Background of the Dinar & Dirham

“The Revelation of the Qur’an & hadith undertook to mention them and attached many judgments to them, like for example zakat, marriage and hudud, etc. Therefore, within the Revelation, they have to have a reality and specific measure for assessment (of zakat, etc) upon which its judgments may be based rather than the non-Shari’ah (other) coins. Know that there is a consensus (ijma) since the beginning of Islam and the age of the Companions and the Followers (Tabi’in) that the Dirham of the Shari’ah is that of which ten weigh seven mithqals (weight of the Dinar) of gold.”

Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah

Below is a copy of the Ottoman Loan certificate, 1933; printed in French.

Using the Dinar & Dirham

Gold and silver are the most stable currency the world has ever known. From the beginning of Islam until today, the value of the Islamic bimetallic currency has remained surprisingly stable in relation to basic consumable goods – in 1,400 years in inflation is zero. In the long term the bimetallic currency has proved to be the most stable currency the world has ever seen. It has survived, despite all the attempts by governments to transform it into a symbolic currency by imposing a nominal value different from its weight.

Reliability

Gold cannot be in inflated by printing more of it; it cannot be devalued by government decree, and unlike paper and digital crypto currency it is an asset which does not depend upon anybody’s promise to pay.

Portability and anonymity of gold and silver are both important, but the most significant fact is that gold and silver are an asset that is no-one else’s liability.

Paying Zakat with Dinar & Dirham

“Islam is based on five pillars: testifying that there is no god but Allah (swt) and that Muhammad ﷺ  is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayer, paying the Zakat, the Hajj and the fast of Ramadan.”

Zakat cannot be paid with a promise of payment.

Zakat can only be paid with tangible merchandise, called in Arabic ‘ain. It cannot be paid with a promise to pay or a debt, called in Arabic dayn.

From the beginning zakat was paid with dinars and dirhams. Worthy of note is that; payment of zakat was never allowed in paper money during the Ottoman period right up and until the unfortunate fall of the Khalifah, the fall of which ironically takes its very root from a loan taken from the colonial powers baring interest (riba).

Above is a copy of the Ottoman Loan certificate, 1933; printed in French.