Shariah Compliance Methodology, in Plain Terms
keel's compliance is designed so that every ruling it enforces is written down, sourced, and supplied by you — the operator. Nothing religious is inferred, defaulted, or hidden in code. This page explains that model in plain language; the fiqh basis document is the authoritative statement, ruling by ruling.
Computed facts vs attested classifications
Some things about an asset are knowable from the market and are simply computed. But whether a token's core purpose is a haram sector, whether it is asset-backed 'ayn or a claim dayn, whether it pays a riba-like yield — these are questions of fact-plus-scholarship about the world. No module in the repository derives them from candle data, and none pretends to. A human records them, with a source and an attributed name; keel enforces the record deterministically and rejects anything unattested.
The per-(venue, product) attestation model
An attestation is scoped: it names the venue and the product, carries a source, and is attributed to a name. Two operators following different schools can hold different attestations and get different answers from the same code — by design, because the ruling lives in your attestation, not in the code.
The same model covers the venue itself: rail 14 refuses live BUYs until the operator attests the venue subscription, and rail 17 encodes §65.4 qabd — an asset that cannot be withdrawn may not have been validly possessed, so withdrawal capability is attested and enforced, not assumed.
Purification and the spot-only shape
keel is long-only spot with no leverage, no shorting, and no derivatives; position sizing uses actual cash, so no riba enters through the position itself. Where an obligation cannot be enforced by code, it is stated rather than waved away: account-level duties no rail can see — disabling USDC rewards on idle balances, chiefly — are the operator's to verify, listed in the operator runbook.
The command that matters
keel assets attestRecord a Shariah classification — with a source and an attributed name — that keel then enforces deterministically.
What keel does not do
- It is not a fatwa and cannot produce one. keel never derives a Shariah classification from market data; it enforces the ruling you supply.
- It is not financial advice and not religious (Shariah) advice.
- No scholarly review of keel's fiqh basis has occurred. The basis is one operator's sourced reading, published so it can be audited and challenged; until a review happens, the status is: not reviewed.
- Attestation is the operator's act and the operator's responsibility. keel is the enforcement machinery, not the authority.
- It does not promise profit — no shipped rule family is net-positive at the taker fee actually paid, and the reference benchmark is simple DCA.
The honest result, stated first
No shipped rule family is net-positive at the taker fee actually paid on Coinbase (~1.2% per leg). The viable parameter/fee intersection is empty under production-faithful execution — 0 of 90 configurations in one measurement matrix, 0 of 82 in another. Cost is the binding constraint, not signal quality.
The point of this project is the enforcement machinery and the honest measurement of what runs through it — not a claim of profit. Every result is compared against a simple buy-every-period (DCA) benchmark, and the reference rules currently do not beat it after fees. We would rather you know that on the front page than discover it yourself.
Primary sources
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The fiqh basis (docs/fiqh-basis.md)
The Shariah reasoning keel encodes, ruling by ruling, each with its in-repo source.
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Scholarly review status
What a scholarly review would cover, what it would and would not signify — and the standing status: not reviewed.
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The honest result — experiment record
No shipped rule family is net-positive at the taker fee actually paid; every number stated.
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The glossary (docs/glossary.md)
The single source for the vocabulary — fiqh terms are anchored, never authored.