The Importance of the Nabawi Definition of the Shari’i Dirham and Dinar

By Hisham Kassim (8 Shawwal – 1430 Hijri)

Surah al-Mutaffifeen 83:1-6 (Tafsir ibn ‘Abbas from http://www.altafsir.com):

وَيْلٌ لِّلْمُطَفِّفِينَ

And from his narration on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas that he said regarding the interpretation of Allah’s saying: (Woe unto the defrauders): (Woe) severe punishment (unto the defrauders) in weighing and measurement; this refers to the people of Madinah who used to cheat in weighing and measurement before the coming of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and so this surah was revealed to the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) on his way when he was migrating to Madinah:

ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ٱكْتَالُواْ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ يَسْتَوْفُونَ

Allah then explained who these defrauders are, saying: (Those who when they take the measure from mankind) those who, when they buy from people and weigh or measure that which they buy for themselves, (demand it full) they weigh and measure their merchandise in full,

وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَوْ وَّزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ

(But if they measure unto them) but when they measure for others (or weigh for them, they cause them loss) they decrease the measurement or the weight and behave very badly; it is also said that the above means: severe punishment on that day is unto the defrauders in the prayer, the poor-due, fasting and other acts of worship.

أَلا يَظُنُّ أُوْلَـٰئِكَ أَنَّهُمْ مَّبْعُوثُونَ

(Do such (men)) those who deal in fraud in weight and measurement (not consider) not know and believe (that they will be raised again) brought back to life

لِيَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ

(Unto an awful Day) the Day of Judgement whose horrors are great,

يَوْمَ يَقُومُ ٱلنَّاسُ لِرَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ

(The day when (all) mankind stand) after emerging from the graves (before the Lord of the Worlds) the Lord of every living being who walks on the earth and the Lord of the dwellers of heaven.

When the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) read to them this surah, they repented and started giving full weight and measurement.

The Holy Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, “Khilafat (Caliphate) would continue for 30 years after Nubuwwat (Prophethood) then it will change into kingship.” (Hadith related by Hakim)

It is clear from this Hadith that the most accurate weight and measurement for the Shari’i Silver Dirham and Gold Dinar were from these 40 years of Nubuwwat and Khilafat and that the surviving coinage from this era should be studied to ascertain the true Nisab for Zakat, the third pillar of Islam.

Any monetary “reforms” thereafter cannot be deemed as representative of the coinage of this golden era as they were undertaken for administrative rather than spiritual purposes, and thus do not comply with the original definition of the Shari’i Silver Dirham and Gold Dinar.

May Allah Almighty grant us victory in reinstating the Nabawi definition of the Shari’i Silver Dirham and Gold Dinar as they were really meant to be as per the golden era of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and the Rightly-guided Caliphate of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, Uthman, ‘Ali and Hasan (radiyallahu ‘anhuma). Amiin…

The Shari’i Silver Dirham: Reviving the Blessed Form of Mahr

The Shari’i Silver Dirham: Reviving the Blessed Form of Mahr

By ZARINAR (15 Shaaban 1430 Hijri)

All praise and gratitude are only for Allah Almighty. We seek guidance and forgiveness from Him. We also seek refuge in Him from the evils of our own doing. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead him astray. Whoever He leaves to go astray, none can guide him back to the right way. We testify that there is no God but Allah, and we testify that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger.

The soul, the heart and the mind were created in a balance, in a state of fitrah or a natural state of the human being. In the Holy Qur’an, Allah Almighty says:

“… Allah has endeared Faith (Iman) to you, and has made it beautiful in your hearts …” (Surah al-Hujurat 49:7)

Central to the union of hearts, minds and souls is the oldest ‘contract’ between two people in marriage, made in the name of Allah the All-Seeing, the Witness. So critical is this contract in the building of a thriving Islamic community, i.e. by bringing families together, that the realization of this part of one’s life is equated to fulfilling half of one’s faith. And the heart knows that at the threshold of the commitment with one’s soulmate, that God the al-Wadud (the Loving) sanctions this sacred institution.

“And of everything, We have created pairs that you may be mindful.” (Surah az-Zariyat 51:49)

At the Threshold of Marriage

In the search for a relationship that brings love, trust, harmony and compassion, we refer to the Holy Qur’an (for people of understanding) and its description of marriage.

“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts) …” (Surah ar-Rum 30:21)

When Allah unites two partners in Islam, it is the strongest of bonds. A do’a or prayer by a couple could be as follows:

“I enter this contract, this act of worship, in the name of our Creator and Sustainer, as a servant of God. I enter this sacred institution to grow and enrich my life and that of others. My companion in this journey is one who fears Allah in all matters, and who knows his/her ultimate return is to God, the Sublime, the All-Forgiving.”

Amiin, and a very essential aspect of binding this sacred contract is the mahr.

What is the Mahr?

The mahr is a compulsory part of an Islamic marriage contract. It is a gift of money, possessions or property made by the husband to the wife, which becomes her exclusive property. It is an admission of her independence, for she becomes the owner of the money or property immediately, even if she may have owned nothing before. It is also intended as a token of the husband’s willing acceptance of the responsibility of bearing all the necessary expenses of his wife.

The Shari’i Silver Dirham and Gold Dinar: Embracing the Hidayah of Allah

The Shari’i Silver Dirham and Gold Dinar: Embracing the Hidayah of Allah

By Hisham Kassim (1 Rabiulawwal 1430 Hijri)

“Show us the Straight Way. The Way of those on whom Thou has bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not Wrath, and who do not go astray.” (Surah al-Fatihah 1:6-7)

It is rather unfortunate that many Muslims today still prefer to store their valuable assets in fiat currencies rather than silver or gold because of the perceived value being attached to them by the central banks of their respective countries. When queried about the wisdom of their choice, the standard answer would normally be that they were still waiting for the Hidayah of Allah to make a better decision.

Hidayah(هِدَايَة)

Hidayah means present or gift in Arabic. In its Islamic context, Hidayah means guidance or leadership as given by Allah Almighty. It is only through the Grace of Allah Almighty that His true and loyal servants are being granted guidance. Thus, Hidayah is actually a very precious and personal gift from the Creator bestowed upon whoever He pleases. It is a guiding Light or Nuur from Allah Almighty which He, in His infinite Wisdom places in the heart of His tried and tested true believer, one who has proven his unconditional love for his Creator.

The Neglected Element of Taqwa in The “1,000 Dinars” Verse

The Neglected Element of Taqwa in The “1,000 Dinars” Verse

By Hisham Kassim (10 Muharram 1430 Hijri)

“… And for those who fear Allah (Taqwa or high God-consciousness), He [ever] prepares a way out. And He provides for him from [sources] he never could expect. And if anyone puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is [Allah] for him. For Allah will surely accomplish His purpose: Verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion.” (Surah at-Talaq 65:2-3)

Historically, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) never named the above passage from the Holy Qur’an the “1,000 Dinars” verse, but many unverified stories have appeared over the years including one version where Prophet Khidr (‘alaihissalam) was somehow responsible for helping some poor man out of debt by advising him to recite this verse daily. As a result, you can find the “1,000 Dinars” verse hung on the walls of many Muslim shops, offices and households all over the country today. The tenacity with which these business and home owners hold on to the faith that this verse will help bring opportunity and other forms of bounty from Allah Almighty is so great that it would be considered almost sacrilege not to believe in its miraculous power of attraction. However, when it comes to income-related aspirations, most Muslims will normally visualize it to be in the form of the local or the various international paper currencies in the market, and not the Shari’i gold dinar that the verse was aptly named after.

The Shari’i Gold Dinar: The Forgotten Sunnah Within Zakat

The Shari’i Gold Dinar: The Forgotten Sunnah Within Zakat

By Hisham Kassim (16 Zulhijjah 1429 Hijri)

The second year of Hijrah (623/624 AD) bore witness to many key and historic events during the formative years of Islam. The Muslim community in Madinah was growing and it was the year when the change of the direction of prayer or Qiblah from Masjidil Aqsa in Baitul Maqdis to Masjidil Haram in Makkah was enforced during the month of Rajab. The introduction of the mandatory Ramadhan fast was decreed in the month of Sha’aban, and the first Tarawih prayer was held on the first night of the month of Ramadhan. Soon after, the number “313” was forever immortalized in Islamic history, signifying the number of heroic Muslims who were fighting to keep their religion alive in the decisive battle of Badr on 17 Ramadhan against a much larger and better equipped Kuffar army.

The Shari’i Silver Dirham: Seeking the Barakah of Allah

The Shari’i Silver Dirham: Seeking the Barakah of Allah

By Hisham Kassim (1 Safar 1430 Hijri)

“If the people of the towns had but believed and feared Allah, We should indeed have opened out to them (all kinds of) blessings from heaven and earth: but they rejected (the truth), and We brought them to book for their misdeeds.” (Surah al-A’raf 7:96)

All around the world today, people are looking forward with renewed hope to the tenure as President of the United States of America by a man with an uncommon name and family roots. While it is very true that Barack is Swahili for a term that means “blessing” in Arabic, we have yet to see whether the name fits the man who will determine the fate of over a million Muslims in Palestine who have long been laid siege to by the political and military might of the “free” world.

Money

Money… What actually is money? Why does everyone need money? Who creates money and what role does money play in a nation’s economy? To have a basic comprehension of  the concept of money, we must first understand the history of money and how it affects our daily lives. Money is a form of legal tender issued by a country’s central bank in order for it to be accepted as a medium or value of exchange, especially for the purpose of conducting trade. In the past, the first system adopted by civilizations worldwide for the exchange of goods and services was the barter system.

The Early Days

In the early days of doing business, people used their excess goods or personal belongings to trade with one another. From 9,000-6,000 B.C., people often used livestock as a medium or value of exchange. As the farming industry further developed, people began using their crops as a medium of exchange. However, around 1,200 B.C., China started using cowrie shells as a medium of exchange. Thus, the first form of money was officially introduced as people started using cowrie shells to buy and sell goods and services, replacing the earlier barter system. This monetary system was further developed around 1,000 B.C. when China started using metal-based cowrie shells as money. This was the first metallic form of money to be developed. Besides metal-based cowrie shells, other metallic tools such as knives and spades were also used as money in China. Metallic forms of  money were  all developed based on the cowrie shell monetary model. China’s first metallic coinage were also sometimes strung together to form a chain. The first form of silver-based coinage was later developed around 500 B.C. when the first evidence of silver being used as money was found within the region of modern-day Libya and Turkey. Silver-based coinage was further improved during the time of the Greeks, Persians, Macedonians and Romans. The value of silver-based money was differentiated depending on the design of the pagan God or emperor on the face of the coin. Unlike the Chinese model of metal-based money, this new coinage system used valuable resources such as silver, bronze and gold. Hence, this form of money had more intrinsic value.

Paper Money

The era of paper money began in 118 B.C. when China first created leather-based money. This unique form of money was designed using a square-foot of white deerskin edged in vivid colour. Paper money was further developed from the 9th until the 15th centuries as China began putting more paper money into circulation. However, inflation began to have an adverse impact on the economy with the rise in the prices of goods and services due to the overwhelming supply of paper money in China. China finally then decided to do away with paper money because of the  nagging problem of a continuously rising rate of inflation. In 1816, Europe’s monetary system underwent a significant change when England first introduced the gold standard to counter their rising rate of inflation. Gold was set as a benchmark for the value of paper money. This meant that the English pound was pegged to a certain measure of gold. The United States of America started using the gold standard too around the year 1900. However, the fate of  the dollar took an unfortunate turn for the worse during the great depression of the 1930s. The United States of America then started a worldwide movement to end the gold standard.

Fiat Money

By 1971, the U.S. dollar was no longer backed by anything of value such as silver and gold. Today, it is a purely fiat or unbacked form of paper money as all other silver and gold-backed currencies were  withdrawn altogether from circulation. Money today no longer carries a pledge. With fiat money, legal tender issued by central banks are no longer backed by gold, and are only backed by the perception of public confidence in the stability of their government and the productive capacity of the country that issues them. A perceived value of paper money may vary from country to country, and may even be destroyed altogether if what happened to modern-day Iraq were repeated elsewhere, but silver and gold will always be accepted as money in every corner of the world as they have been for the past several thousand years…