After Facebook changed its name to Meta, interest in the concept of the Metaverse increased significantly. Matthew Ball describes the Metaverse as “a massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds which can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users with an individual sense of presence, and with continuity of data, such as identity, history, entitlements, objects, communications, and payments”. It may be hard to comprehend precisely what the ideal iteration of the Metaverse is simply because at this point the final iteration is still a mere concept.

Despite the uncertain future of the Metaverse, established companies have been making huge investments in the building blocks of the Metaverse. These companies include Nike, Boeing and Microsoft. Plots of virtual land have been bought for well over a million Dollars. Irrespective of what the future holds it is clear that many companies believe that some iteration of the Metaverse will shape our future and have real financial and economic implications.  These financial and economic realities lead to ethical considerations which include:

·        The nature of money. The Metaverse is envisaged to have a successful, thriving and independent economy. Each metaverse platform may have its own tokens that users can buy and use online. These tokens will effectively be digital currency. It will be up to scholars to determine how these tokens are viewed and the real-world implications such as zakah.

·        Contractual obligations. The Metaverse is intended to be a virtual meetup for business which may lead to many business-related activities taking place in the Metaverse. These business processors may include discussing, developing and signing contracts. Will these contracts hold validity according to Islamic ethics is one more question that will require answers.

·        The nature of virtual goods. The Metaverse will comprise of numerous virtual goods. As virtual goods and services are becoming increasingly important, our perception of the utility it provides is changing drastically. Will these goods meet the requirements for a valid sale remains to be seen.

These challenges are not unique to the Islamic ethical framework. Regulators are also grappling with precisely how the Metaverse should be regulated. We still don’t have clear guidelines for digital assets which have been in existence for at least a decade. However, what we can be sure of is that technology is continually advancing and the march towards this dystopian, or utopian, future will not standstill simply due to the lack of clear-cut regulation.

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Allah knows best