Money evolution and control in the context of current financial crisis with Islamic inputs

This paper deals with familiar facts in the evolution of money with some unfamiliar conclusions. It argues that it is not factual to regard the legal tender money and bank credit as of different genus: they work in tandem to the same ends in an economy, conventional or Islamic. Also, it does not matter what serves as money – solid gold or flimsy paper – in the context of keeping its value stable; only the blind would argue that staff is indispensable for walking. Money is just an instrument: it was never nor can ever be classified into Islamic and non-Islamic. What it does, good or bad, depends on how we use it. Money does not generate crises; its mismanagement does. It follows that the refuge the world is searching for today from recurring financial crises does not lie in money substance: history testifies that national economies could not remain turmoil-free during the centuries of the yellow metal sway over the monetary scene. The paper concludes that it is the human factor that has been the source of good or evil for mankind in every walk of life including money matters. And the quality of human factor true religion can alone improve: rationality without faith guidance is rudderless.