0021-1818_islam_98-1-2-i-259

68 Jere L. Bacharach, Sherif Anwar
Figure 3: Umayyad dirham, 79 H. without mint. Published with the permission of the Egyptian
National Library and Archives. Reg. 73. S.
Obverse Reverse
The final version of the “affirmation of faith” for which we have material evidence
rather than later narrative texts is found on the all-epigraphic coinage stuck in
77/697 and 78/698 by order of the Caliph ^Abd al-Malik (65–86/685–705) in the
form of new style gold coins (dinars) and silver ones (dirhams). In numismatics
the most important information the ruler wished to transmit is placed in the
center of a coin. On the dinars and dirhams the center of one side reads la ilaha
illa llahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, “There is no deity except God, He alone, He has
no partner”. Unlike the evidence from the Dome of the Rock or the coinage that
can be dated from 72/692, there is no bismi llah or full basmala at the beginning of
this version of the “affirmation of faith.” The message the caliph wished to transmit
with his new coinage related to God’s unity. This message was re-enforced by
placing in the center of the other side of the coin the well-known part of surat
al-Ikhlas which rejects the concept of the Trinity. To find a reference to Mu1am-