Mizan is built on the framework established in From Gold to Paper: the Riba research paper, a 119-page linguistic and juridical investigation into the prohibition of Riba. That paper establishes the four-word framework (Riba, Qard, Dayn, Bay'), derives the seven Ribawi characteristics from the Hadith of Riba al-Fadl, and poses the open question of whether fiat currency even qualifies as a Ribawi medium. You can read the full paper here (PDF).

Mizan takes that framework and turns it into a diagnostic. Most Islamic finance tools ask the wrong question. They ask: does this product have a Shariah certificate? They should be asking: does this arrangement, stripped to its economic substance, contain Riba?

That is the question Mizan was built to answer.

What Mizan does

Mizan is a diagnostic tool. You describe your financial arrangement, and it walks you through a structured set of questions derived from four foundational Islamic concepts:

  • Riba (the prohibited excess above the principal)
  • Qard (the loan, where only the exact equivalent returns)
  • Dayn (the outstanding obligation, fixed at the point it arises)
  • Bay' (the bilateral exchange, requiring genuine ownership, genuine risk, and genuine counter-value)

At the end, Mizan produces a verdict with specific findings, each traced back to a primary source: Quran, Hadith, or classical scholarly text. No opinions without evidence. No assertions without citations.

What Mizan covers

The tool handles six broad categories of financial activity:

  1. Finance and lending (mortgages, personal finance, Tawarruq, Ijarah, business finance)
  2. Investment (stocks, Sukuk, funds, partnerships, crypto, property)
  3. Trade and exchange (goods trade, credit sales, Murabahah, Salam, commodities)
  4. Personal loans and gifts (Qard Hasan, receiving loans, joint ventures, charity)
  5. Currency and money exchange (Forex, money changers, remittance, stablecoins)
  6. Crypto and digital assets (Bitcoin, altcoins, DeFi, NFTs, tokenized real-world assets)

Each sub-type has its own question set, tailored to the specific structural risks of that arrangement.

The two-path framework

Mizan introduces a distinction that most Islamic finance tools avoid: the question of whether fiat currency is even a Ribawi item.

The tool offers three entry points:

Classical monetary medium applies the full Ribawi conditions without qualification. Gold, silver, and genuine Ribawi commodities fall here.

Fiat, treated as classical money is the mainstream scholarly position. Fiat carries Thamaniyyah (monetary nature), so the same rules apply. This routes to the classical analytical track.

Fiat, research framework is the position developed in the accompanying research paper. Fiat currency fails all seven Ribawi characteristics. Under this framework, what is called "interest" on institutional fiat transactions is analysed separately from Riba. Personal loans between individuals are still held to the full classical Qard Hasan standard, even on this track.

Both paths lead to the same structural analysis. Neither permits exploitation. The distinction is analytical, not a licence.

The strip test

The most important question Mizan asks is the simplest: if you remove the asset, the commodity, or the trade steps from this arrangement, what remains?

If what remains is money in, more money out, by prior agreement, the arrangement contains Riba. The asset was a legal device. Ibn Qayyim called this a Hilah. Ibn Taymiyyah said the sin of consuming Riba through a Hilah is greater than consuming it openly, because it adds mockery of the law to the transgression itself.

How Mizan uses the research paper

Every finding Mizan produces traces back to the framework established in the paper. The connections are specific:

  • The four foundational concepts (Part IV of the paper) are the four pillars of every diagnostic question: does this arrangement create Riba? Is it structurally a Qard? Does the Dayn grow? Is this genuine Bay'?
  • The seven Ribawi characteristics (Part VII) power the monetary medium selector at the start of every assessment and the Ribawi characteristics grid in the verdict.
  • The two-path framework for fiat currency (Parts VIII and X) is the basis for Mizan's three entry points and the dual-track analysis.
  • The form versus substance test (Part V), drawing on Ibn Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyyah, is the foundation of Mizan's strip test: remove the asset, and what remains?
  • The Maqasid analysis (Part IX) informs the Dayn trap findings, where Mizan flags arrangements that violate Hifz al-Mal (preservation of wealth) through inescapable debt.
  • The open questions (Part X) are reflected directly in Mizan's "Scholarly context and open questions" findings, particularly on fiat currency and Thamaniyyah.

The paper is the evidence. Mizan is the application.

Try it

Mizan is free to use. It runs entirely in your browser. No data is collected, no accounts are needed.

Open the Mizan diagnostic

This is not a Fatwa. It is not institutional compliance. It is a set of questions, derived from primary sources, designed to help you think clearly about what your financial arrangement actually is. Any errors of interpretation are mine. Any clarity is guidance from Allah alone.