Mizan: A Primary-Source Diagnostic Framework for Evaluating Islamic Financial Instruments Against Classical Ribawi Characteristics

Abstract

Purpose: This paper introduces Mizan, an open-access digital diagnostic tool that evaluates Islamic financial instruments against classical jurisprudential criteria derived exclusively from primary sources (Quran, Hadith, and classical scholarly texts). The tool addresses a critical gap in Islamic finance: the absence of a standardised, transparent, source-traceable methodology for assessing Shariah compliance at the structural level rather than the transactional level.

Design/Methodology: Adopting a Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm, the diagnostic framework is constructed through a three-stage process: (1) linguistic and juridical analysis of the Arabic roots of Riba, Qard, Dayn, and Bay’; (2) derivation of seven measurable characteristics of ribawi commodities from the Hadith of Riba al-Fadl; and (3) implementation as an interactive, rule-based diagnostic engine that routes users through structured questions and returns findings with primary-source citations. The tool introduces a dual-track analytical path that explicitly surfaces the unresolved scholarly question of whether fiat currency satisfies classical ribawi criteria.

Findings: Systematic application of the seven ribawi characteristics to modern financial mediums reveals that fiat currency fails all seven criteria, while commodity-based mediums satisfy most. The diagnostic framework successfully evaluates common financial products, including conventional mortgages, Islamic home financing structures, organised Tawarruq, and cryptocurrency instruments, producing source-traceable assessments without institutional opinion.

Originality: Mizan is the first diagnostic tool to (a) derive evaluation criteria exclusively from primary sources, (b) implement a measurable ribawi characteristics grid across multiple mediums, (c) incorporate a form-versus-substance “strip test” based on Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah and Ibn Taymiyyah, and (d) present two analytical tracks that make the fiat currency question explicit rather than assumed.

Practical Implications: The framework offers regulators, practitioners, and researchers a transparent, reproducible methodology for Shariah compliance evaluation that does not depend on institutional consensus, while preserving the primacy of qualified scholarly interpretation.

Keywords: Islamic FinTech, Shariah compliance, Riba, ribawi characteristics, digital diagnostics, fiat currency