3 - Paper Currency

The Shaykh : The third: Paper currency. Paper currency is, in itself, wealth that has value, is it not? In itself, it has no value, because a bag of cement is more useful than it, is it not? Take a ten-unit note and try to wrap it around a loaf of bread; does it cover the whole loaf or not? Why aren't you speaking? It doesn't cover it. So it has no benefit. But take a bag of cement and cut it up over the bread; it covers much of the bread, more than these notes do. It has no value in itself. Therefore, if a country falls or its security is shaken, the value of its currency drops, is it not? You see this. So its financial strength is the strength of the government to which this currency belongs. It is subject to rising and subject to falling? How do we determine the nisab? We look at what it is worth in the market in gold or silver, and that is the nisab.