science

Modern gold dinar

Modern gold dinar is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Modern gold dinar rather than just read about it. In short: The modern gold dinar (sometimes referred as Islamic dinar or Gold dinar) is a proposed bullion gold coin, so far not issued as official currency by any national state. It aims to revive the historical gold dinar, which was a leading coin of early Islam.

Key takeaways

Modern gold dinar belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Modern gold dinar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Modern gold dinar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The modern gold dinar (sometimes referred as Islamic dinar or Gold dinar) is a proposed bullion gold coin, so far not issued as official currency by any national state. It aims to revive the historical gold dinar, which was a leading coin of early Islam. Advocates have suggested it could consist of minted gold coins (dinars) or of silver coins (dirhams).

Dinar history

According to Islamic law, the Islamic dinar is a coin of pure gold weighing 72 grains of average barley. Modern determinations of weight for the "full solidus" weigh 4.44 grams at the time of Heraclius and a "light solidus" equivalent to the weight of the mithqal weighing 4.25 grams, with the silver Dirham being created to the weight ratio of 7:10, yielded coins of 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.

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 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.

Value and denomination Per the historical law stated above, one dinar is 4.25 grams of pure gold, and a smaller denomination, the daniq, one sixth of that. Again from the law above, the dirham is 2.975 grams of pure silver. The value of each coin is according to their weight and the market value of the two metals. Coins may be minted at fractions or multiples of these weights and valued accordingly. In practice coins were historically minted in either 24 karat "pure gold" although some contemporary coins have been minted in 22k for greater durability. In either case the weight of the gold content will be as per law.

Adoption

Indonesia In Indonesia, while there is no official national coin, a number of mints are producing their own gold dinars, including that launched in 2000 by the Islamic Mint Nusantara (IMN). and Logam Mulia.

Malaysia

In 2002, the prime minister of Malaysia proposed a gold dinar standard for use in the Islamic world. Kelantan was the first state in the country to introduce the dinar in 2006, which was locally minted. In 2010, it issued new coins, including the dirham, minted in the United Arab Emirates by the World Islamic Mint. The state of Perak followed suit, minting its own dinar and dirham, which was launched in 2011.

Islamic State

The leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced in November 2014 that the Caliphate intended to mint its own gold, silver and copper coins in order to free the Muslims from the financial order that has "enslaved and impoverished" them. The currency would be based on the dinar coins minted by the Caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan and include seven coins: two gold, three silver and two copper, ranging in value from 7¢ to $694, their values based on the intrinsic value of the metals. The gold dinar is weighted at 4.25 grams and is made of 21 karat gold. Despite a propaganda push for the currency, adoption appeared to have been minimal and its internal economy is effectively dollarized, even with regards to its own fines.

Other groups Abdalqadir as-Sufi, founder of the Murabitun World Movement, was once a strong proponent of the idea for the gold dinar revival movement, but in February 2014 he completely distanced himself from it, saying, "So, I now dis-associate myself from all activity involving the Islamic gold dinar and silver dirham". Trinidadian scholar Imran Nazar Hosein has also been promoting the revival of Dinar usage, but has linked its use to Islamic eschatology.

Use Most of the coins are issued privately and are not legal tender. In Malaysia, the state government of Kelantan allows their use in transactions while it is illegal according to federal law. Common uses of the gold dinar include:

Buying merchandise from outlets. Holding accounts, and making and receiving payments as with any other medium of exchange. Saving, as is done with any form of gold. Paying zakat and mahr as established within Islamic law.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Modern gold dinar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Modern gold dinar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Modern gold dinar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Modern gold dinar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Modern gold dinar

In research: Modern gold dinar appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Modern gold dinar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Modern gold dinar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dinar, Gold coins, Gold standard, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Modern gold dinar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Modern gold dinar in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Modern gold dinar means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Modern gold dinar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Modern gold dinar in simple terms?

Why does Modern gold dinar matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Modern gold dinar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Modern gold dinar.