ISLAMIC Umayyad Caliphate Hisham ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (AH 105–125 / AD 724–743) AR Dirham

Mint: Dimashq (Damascus)

Dated: AH 124 (AD 741/742)

Reference: Album 137

Weight: 2.91 g

Diameter: 26 mm

Condition: Very Fine; cleaned, with an attractive silver appearance.

Description

Obverse

Islamic Kalima in three lines within the central field:

"There is no deity but God alone; He has no partner."

The marginal inscription records the mint name and date in Arabic.

Reverse

Qurʾān 112 (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ) in four lines within the central field:

"God is One, God the Eternal. He neither begets nor is begotten, and there is none comparable unto Him."

The marginal inscription cites Qurʾān 9:33:

"Muḥammad is the Messenger of God, whom He sent with guidance and the religion of truth, that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, even though the polytheists may dislike it."

Historical Note

This dirham was struck in AH 124 (AD 741/742), during the final years of the reign of Hisham ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, the tenth Umayyad caliph and one of the dynasty’s most capable rulers. By this time, the Umayyad Caliphate had reached its greatest territorial extent, while simultaneously facing increasing political and military challenges on several frontiers.

The mint of Dimashq (Damascus), the imperial capital of the Umayyad state, was among the most important and prestigious mints of the caliphate. Coins produced there adhered to the standardized epigraphic design introduced by the monetary reforms of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan in the late 7th century. These reforms replaced earlier Byzantine- and Sasanian-inspired types with a distinctly Islamic coinage based entirely on Qurʾānic inscriptions and declarations of faith.

Issued only a year before Hisham’s death in AH 125, this dirham belongs to the closing phase of Umayyad rule, a period marked by growing unrest in Khurāsān, tribal rivalries, and mounting pressures that would ultimately culminate in the Abbasid Revolution of AH 132 (AD 750). As such, it represents the mature and fully developed form of classical Umayyad silver coinage.