Ownership transfer of digital assets in Islamic wealth management: a juristic analysis / Saheed Abdullahi Busari, Hassan Suleiman and Habeebullah Zakariyah

The concept of wealth transfer is a fundamental element of Islamic wealth management that promotes the creation, distribution, and transfer of wealth from one generation to another to enhance continuous ownership and benefit from (1) personal assets like jewellery, furniture appliances, (2) investment like cash savings, shares, gold and pensions, and (3) digital assets like cryptocurrencies, reward cards, vouchers, and business IP. However, growth in the acquisition of digital assets in recent times has generated concerns among legal and shariah experts about the consequences of ownership transfers after the death of the bequeather. This study aims to explicate the meaning of digital assets from an Islamic jurisprudential perspective. It also explores the meaning of true sale and its implication for digital asset acquisition and the transfer of ownership from one generation to the other. The study uses a doctrinal approach to gathering and analysing issues from a shariah perspective. This study found that despite the opportunity for wealth creation through digital assets, there are issues around ownership and transfer based on the concept of true sale, rent, gift, and endowment from the owner to third parties. The ownership right and possession to transfer a digital asset from one person to another seem unclear and deceptive because when a buyer clicks the button “buy” it might mean “rent”. To address the ownership issues in digital assets, further study can explore the presence of digital asset creators and miners from Muslim countries and the legal status of the contractual agreement to ascertain the effects and reality of ownership transfer of digital assets on the growth and development of the Muslim economy across the globe.