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Shi'ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāṭimid Imam-caliph al-Mu'izz li-dīn
Allāh (341-365/952-975): An Analytic Overview
Sherif Anwar; Jere L. Bacharach

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To cite this Article Anwar, Sherif and Bacharach, Jere L.(2010) 'Shi'ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāṭimid Imam-caliph
al-Mu'izz li-dīn Allāh (341-365/952-975): An Analytic Overview', Al-Masaq, 22: 3, 259 — 278
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 Al-Masāq, Vol. 22, No. 3, December 2010

Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fātimid

_
Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh
(341–365/952–975): An Analytic Overview

SHERIF ANWAR AND JERE L. BACHARACH

ABSTRACT The Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz al-Din Allāh undertook a series of monetary

changes which were to have a monumental impact on all future Fāt imid coinage, would
_
lead to many imitations even after the dynasty had fallen, and create an easily identifiable
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pattern that attracted medieval merchants and modern collectors. The fact that al-
Mu‘izz’s coinage went through three stages with slight variations in the wording and
layout indicates that he was determined to create a new model for Fāt imid coinage which
_
would distinguish it from the Aghlabid and ‘Abbāsid coinage that preceded and competed
with it. In contrast, Sijilmasa coinage was so conservative in layout due to its role in the
African trade.
Keywords: Mu‘izz li-Din Allāh, Fātimid imam; dinars, coins; Fātimid caliphate –
_ _
coinage; Shi‘ism

The Fātimid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh [341–65/952–75] understood that

_
coins were a means of visual communication to a public throughout the Islamic and
Mediterranean worlds. Coinage exhibited the signs of power, authority and
sovereignty of a particular ruler, emphasising his reign’s legitimacy and could
signify major political and ideological changes. Al-Mu‘izz decided to issue a new
style dinar (gold coin) as the official currency of the Fātimid state.1 The new
_
coinage would be completely different in layout and inscriptional data from the gold

Correspondence: Sherif Anwar, Islamic Department, College of Archaeology, Cairo University, Cairo,
Egypt. E-mail: sherifcoins@yahoo.com. Jere L. Bacharach, Department of History, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. E-mail: jere@u.washington.edu

1
The fundamental source for the study of Fātimid coinage is now Norman D. Nicol, A Corpus of Fāt imid
_ _
Coins (Trieste: Giulio Bernardi, 2006) and we wish to express our appreciation to Norman Doug Nicol
for his help and making a copy of his massive corpus available to the American Research Center in Egypt
where we were able to use it. The standard reference in Arabic for Fātimid coins is Maysah Mahmūd
_ _ _
Dā’ūd, Al-Maskūkāt al-Fāt imidiyya bi-majma‘ al-Mathaf al-Fann al-Islāmi bi-l-Qāhirah (Cairo: Dār
_ _
al-Fikr al-‘Arabi, 1991). We were inspired to undertake this research while preparing a digital web-based
catalogue of the Islamic coins housed in the Egyptian National Library where we had the opportunity to
examine in great detail their rich collection of Islamic coins. This work in turn draws upon the study by
Norman D. Nicol, Raafat al-Nabarawy and Jere L. Bacharach, Catalogue of the Islamic Coins, Glass
Weights, Dies and Medals in the Egyptian National Library, Cairo (Malibu, CA: Undena Publications –
American Research Center in Egypt/Catalogs, 1982). We also wish to express our deep appreciation to
Dr Saber Arab, Director, Egyptian National Library and Archives and Professor Dr Rifaat H. Hillal,
Deputy Director.

ISSN 0950–3110 print/ISSN 1473–348X online/10/030259-20 ß 2010 Society for the Medieval Mediterranean
DOI: 10.1080/09503110.2010.522385
 260 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach

issues of the Umayyad, ‘Abbāsid and Andalusian (Umayyads of Spain) dynasties

as well as earlier Fātimid issues. Not only was the new coinage a means of self-
_
promotion for his state, but its high degree of purity testified to the wealth and
economic prosperity of his Fātimid state. The dominant version of al-Mu‘izz’s new
_
style dinars is known in Western literature as the ‘‘bullseye’’ pattern and, as will be
shown below, was issued in three versions.2 This study will only focus on the
first few years of his reign, as it was during this period that three types of ‘‘bullseye’’
dinars were introduced, with the last one the model for the vast majority
of later dinars with the exception of those struck in the North Africa city of
Sijilmasa.3
Before discussing in detail al-Mu‘izz’s new coinage, it is necessary briefly to
summarise the style of coinage circulating before his reign. For lands which
recognised the authority of the Sunni ‘Abbāsid caliph in Iraq, dinars were
composed in the centre on both the obverse and the reverse sides of the coin of a
series of parallel lines of text in Kufic script which included the laqab (honorific
name) of the reigning caliph, the name of a designated successor, and, often,
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the name of a governor or other official. For purposes of consistency we label

the obverse as that side which included the phrase la ilāha illā Allāh (There is no
deity except God), that is, the first part of the Muslim shahāda. The ‘Abāssid
dinars’ obverse had two marginal legends while the reverse had only one marginal
legend.
Within North Africa, the dominant dynasty before the Fātimids was the
_
Aghlabids [184–296/800–909]. Their coinage differed from the standard ‘Abbāsid
model in that it the obverse centre was composed of the first part of the Umayyad
version of the shahāda, that is, la ilāha illā Allāh wahdahu la sharika lahu with the
_
Prophet’s mission (Muhammad rasūl Allāh) inscribed in the reverse centre. The first
_
line of the reverse centre referenced the Aghlabid dynasty while below the Prophet’s
mission was the name of the ruler. There was no mention of a specific ‘Abbāsid
caliph. Also, there was only one marginal legend on the obverse, in contrast to the
standard ‘Abbāsid style. The Aghlabid dinar was the model for the first Shi‘ite
Fātimid dinars and unless one looked very closely at the inscriptions, specifically,
_
at above and below the parts of the shahāda on each side of the coin, it would
be very difficult to distinguish the first Fātimid dinars from those of the Aghlabids.
_
This would continue to be the case for the dinars of Sijilmasa which will be analysed
in detail below. Al-Mu‘izz’s changes would be so radical that there would be no
possibility of confusing his new coinage from anything that had preceded it.

2
Norman D. Nicol, ‘‘Islamic coinage in imitation of Fātimid types’’, Israel Numismatic Journal, 10
_
(1988–1989): 58.
3
The coinage of Sijilmasa was discussed in Naiera Rafiq Jalal, ‘‘The coinage of Sijilmasah in the Middle
Ages’’, MA Thesis, College of Archaeology, Cairo University, 2005 and we wish to thank her for sharing
it with us. There were two other unpublished works not available to us in Cairo which may have
additional information. Michael L. Bates, ‘‘Shi’i inscriptions from Buyid and Fātimid coins’’,
_
Unpublished MESA presentation 1983 and Heddouchi, Choukri, ‘‘The medieval coins of Sijilmassa,
Morocco: a history of the mint and its minting techniques’’, Unpublished ANS Summer Seminar
paper, 1998.
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 261
_

Basic layout of North African dinars under Aghlabids and early Fātimids
_

Obverse
Centre
[name of the ruler]
There is no deity except
Allah, alone
He has no partner
Commander of the Believers

Margin
Muhammad is the Messenger of God who has sent him with guidance and the
_
religion of truth, to proclaim it over all religions, even though the polytheists may
detest (it) – Qur’ān IX:33
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Reverse
Centre
[title such al al-Imām]
Muhammad
Is the Messenger of
God
[Honorific title]

Margin
This dinar was struck in the year . . . .

The coinage of the first Fātimid Imam-caliph Al-Mahdi (297–322/910–934)

_
included an inscribed reference to himself as ‘Abd Allāh and Amir al-Mu’minin
(Commander of the Believers) and on some coins even the title al-Mahdi bi-llah,
but noticing these changes would have required a close reading of individual pieces
and this has never been the common practice of users of coins. Since the quality of
the new Fātimid dinar was equal to, if not superior, that of the earlier dinars, there
_
was no problem about accepting them in the markets of North Africa.4 A few issues
included different ayah from the Qur’ān, such as Qur’ān XVII: 81 or VI: 115 in
addition to the traditional Qur’ānic IX: 33, but none of these carried an obvious
reference to Shi‘ism.5
In 305/916 the Fātimid Imam-caliph al-Mahdi had dinars stuck in Sijilmasa in
_
the style described above with both the name of the mint and the date included.6
For reasons not known from the narrative sources, the mint name Sijilmasa was

4
W. Oddy, ‘‘The gold content of Fātimid dinars reconsidered’’, Metallurgy in Numismatics, I (1980):
_
99–188 supersedes the work of earlier scholars such as Ehrenkreutz and Messier.
5
Nicol, Introduction, pp. xiii–xiv.
6
Nicol, Cat. No. 9, p. 7.
 262 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach
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Figure 1. Dār al-Kutub Catalogue 1822/Registration number 1310. Al-Mahdi, al-Qayrawan,

305. Reproduced with permission of the Egyptian National Library and Archives.

dropped from these coins and scholars have assigned the dinars struck after that
date with the same basic layout but lacking the name of the mint to Sijilmasa. When
discussing in detail the coinage of al-Mu‘izz below, strong evidence for the
association of the mintless dinars with Sijilmasa will be given.
The coinage of the next Imam-caliph al-Qā’im (322–334/934–946) looked very
much like that of his father including the use of the Qur’ānic ayah VI: 115. There
were even a few issues with two marginal inscriptions, but it would have been easy
to confuse them with circulating ‘Abbāsid Sunni dinars from further east. The next
Imam-caliph al-Mansūr (334–341/946–953) continued earlier Fātimid coin types
_ _
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 263
_
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Figure 2. Dār al-Kutub Catalogue 1826/Registration number 1313. Al-Mansūr.

_
Al-Mansūriyya, 340. Reproduced with permission of the Egyptian National Library and
_
Archives.

including inscribing the titles Imam and Amir al-Mu’minin.7 Even the marginal
inscriptions reverted to earlier models with only the mint/date formula on one side
and Qur’ānic ayah IX: 33 on the other. However, there is one significant change
in the layout of al-Mansūr’s dinars, in that the centre field was separated from
_
the outer margin by a blank inner margin, which set off the centre inscription.

7
There was one issue for al-Mansūr’s reign in which the Shi‘ite phrase ‘Ali wāli Allāh (‘Ali is the
_
favoured of God) was inscribed in the centre field, but this isolated example does not constitute a trend.
Nicol, Type C: al-Mansūriyya, 340. Nicol. Cat., p. 28.
_
 264 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach

While the layout was a break from earlier North African Fātimid and Aghlabid
_
pieces, the same pattern was appearing at the same time in western Arabia at the
8
mints of ‘Attār and Baysh. Therefore there was nothing that would signal to the
__
user in the greater Islamic world that these new issues were Fātimid without reading
_
the inscriptions carefully. Also, this coin type with its blank inner margin was not
followed by al-Mansūr’s son and successor al-Mu‘izz.
_
With the Imam-Caliph al-Mu‘izz came an abrupt change and new development,
so that the circular shape of the dinar’s obverse and reverse faces appeared in an
unprecedented distinctive style wherein the horizontal field of the previous designs
was dropped in favour of concentric circular bands of calligraphy. The classical
form created by al-Mu‘izz had an inner, middle and outer legend margins around
an empty centre. As will be demonstrated below, this was the final version as dinars
for the first two years had different inscriptions in their centres. All three types
emphasised the circular marginal legends and have been labelled ‘‘bullseye’’ style by
Western scholars. The layout reflects the religious Shi‘ite doctrine of the transfer of
the caliphate and imamate to the Fātimids as Ismā’ili Shi‘ites.
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_
In addition to the Shi‘ite language which will be discussed below, al-Mu‘izz’s
intent was to distinguish his coinage from all previous minted coins especially the
coinage of the ‘Abbāsid caliphate in the east and the Umayyad caliphate in
Andalusia. To ensure the acceptance of his new coinage in the markets of the
Islamic and Mediterranean worlds, al-Mu‘izz continued to strike almost pure gold
issues as done by his predecessors.9 This was important, as he could employ the
political and promotional role of the coinage knowing that the high degree of purity
made it highly desirable by anyone who used gold coins.

‘‘Bullseye’’ pattern

The most discriminating trait of this group of dinars was that they were minted with
an eye to their distinctive appearance. Anyone who held the new dinars would
recognise the coin’s distinctive layout of a relatively small centre field which was
blank, had a dot, or had a short inscription and usually three concentric marginal
legends. Without even having to read a single word of the Kūfic inscriptions, the
visual image declared in a very clear manner that this was a new style coinage,
unlike anything that had preceded it. The association of this new style with the
Fātimid dynasty would have also been known if anyone asked who minted it. In a
_
manner far more radical than the change of design initiated by the Fātimid ruler
_
al-Mansūr, al-Mu‘izz was breaking from the past and declaring through the
_
propaganda role of coinage, the presence and legitimacy of the Fātimid caliphate.
_
But appearance alone would never have been enough.
The high quality of the new dinars was also a critical factor. While earlier Fātimid
_
dinars had also been very pure, it would have been relatively easy to confuse them
with contemporary Sunni ‘Abbāsid and earlier Aghlabid dinars which were not
always as high in their degree of purity. Anyone acquiring al-Mu‘izz’s ‘‘bullseye’’

8
Stephen Album, Sylloge of Islamic Coins in the Ashmolean: vol. 10: Arabia and East Africa (Oxford:
Ashmolean Museum, 1999).
9
Oddy, ‘‘The gold content’’.
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 265
_

dinars knew that the person was receiving almost pure gold coins. Therefore, the
design and the high degree of purity reinforced the reputation of the ‘‘bullseye’’
Fātimid dinars.
_
There is still the problem of why al-Mu‘izz chose this new layout. He could have
used the design introduced by his father of an outer margin separated from the
centre by a blank zone but, as noted above, they looked like dinars being minted
by Sunnis at the same time in the western region of Arabia.10 It is also possible
that this style was perceived as too close to the older ‘Abbāsid and Aghlabid style
coins. Also, with the exception of the Imam-caliph’s name on the coinage, there
was nothing on the most of the Fātimid dinars up to al-Mu‘izz that declared the
_
superiority of Shi‘ism and the right of the Fātimids to rule as the legitimate
_
successors to the Prophet. One suggestion for the possible origins of the ‘‘bullseye’’
pattern was offered by the American scholar Bierman.11
Drawing upon the medieval works of Abū Ya‘qūb al-Sijistāni (d.c. 362/971) and
the jurist Qādi al-Nu‘mān (d. 364/974), Bierman wrote that both scholars used
_
concentric circle diagrams within their texts as memory devices. Al-Sijistani went
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further and argued that the esoteric realm itself formed a system of a cyclical
interpretation of hierohistory and cosmology. For example, every word and letter of
the first part of the shahāda and words like qadr and Allāh corresponded to numbers
which in turn related to hierohistory, nature, and the creation of the cosmos.
Bierman went on to add that Qādi al-Nu‘mān used the same basic form about the
_
relationship of Belief (Imān) to Islam where the basic tenets of Ismā’ilism are:
expression, attestation and work. The first, expression, is minimally fulfilled by
uttering the shahāda; the second, attestation, by recognition of God’s messengers
and Knowledge, and the recognition of the Imam of the Time. The third, work,
is doing all that God commands as well as accepting the word and actions of the
Imam of the Time, who, in this case, would have been al-Mu‘izz. The layout of
concentric circles can then be related to the new coinage of al-Mu‘izz where
those who could read the inscriptions would move from the general – mint and date
formula or Qur’ān IX: 33, which Bierman argues could be also interpreted as
the triumph of the Fātimids over their enemies, to the inner rings with the name
_
of the Imam-caliph as well as the shahāda which now includes a reference to Ali.
Bierman concentrates on the third ‘‘bullseye’’ type where the centre is either blank
or composed of a dot which could represent the bāt in or hidden/inner meanings of
_
the Qur’ān only known to those learned in Ismā’ili doctrine. However, the second
group described below did include inscriptions in the centre, but they still support
Bierman’s interpretation of the association of the new coinage with Ismā’ili thought
as expressed by al-Sijistāni and Qādi al-Nu‘mān.
_

10
For an interpretation that stresses the importance of al-Mansūr’s changes, see Jonathan M. Bloom,
_
Arts of the City Victorious: Islamic Art and Architecture in Fāt imid North Africa and Egypt (New Haven, CT:
_
Yale University Press in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2007), pp. 36–37.
11
Irene A. Bierman, Writing Signs: The Fāt imid Public Text (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press,
_
1998), pp. 62–70. Irene A. Bierman, ‘‘Writing signs of the Fātimid state’’, Journal of Druze Studies,
_
I (2000): 13–26. Al-Qādi al-Nu‘mān, Da‘āim al-Islam (Cairo: Dār al-Ma‘ārif, 1370/1951), pp. 15–16.
_
Al-Qadi al-Nu’man, The Pillars of Islam, trans. Asaf A.A. Fyzee (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002),
pp. 15–17.
 266 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach

‘‘Bullseye’’ pattern: first group

Since al-Mansūr died on 28 Shawwāl 341/18 March 953, this gave enough time for
_
al-Mu‘izz to begin minting dinars in his own name in 341. For the first three years
dinars are listed as being struck in Siqiliyya (Sicily), Misr (Egypt), al-Mansūriyya
_ _
(Tunisia), and al-Mahdiyya (Tunisia). Since Fātimid armies under Jawhar did not
_
conquer Egypt until 358/969, those dinars with the mint name Misr and attributed
_
to the years 341, 343, 353, and 354 cannot reflect their actual place of minting.12
The earliest known specimens from al-Mu‘izz’s reign, which we can be confident
about, date from 342 and were minted in al-Mansūriyya, his capital and can be
_
considered variant one.

Basic layout of ‘‘Bullseye’’ pattern first group

Obverse: Inner to Outer Margin with blank centre

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There is no deity except God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God and ‘Ali is the
_
best of the God’s agents

This dinar was struck in . . . in the year . . ..

Reverse: Inner to Outer Margin with blank centre

Al-Mu‘izz Li-din Allāh Amir al-Mu’minin

The Imam Mu‘add [al-Mu‘izz] summons (all) to profess the unity of the
Everlasting God

Drawing upon the detailed data collected by Nicol, the earliest issue of al-Mu‘izz
was composed of three concentric rings containing two marginal inscriptions with a
pellet in the centre. The outer obverse margin included the standard mint/date
formula and warrants no further comment. The inner margin, however, included a
version of the shahāda never recorded on earlier Islamic coins and is the first direct
reference to ‘Ali on Fātimid coins. Later Fātimid issues will often use a different
_ _
phase when referring to ‘Ali, that is, ‘‘‘Ali is the One Close (wāli) to God’’. The
reverse of the new ‘‘bullseye’’ dinar is also unique for the appearance of another new
phrase in Arabic, which reads in translation ‘‘The Imam Mu’add [al-Mu‘izz]
summons (all) to profess the unity of the Everlasting God’’. The inner margin refers
specifically to al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh by name and as Commander of the
Believer (Amir al-Mu’minin) and parallels the appearance of the name of
12
‘‘The above coins, except the one dated 341, all seemingly struck in Egypt prior to the Fātimid
_
conquest of that country, have either been misread or were possibly created for propaganda purposes.
Less probable is the surmise that they were struck after 358 H.’’ Nicol. Cat. p. 49. Nicol’s discussion of
the dinar with the mint/date of Misr 341 based upon a coin type not introduced into Ifriqiyah earlier
_
than 343 makes us question the actual year this coin was struck. For this reason, we reject it as an
example of the earliest coinage of al-Mu‘izz. Nicol. Cat. P. 49.
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 267
_
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Figure 3. Dār al-Kutub Catalogue 1869/Registration number 1335 – al-Mu‘izz, quarter dinar,
al-Mahdiyya, 360 is the best illustration of this type available to us. Reproduced with
permission of the Egyptian National Library and Archives.

previous Fātimid Imam-caliphs. In earlier Fātimid dinars the same title was placed
_ _
in the centre of previous Fātimid dinars.
_
Type one was used primarily for quarter dinars from Siqilliyya and
_
al-Mansūriyya because the small size of the surface on the quarter dinars did not
_
permit the inclusion of fuller marginal legends if that had been al-Mu‘izz’s goal.
The important point is that from the very first dinars struck in the name of
 268 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach

al-Mu‘izz he was committed to some version of a ‘‘bullseye’’ style coin in contrast

to his predecessors and he was going to use the surface to record his commitment
to Shi‘ite beliefs. This was particularly reflected in the second group of ‘‘bullseye’’
dinars which were struck in al-Mansūriyya in 342 and 343.
_

‘‘Bullseye’’ pattern: second group

The second group was composed of four concentric rings containing three marginal
inscriptions with a short inscription in the centre. The number of words which were
included is impressive in itself as there is more text on these pieces than on any
previous Muslim coinage and the messages they carry are more pro-Shi‘ite than
any previous pieces. There is even a sense that al-Mu‘izz is experimenting by testing
the limits of what can be included on his coinage. In fact, so much of what is
inscribed is new, one wonders how many individuals could have even read the
inscriptions. However, al-Mu‘izz was also sensitive to the economic and monetary
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role of his dinars and there is every reason to believe that these second type dinars
maintained the same high degree of purity of the previous and later issues.

Basic layout of ‘‘Bullseye’’ pattern second group

Obverse: From inscribed centre to outer margin

Glory belongs to God

There is no deity except God, alone, He has no partner, Muhammad is the

_
Messenger of God

And ‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib is the nominee of the Prophet and the most excellent
_
representative [of God] and the husband of the Radiant Chaste One

Muhammad is the Messenger of God who has sent him with guidance and the
_
religion of truth, to proclaim it over all religions, even though the polytheists may
detest (it) – Qur’ān IX: 33

Reverse: From inscribed centre to outer margin

Power belongs to God

‘Abdullāh Mu‘add Abū Tamim al-Imām al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh, Amir al-Mu’minin

[He is] the One who gives life to the Sunna of Muhammad, the Master of all
_
Messengers, and is the inheritor of the glory of all the Mahdi Imāms
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 269
_
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Figure 4. Dār al-Kutub Catalogue 1850/Registration number 1316. Al-Mu‘izz,

al-Mansūriyya, 342. Reproduced with permission of the Egyptian National Library and
_
Archives.

In the name of God, the Lord, the Manifest Truth, this dinar was struck at
(Mint Name) in the Year (Date)

Beginning with the outer obverse margin, one finds the Prophetic mission
(Qur’ān IX: 33) which dates back to the first all-epigraphic coinage of 77 H and its
inclusion could be interpreted as the conservative nature of coinage where certain
 270 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach

phrases or, in this case, a Qur’ānic ayah are carried forward in time.13 The outer
margin on the reverse, however, is not the traditional form of the mint/date
formula. Instead of the standard ‘‘in the name of God’’ (bism Allāh) or even the
Qur’ānic bism Allāh al-Rahmān al-Rahim (In the name of God, the Magnificent,
_
the Merciful), the bism Allāh on this new style dinar is followed by the words
al-Malik al-H aqq al-Mubin. Again, our narrative texts offer no explanation, but it is
_
possible that al-Mu‘izz wished to stress a relationship between God and himself as
the Mahdi, the legitimate ruler (al-malik – the king) and the bearer of God’s truth
(al-Haqq al-Mubin – the manifest truth).
_
The middle legends are even more unusual in their stress upon ‘Ali. Beginning
with the obverse, the first point is that a fuller version of ‘Ali’s name is given than
has appeared on earlier coins and rarely on later ones. Here he is listed as Ali ibn
Ali Talib, which emphasises his genealogical tie to the family of the Prophet just
_
as the Fātimids claim legitimacy as biological heirs of the Prophet through ‘Ali and
_
the Prophet’s daughter Fātima. Next ‘Ali is referred to as the ‘‘authorised agent’’ of
_
the Prophet, again, stressing the legitimacy of rule through him. The Arabic root,
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wa sad ya, draws on the same root as the word wasiyin used in Group One above,
but its meaning in this context is clearer and more powerful. Finally, the legend
in the middle obverse ends with a reference to ‘Ali as the husband Fatima,
described as the Most Radiant Chase One. Al-Mu‘izz is pushing the envelope in his
claims for himself and his family to rule as imam-caliphs by using powerful
language to tie himself to ‘Ali and Fatima. The reverse middle inscription
emphasises al-Mu‘izz’s place in this hetrohistory of the Fātimids. He, and not the
_
‘Abbāsid caliph, understands and will apply the way of the Prophet, the Sunnah, as
well as being the rightful successor of the earlier Fātimids.
_
The inner margin of the obverse is the form of the shahāda which dates to the
very first all-epigraphic dinars of 77 H. Its appearance on this coinage is surprising
because of its long association with both Umayyad and ‘Abbasid Sunni coinage
and the fact that the version of the shahāda which appeared on the earliest of
al-Mu‘izz’s ‘‘bullseye’’ coins and on Group Three to be discussed below was
different. Therefore, why this particular version of the shahāda was used for Group
Two is not clear. The reverse inner margin has al-Mu‘izz’s full name and titles as
both Imām and Amir al-Mu’minin, which is not surprising.
Finally, each of the centres has elaborate, beautifully engraved short phrases,
emphasising God’s power and glory. While such short phrases as al-‘izza li-llah and
al-qadr li-llah could be used by Sunni and Shi‘ite, it appears, based upon the
writings of Bierman noted above, that these terms carried additional meanings for
Ismā’ili Shi‘ites who understood the inner meanings (bāt in) of them. It is possible
_
that they were included to emphasise the tie between the Imam-caliph and God.
The experimental nature of Group Two dinars was reflected in that they were
only minted at al-Mu‘izz’s capital of al-Mansūriyya and then only for the years 342
_
and part of 343 as the earliest issues of Group Three date to 343. Opposition to the
specific inscriptions must have been so strong that al-Mu‘izz felt it necessary
to stop their production and introduce a new type whose wording, while still
Shi‘ite, was less stringent and bombastic. The third group was also based upon the

13
The same ayah are found on Mamlūk dinars struck in Egypt and Syria centuries later reflecting the
expectation that these words would appear on Muslim coinage.
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 271
_

‘‘bullseye’’ pattern and would be minted at almost every Fātimid mint with the
_
exception of Sijilmasa in North Africa.

Basic layout of ‘‘Bullseye’’ pattern third group

Obverse: From centre to outer margin

A raised dot or blank

There is no deity except God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God

_

And Ali is the best of the nominees and the wazir of the best of the Messengers
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Muhammad is the Messenger of God who has sent him with guidance and the
_
religion of truth, to proclaim it over all religions, even though the polytheists may
detest (it) – Qur’ān IX: 33

Reverse: From centre to outer margin

A raised dot or blank

Al-Mu‘izz Li-din Allāh Amir al-Mu’minin

The Imam Mu’add (al-Mu‘izz) summons (all) to profess the unity of the
Everlasting God.

In the name of God this dinar was struck at (Mint name) in the year (date).

The dinars of Group Three were the most famous of all of al-Mu‘izz’s issues
and were known in the literature as al-Mu‘izzi.14 They were struck throughout the
Fātimid Empire except in Sijilmasa into the year 365 H when al-Mu‘izz died,
_
and must have circulated widely. They, more than the earlier two types, established
the ‘‘bullseye’’ pattern as the coin of the realm and the model for later Fātimid
_
issues. Their high degree of purity guaranteed their desirability in the money
markets of the Muslim and Mediterranean worlds and their layout made them very
easy to identify even by those who were illiterate.
The inscriptions are much closer to Group One described above, but the larger
surface of a whole dinar rather than the smaller flans of the quarter dinar allowed
more text. The outer margins on both the obverse and reverse would have been
acceptable to any Muslim as they included the standard Qur’ānic quotation IX: 33
and the standard mint/date formula without any of the additional phrases after
14
Al-Maqrizi, Shudhur al-‘uqud fi dhikr al-nuqūd (Cairo: Dār al-Ma‘ārif, 1990), p. 14.
 272 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach
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Figure 5. Dār al-Kutub Catalogue 1852/Registration 1318. Al-Mu‘izz. Al-Mansūriyya, 345.

_
Reproduced with permission of the Egyptian National Library and Archives.

the bism Allāh, which had appeared on the Second Group. The middle circular
inscriptions were clearly Shi‘ite verses but without the references to either Ali’s
genealogy or marriage to Fatima. The wording in the obverse middle would
be retained by future Fātimid Imam-caliphs but they would drop the reference
_
to al-Mu‘izz (Mu‘add in the inscription) and replace it with their own name.
The inner margin’s reverse included the honorific title of the Imam-caliph, in this
case al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh, and his title as Commander of the Believers or caliph
(Amir al-Mu’minin). Again, future Fātimid rulers only had to change the honorific
_
name and not the title to meet their needs. Finally, the form of the shahāda is the
one used even today. Perhaps because the space in the inner obverse margin
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 273
_

was limited, there is no reference to Ali. The centre with or without a dot could be
associated with the secret meanings of the Ismā’ili ideology as well as a physical
rendering in metal of the diagram found in the writings of Qadi al-Nu’man.
It is obvious that the Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allāh succeeded in
employing the inscriptions on his ‘‘bullseye’’ dinars for the sake of his caliphate
and their introduction was not a random act, but a result of serious thought to have
a distinctive design and specific inscriptions. It is also not surprising that this was
not accomplished in one move but took a number of steps which have been
documented in detail above. However, there is one exception to this development
and that took place at the mint of Sijilmasa.

The coinage of Sijilmasa

Sijilmasa was the city in which in 296/909 the Fātimids publicly declared their
_
mission and recognised their leader ‘Ubayd Allāh al-Mahdi bi-llah (296–322/
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909–34). The earliest Fātimid dinar with the mint name Sijilmasa dates to 305 and
_
copies the layout associated with earlier Sijilmasa issues recognising the addition of
the new Imam-caliph’s name and title as Commander of the Believers (Amir
al-Mu’minin).15 It is understandable that the layout looked exactly like the
preceding currency as it would have ensured its easy circulation in the local
markets. This was also the model that was used on most of the other Fātimid
_
coinage struck in Qayrawan and elsewhere. What is not clear is why by 311, when
the next dated coin entirely in this style attributed to Sijilmasa is known, the mint
name is lacking and would not appear again.16 While other Fātimid dinars included
_
a mint name those attributed to Sijilmasa did not.
In 334/946 a local leader, Muhammad ibn Fath (331–347/943–958), also known
_ _
as Ibn Midrar, seized control of Sijilmasa and began issuing dinars in his own name
which followed the same style as the earlier Fātimid issues as described above.17
_
The only changes were the dropping of references to the reigning Fātimid Imam-
_
caliph and its replacement by Muhammad ibn Fath’s own name on the reverse and
_ _
his calling himself al-Imām and giving himself the honorary title al-Shakir li-llāh in
the last two lines of the reverse. The coinage is known as al-Shakiri. By 340
Muhammad ibn Fath decided to claim the title of caliph in the form of the wording
_ _
‘‘amir al-mu’minin’’ and began to issue another set of dinars for the years 340–347
which overlapped for two years with the older al-Shakiri issues.

Layout of al-Shakiri caliphal dinars from Sijilmasa

Obverse:
Centre
Muhammad [as in Muhammad ibn Fath]
_ _ _
There is no deity except
Allāh, alone
15
Nicol. Cat. 9, p. 7.
16
Nicol. Cat. 10, p. 7.
17
Hanna H. Kassis, ‘‘The coinage of an enigmatic caliph’’, al-Qantara 9 (1988): 489–504.
 274 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach

He has not partner

Commander of the Believers (Replacing ibn al-Fath)
_

Margin
Muhammad is the Messenger of God who has sent him with guidance and the
_
religion of truth, to proclaim it over all religions, even though the polytheists may
detest (it) – Qur’ān IX: 33

Reverse:
Centre
Al-Imām
Muhammad
_
Is the Messenger of
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God
Al-Shakir li-llāh (the one grateful to God)
_

Margin
This dinar was struck in the year . . . .

This challenge to his authority was unacceptable to the Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz

and in 347/958 he sent his famous general Jawhar to end this revolt to his
authority.18 Jawhar not only captured Sijilmasa, but was able to capture
Muhammad ibn al-Fath al-Shakir bi-llāh and bring him back to the Fātimid
_ _ _
capital at al-Mansūriyya where he converted to Ismaili Shi‘ism and remained until
_
his death. Obviously, al-Mu‘izz would issue new coins, but what is surprising is that
they do not reflect any of the layouts or inscriptions which he had introduced in the
rest of his domains. The new Fātimid coinage of Sijilmasa in layout and even in
_
their inscriptions including the absence of a mint name looks like the older issues
but now with appropriate references to al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh. The changes are
summarised below.

Summary of changes for al-Mu‘izz dinars from Sijilmasa

Obverse:
Top line: Mu’add replaced Muhammad
_

18
Ibn ‘Idhāri, Kitāb al-Bayān al-Mughrib fi l-Akhbār l-Andalus wa-l-Maghrib (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1948), p.
222. Heinz Halm, The Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise of the Fāt imids, trans. Michael Bonner (Leiden: E.J.
_
Brill, 1996), pp. 396–401.
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 275
_
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Figure 6. Dār al-Kutub Catalogue 1694/Registration number 3335. Muhammad b. al-Fath al-
_ _
Shakir lillāh, [Sijilmasa], 345. Reproduced with permission of the Egyptian National Library
and Archives.

Reverse:
Bottom lines: al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh replaced al-Shakir li-llāh
 276 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach
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Figure 7. Dār al-Kutub 1873/Registration number 1325. Al-Mu‘izz. [Sijilmasa], 352.

Reproduced with permission of the Egyptian National Library and Archives.

Comparing the coins struck by al-Mu‘izz li Din Allāh attributed to Sijilmasa with
the group that was struck by al-Shakir li-llāh in the same mint, we find that both
types were identical in their general appearance, the sequence of their legends and
the manner in which the dies were cut. In the centre field, both types were identical
in inscribing the first part of the traditional shahāda in three lines followed by the
title ‘‘Amir al-Mu’minin’’ in the fourth and last line, where in the first line the
earlier issues were inscribed with the name Muhammad on the al-Shakiri dinars to
be replaced by Mu’add on al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh dinars.
 Shi‘ism and the Early Dinars of the Fāt imid Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh 277
_

Also, both types were identical in the first four lines of the reverse centre that
carried the title ‘‘Imam’’ followed directly by Muhammad rasūl Allāh in three lines,
_
where in the fifth and sixth lines the title of every one of them was inscribed
al-Shakir li-Allāh on the Shakiri and the title al-Mu‘izz li Din Allāh in two lines on
the Fātimid issues. Regarding the margins of both the obverse and reverse faces,
_
they were identical in both types, but differed only in the date that was inscribed in
the margin preceded by the short bism Allāh.
Specimens from the Egyptian National Library’s numismatic collection allow
a very detailed analysis of these pieces.19 A very close examination lends credence to
the possibility that the same die engravers cut both the al-Shakiri and the al-Mu‘izzi
dinars, which absolutely ties both sets of coins to Sijilmasa. For example, the teeth
of the Arabic letter ‘‘sin’’ ‘‘ ’’ in the word Messenger ‘‘ ’’ in the legends of the
reverse face centre appeared as if they were engraved first then connected from
underneath. Also, the engraver of the al-Mu‘izzi coins copied from the al-Shakiri
dinars when engraving the title al-Mu‘izz li-din Allāh as he intended to engrave the
word li-din, especially its last three letters, to be close in shape to the title al-Shakir.
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The word Allāh in the last line of the reverse appears nearly identical to the word
li-llāh which is the second part of the title ‘‘al-Shakir li-llāh’’ that was inscribed in
the same location on the al-Shakiri dinars. Finally, the Kufi inscriptions on the
dinars are dull compared to the more handsome style on the new ‘‘bullseye’’ dinars.

Conclusion

The Imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz al-Din Allāh undertook a series of monetary changes

which were to have a monumental impact on all future Fātimid coinage, would
_
lead to many imitations even after the dynasty had fallen. He created an easily
identifiable pattern that has attracted medieval merchants and modern collectors.20
The fact that al-Mu‘izz’s coinage went through three stages with slight variations
in the wording and layout indicates that he was determined to create a new model
for Fātimid coinage which would distinguish it from the Aghlabid and ‘Abbāsid
_
coinage that preceded and competed with it. It is very possible that al-Mu‘izz was
inspired or influenced by intellectual ideas circulating among Fātimid elites as the
_
best way to render their theological doctrine in a two-dimensional drawing. For
whatever reasons the ‘‘bullseye’’ design was favoured by al-Mu‘izz and succeeding
Fātimid rulers while modifying it still drew upon it as a model for Fātimid coinage.
_ _
The ‘‘bullseye’’ layout carried multiple levels of meaning even for those who could
not read its inscriptions. It was quickly associated with the Fātimids and, just as
_
important, with high-quality gold coinage. The market success of the coinage was
critical and in a circular fashion layout and degree of purity re-enforced one
another.
On another level, al-Mu‘izz understood coinage as a vehicle in which messages
could be transmitted. While the number of those who could read the coinage would
always be limited, word of mouth would increase the numbers who understood the

19
Dār al-Kutūb 3335 (Nicol, al-Nabarawy, Bacharach. Cat. 1694) and Dār al-Kutūb 1325 (Nicol,
al-Nabarawy, Bacharach. Cat. 1873 but description before 1866).
20
Nicol, ‘‘Fātimid dinars and their imitations’’, 58.
_
 278 Sherif Anwar and Jere L. Bacharach

messages the ‘‘bullseye’’ coins carried. Al-Mu‘izz wanted these messages to be

Shi‘ite ones, and from the very beginning there are references to Ali which make the
coinage unique in comparison to what was struck before or even contemporary
with it. For a little over a year, al-Mu‘izz pushed the envelope in terms of the Shi‘ite
vocabulary he was willing to use on the coinage and the claims he would make
for Ali and, by extension, his own family as heirs of Ali. It appears that this
vocabulary went too far and in the third and most widely disseminated version of
the ‘‘bullseye’’ coinage, a vocabulary with some Shi‘ite references but modified,
became the standard version. From Syria through Egypt and into North Africa the
new layout with its Fātimid inscriptions became the dominant currency with
_
one exception. Sijilmasa went its own way in terms of the layout and even most of
the inscriptions on its currency. Without a mint name, the Sijilmasa dinars retained
a traditional style dating back even before the Fātimids proclaimed their imam and
_
caliphate there.
The question of why the Sijilmasa coinage was so conservative in layout has
not been answered, but a possible interpretation may lie with Sijilmasa’s role in the
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African trade. The Mediterranean world and then lands further east were exposed
to the coinage of a new non-Sunni dynasty which was establishing its legitimacy to
rule in a world formerly controlled by Sunni dynasties. Eventually the Fātimid
_
coinage had to ‘‘look’’ different if it was to be a marker for the new dynasty with its
claims to be the legitimate rulers of the Muslim world. The ‘‘bullseye’’ coinage
carried a clear visual message that the coinage represented something different,
which in this case was Ismā’ili Shi‘ite rule. The purity of the coinage made it
significantly easier for the coinage to be accepted and quickly recognised as superior
in its purity than that which Abbāsids were striking.
However, the same was not true for the African trade. If one looked south,
whatever gold dinars were carried into the lands along the Niger River and
elsewhere, many would have come from Sijilmasa as the major trading ‘‘port’’ on
the northern side of the Sahara. Merchants in Black Africa were rarely involved
in Abbāsid/Fātimid political and theological disputes. What merchants and rulers
_
south of the Sahara wanted was good-quality gold coins that looked ‘‘right’’.
By maintaining the same general layout at Sijilmasa for locally produced dinars
through Aghlabid, Fātimid, Midrarid (Muhammad ibn al-Fath al-Shakir li-llāh),
_ _ _
and again Fātimid periods of rule, the coinage could always play the same economic
_
role. By looking at the Sijilmasa coinage through the lens of sub-Saharan Africa,
this explains why having a mint name was also not considered critical.