The Making of the Islamic Dīnār and Dirham

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Based on the Account of ʿIzz al-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr (d. 630 AH / 1233 CE): In this year, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ordered the minting of dīnārs and dirhams, becoming the first to standardise Islamic coinage in a distinctively Islamic manner. This measure proved highly beneficial for the people.

The reason for this development was that he instructed that official correspondence sent to the Romans be stamped with the Qurʾānic declaration:

“Say: He is Allāh, One” (Qurʾān 112:1) ۞

and that mention of the Prophet ﷺ be included, along with the date.

This displeased the Roman Emperor, who wrote in response: “You have made certain changes which, if you do not rescind them, you will find our dīnārs struck with a mention of your Prophet that will displease you.” This was intended as a threat, which ʿAbd al-Malik refused to accept. He summoned Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah and consulted him regarding the matter. Khālid advised: “Forbid their coinage and strike a new currency bearing the mention of Allāh ﷻ.” Accordingly, ʿAbd al-Malik ordered the minting of Islamic dīnārs and dirhams.

Subsequently, al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf struck dirhams that bore the aforementioned Qurʾānic verse. However, the people disapproved of this practice, arguing that the sanctity of the Qurʾān was being compromised by placing it on coins that would be handled and used by unbelievers. Al-Ḥajjāj therefore prohibited anyone else from minting coins. Despite this, a Jewish merchant named Samīr produced his own dirhams. He was arrested and taken for execution. However, Samīr argued that his coins contained more silver than those minted by al-Ḥajjāj. He demonstrated this by comparing their silver content, exposing the fact that people merely weighed coins against one another without understanding their actual purity. His argument convinced the authorities, and the matter was reconsidered.

The first to introduce systematic quality control over silver coinage and to maintain its purity was ʿAmr ibn Hubayrah during the reign of Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 101–105 AH / 720–724 CE). Later, Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qaṣrī, during the reign of Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 105–125 AH / 724–743 CE), became even stricter in enforcing these standards. Yūsuf ibn ʿAmr was comparatively less strict. However, on one occasion, when he tested the silver content and found it deficient by a single unit, he ordered that the mint workers be punished with one thousand lashes each. There were one hundred minters, and thus one hundred thousand lashes were administered. The Hubayrite, Khalidite, and Yusufite dirhams were regarded as the finest coinage of the Banū Umayyah. The ʿAbbāsid Caliph al-Manṣūr (r. 136–158 AH / 754–775 CE) would accept no other coins besides these.

The earliest Islamic coinage came to be known as “the disliked coinage”. Some scholars, however, maintained that this term referred specifically to the coins struck by al-Ḥajjāj. Prior to Islamic standardisation, Persian dirhams varied greatly in size and weight. Some were minted at twenty qīrāṭs, others at twelve, and others at ten. These represented the recognised official standards. When Islamic coinage was introduced, these three weights were combined, producing a total of forty-two qīrāṭs. One-third of this amount was then adopted as the standard, namely fourteen qīrāṭs. Accordingly, ten dirhams were standardised at a weight of seven mithqāls. It has also been reported that Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr minted a small number of Islamic coins during the reign of his brother ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr (r. 64–73 AH / 683–692 CE). These were later withdrawn from circulation during the reign of ʿAbd al-Malik. However, the most accurate position is that ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān was the first to establish a comprehensive and standardised Islamic currency.

This reform marked a major development in Islamic governance, economic stability, and political independence. It freed the Muslim polity from reliance upon foreign currencies and affirmed the distinct religious and civilisational identity of the Islamic state.

References

Ibn al-Athīr, ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Jazarī (d. 630 AH / 1233 CE), al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh, Dār Ṣādir, Beirut, 1966, vol. 4, pp. 167–169.