بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
First Question:
Is it permissible for Muslim lawyer to write a will for a non-Muslim client in accordance with the English law since the non-Muslim may have bequeathed some or all of his wealth to such institutions which may either be unknown or even prohibited like the institutions for caring of dogs or sailors?
Second Question: We have mentioned in most of our publications and books that the currency will be of gold and silver, either in actual form or in the form of notes backed by gold and silver. In the book ‘Funds in the Khilafah "Caliphate" State' by Shaikh Abdul Qadeem Zalloum (May Allah have His mercy on him) on this subject, it is mentioned that the state can use either gold or silver or any other appropriate metal so long as gold remains the main currency. Therefore can the state use other expensive metals side by side gold and silver like platinum or gems like diamond and others?
Answer to First Question:
1: If the transaction is between a Kafir client and a Muslim lawyer, it is a matter of hiring for the purpose of writing a will for the kafir as dictated to by the client to the Muslim writer hired for this purpose. Thus it is a contract of hiring for writing the will. The lawyer writes the will as the kafir tells him to write and then the lawyer takes his wage and the relations ends there so far as the will is concerned...
If the matter is such then it is permitted with condition that nothing in contravention to the Islamic ‘Aqeedah is mentioned in the will because writing of anything in violation of the Islamic ‘Aqeedah is similar to pronouncing such a thing and that is not permissible.
However it is preferred not to write such a will so long as it contains matter which goes against the commands of Islam. This is to distance oneself from appearing to agree with such clauses appearing in the will of the kafir.
2: However if the transaction between the owner of the will and the lawyer happens to a deal of representation (wukalah), i.e. the lawyer represents the owner of the will and executes his will...he contacts the concerned persons, informs them of the will and executes the process in his capacity as representative of the owner of the will... then this is not permitted because in such a condition the Muslim lawyer executes a will in violation of the Islamic Shari'ah in which a Muslim believes....
Answer to Second Question:
In Islam, the currency is gold and silver per se or other means like paper notes provided that the Bait ul Maal has an equal quantity of gold and silver reserved against it.
It is possible to use cheaper metals like copper as has been mentioned in the book ‘Funds in the Khilafah "Caliphate" State' since for the purpose of cheaper things, the gold and silver coin units will have to be of such minute quantity or weight that it will be impracticable for normal use in transactions. For this reason coins of appropriate weight made of minute quantities of gold and silver mixed with a larger proportion of a cheaper metal will be practicable in transactions involving very cheap commodities.
It is mentioned in the book ‘Funds in the Khilafah "Caliphate" State':
(...The state can also coin units smaller than that of silver to help obtaining trivial things. Since the silver contained in these silver units is little and it is difficult to deal with them as they are pure coins specific portions of different valueless metals can be added to them. However the portion of silver in weight used in these coined units must be clarified in a manner preventing any confusion over it.
The Muslims thereby proceeded on the gold and silver standard i.e. the bimetallic principle. In the last days of the Abbassids and the period of Attabka in Egypt, Muslims coined besides the gold and silver, copper currency to buy trivial things because copper's intrinsic value is low. It was not representative of gold and silver; rather it stood on its own depending upon its value as copper. Thus it was used to buy cheaper commodities...)
And thus metal other than gold and silver used for coins will generally be cheaper metals but these will not be used for purchase of precious metals like gold and silver because the issue here is purchase of cheaper commodities that require an appropriate and practical amount for transaction. If such coins used for purchase of cheaper commodities are made of gold and silver, then will have to be of a very minute quantity and weight. Therefore a cheaper metal would be used so that it is of a reasonable weight which is practicable for use in transactions which cannot be achieved by using precious metals.
As for the permissibility of Shari'ah currency using more precious metals like platinum or precious gems like diamond...then it is not permitted because the Shari'ah evidences on gold and silver being the currency and clear and known. Similarly, it is not permitted to have other metals even more expensive than gold and silver as reserves in the Bait ul Maal in accordance with the Shari'ah. And other metals is nothing more than a commodity.