248 chapter six
and mathematics are Fardh Kifayah... and the sciences which should
be learnt for agriculture, administration, industry, horticulture, weav-
ing, etc., are Fardh Ayn”, (Vol. 1, p. 31). Fardh Kifyah is a binding
duty on the community as a whole, while Fardh Ayn is a compul-
sory duty on the individual himself.
Money
All precious things fall into one of three groups: (a) what is sought
for its own intrinsic value, (b) what is sought as a means to an end,
and (c) what is sought for both. What is sought as a means to an
end is gold and silver which are pieces of metal having no value of
their own. If God had not made them instruments of purchasing
things, their values would have been equal to other stones. (Vol. 1,
p. 26). In volume IV, al-Ghazàlìexpands on the function of money.
He perceives the function of money as a means of exchange and
as a store of value. Emphasising the function of money as a means
of exchange, which facilitates transactions, al-Ghazàlì states, “Gold
and silver are gifts from God and with their help all worldly acts are
smoothly done. These are nothing but metals and have got no value
of their own. People want to have them, as by their exchange com-
modities of the world can be purchased”, (Vol. IV, p. 95). He pro-
ceeded to explain the idea by referring to a man who has got food
but has got no camel and another who has got a camel but no food.
Between them, therefore, “there is the necessity of exchange of these
two things and fixation of their value”. But, “value of these things
is not equal. Therefore, gold and silver work as judges for all things,
for the fixation of value, and for getting the things through their
medium”. As a measure of value he states, “Then it is said that a
camel’s price is 100 dinars, and that the price of 100 fowls is the
same. So by the help of gold and silver their values are adjusted,
though gold and silver have no value of their own. God appointed
them as judges for ascertainment of values and prices of all things
and for their exchange”. As a store of value, he clarifies, “Gold and
silver are dear to men. He who has got them possesses them as if
it were all things”. In the educational manner of a lecturer, he elu-
cidated this concept by giving an interesting analogy of a mirror that
has no great value of its own but it derives its value of being able
to reflect images and pictures, “a mirror has got no value of its own,