The Operative Cause of Prohibition, Monetary Value, and Precious Stones
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Is the operative cause in the prohibition of gold and silver their monetary value? If so, does that apply to expensive stones such as diamonds and pearls?
Answer:
The operative cause in gold and silver, from the perspective of riba (usury or interest), is their monetary value—specifically from the perspective of riba, not from the perspective of the prohibition on eating and drinking. The operative cause for eating and drinking from vessels is not their monetary value. Rather, this is a view regarding the operative cause of the prohibition of riba. We stated at the beginning of our discussion that the default ruling for vessels is permissibility, even if they are made of precious things like platinum or precious stones. The default is permissibility, because there is no prohibition against that; the prohibition is specifically against gold and silver.
Is the operative cause in the prohibition of gold and silver their monetary value? If so, does that apply to expensive stones such as diamonds and pearls?
Answer:
The operative cause in gold and silver, from the perspective of riba (usury or interest), is their monetary value—specifically from the perspective of riba, not from the perspective of the prohibition on eating and drinking. The operative cause for eating and drinking from vessels is not their monetary value. Rather, this is a view regarding the operative cause of the prohibition of riba. We stated at the beginning of our discussion that the default ruling for vessels is permissibility, even if they are made of precious things like platinum or precious stones. The default is permissibility, because there is no prohibition against that; the prohibition is specifically against gold and silver.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، بداية من باب الآنية — islamhouse.com (36:28)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.