Dinar and Dirham

Dinar history


According to Islamic law, the Islamic dinar is a coin of 22k (91.7%) gold weighing 4.25 grams. The Islamic dirham coin is 2.975 grams of pure silver. Umar Ibn al-Khattab established the known standard relationship between them based on their weights: "7 dinars must be equivalent (in weight) to 10 dirhams."[citation needed]
“ The Revelation undertook to mention them and attached many judgements to them, 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 judgements may be based rather than on the non-shari'i other coins.
Know that there is consensus [ijma] since the beginning of Islam and the age of the Companions and the Followers that the dirham of the shari'ah is that of which ten weigh seven mithqals weight of the dinar of gold... The weight of a mithqal of gold is seventy-two grains of barley, so that the dirham which is seven-tenths of it is fifty and two-fifths grains. All these measurements are firmly established by consensus. ”

—Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah
[edit] Modern history

As a consequence of the currency crisis in Asia, in the first part of 1997, then Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir bin Mohamad proposed introduction of Islamic gold dinar as currency for international trade in the Muslim world.[citation needed] It was intended to replace the United States dollar and, as a gold-based currency, provide a medium of exchange more stable than the dollar. Mahathir announced that Malaysia was to start using the dinar in mid-2003, but when in 2003 Abdullah Ahmad Badawi replaced him as Prime Minister of Malaysia, this idea was halted.[citation needed]

[edit] Gold dinar in Malaysia

On the 20 September 2006, Kelantan became the first state to launch gold dinar coins. It features the Kelantanese state crest, the date of production, as well as the weight and purity of the gold used on its face. The Dinar Emas Kelantan (DEK) is similar to the original dinar in weight and purity of gold used. The coins can be bought and sold at the Kelantan Corporation Berhad (Perbadanan Kelantan Berhad) and all eight Ar-Rahn Islamic pawnshops in the state.[1]

Common uses of the gold dinar include:

1.Saving them, because they are wealth in themselves.

2.Paying zakat and dowry as established within Islamic Law.

3.Buying merchandise from outlets.

4.Holding accounts, and making and receiving payments as with any other medium of exchange.