مجلة قضايا فقهية واقتصادية معاصر
Volume 6, Numéro 1, Pages 9-25
2026-04-17
What Is Money?
Authors : Adel Zaky Muhammad .
Abstract
This study seeks to reexamine the nature and essence of money beyond its conventional economic functions as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, and a store of wealth. It argues that money, in its contemporary capitalist form, cannot be understood merely through its material substance or functional utility, but rather through its political-legal constitution. Money derives its power from the sovereign authority that defines, issues, and legitimizes it as a socially-recognized representation of value. By tracing the historical evolution of money from primitive shells and metals to modern fiat and digital currencies, the research demonstrates that money is, above all, a product of organized labor sanctioned by political power. The study concludes that money’s essence is juridico-political before it is economic: it embodies a specific quantum of social labor through a form imposed by the ruling authority, which exclusively possesses the power to endow it with the status of legal tender.
Keywords
Money ; Value ; Exchange ; Digital Currency ; Political Economy
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