then sold for a profit. Wealth is increased by increasing production (i.e. you produce more goods and services and sell them for a profit).

If you flood financial markets with money you create inflation. This is because there is more money chasing around the same number of goods, which devalues money and means you have to exchange more money for the same goods over a period of time. That a bottle of coke today costs 100% more than it did 10 years ago, is primarily because the value of money has been devalued. At the same time, assets such as property, land, or gold do not devalue as they keep the same intrinsic value at all times, but since the value of paper fiat money is falling, the net effect is that the purchasing power (ability of money to buy goods and services) is lowered, and hence in real terms wealth is actually falling, because money is being devalued, compared to real hard assets. Today we have witnessed that people’s ability to save has been diminished over time, despite the fact that we are earning more than ever. The purchasing power of money has declined in real terms as the value of assets generally remains the same, but the amount of money required to buy hard assets (land, property, goods) is increasing. In general terms people today save very little compared to people only two decades ago.

Islam put the emphasis on wealth and seeks to guard people’s wealth by ensuring that its policies do not devalue money. The Islamic system does not allow the printing of money as it pleases since all its currency must be 100% backed by gold or silver reserves. This means that the currency itself has a value relative to all assets. So this means that the value to the consumer of land will always remain in proportion to the value of gold. This creates stability and confidence in the value of the State’s currency.

Furthermore, since the Islamic state does not print money because it cannot print more gold, there will not be an increasing amount of money chasing the same number of goods; hence the Islamic system is largely inoculated against inflation, since the main factor behind inflation is the easy printing of money (although there are other factors). Inflation within the Islamic state will be a rare occurrence as businesses and individuals acquire wealth; their wealth is not devalued. As there is continuing growth with increasing demand and improving technologies, the unlikely case of inflation or devaluation of money could only be entertained if there is an abnormal increase in gold supply, which is unlikely. Even in such a case the distributive obligations of the state and improving standards of living would produce commensurate growth to stabilise such unlikely outbursts in supply. The health of the economy is not based on the confidence of growth in wealth, rather the ability of people to live a good standard of living. Growth in the Islamic economy is not viewed in terms of mere increase in GDP compared to previous years, but is a more holistic and profound measure of how transactions in society have improved in terms of quantity, quality and equity. Hence quantitative GDP growth that is sought by nations today which leads to a declining way of life, is not seen as growth, but rather as a decline. To grow is a natural instinct in people; and enhancing it is a problem of science, which is never in short supply. However enabling sustainable macro growth without booms and busts is a problem for the economic system, which can only be addressed by Islam.

Although many economies are now facing price deflation for goods and services, a massive wave of monetary inflation is being stored up for coming months and years. The strict application of the metallic money standard as practiced in the Islamic system is the only way to avoid this when there is such little control over the central bankers of the world.