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The Economic Thought of Al-Maqrizi: The Role of the Dinar and Dirham as Money
Proceedings of the 2002 International Conference on Stable and Just Global Monetary System...
- By Saiful Azhar Rosly & Emad Rafiq Barakat

1. Problem Statement

Ever since the collapse of the gold standard in 1925, increasing turmoil and volatility is evident in world financial markets. It
wreck havoc the flow of international trade by one third between 1929 and 1933 and partly contributed to the industrial
depression in the United Kingdom in 1926 and the crash of the stock market in the United States in 1929. The 1997 Asian
economic crisis and the Mexican peso debacle in 1991 were two infamous events that plunged the emerging economies into
near bankruptcy. What actually went wrong is no longer a mystery but what ought to be done remain an agenda the world
economies must find common grounds.

At least two factors can help explain why financial volatility persists today. First, it has a lot to do with excessive money
creation and secondly, the absence of regulation over the activities of hedge funds. And both are linked to the exchange rate
system and monetary order of trading nations.

When major economies adopted the gold standard in 1870, money is created only when enough gold reserves is added to the
existing stock. This is because by using a commodity-backed currency, namely money backed by gold, people saw that
holding currency is as good as holding gold. The gold standard system allows convertibility of currency into gold. Gold is the
basis on which the exchange rate of currency between nations is established. But when world monetary order places the US
dollar in place of gold at Bretton Woods and eventually allows exchange rate to move according to market forces in 1973, it
allows money creation to roam at will since nations can increase the money supply without any need to increase gold
reserves.

Excessive money creation creates inflation eventually driving up interest rates. In the economics of capital flows, high interest
rates attract foreign portfolio funds that caused the country’s exchange rate to increase. Currency appreciation implies trade
deficits when exports become less competitive. A country can overcome trade deficits if it has enough hard currencies to pay
for the increasing imports. Otherwise it will resort to borrowings. If nothing else’s works devaluation is the only way out. But
devaluing one’s currency sapped away the trust and confidence that other nations put on the country. And when one got
entangled with the International Monetary Fund for help, it can mean less freedom to meet national economic and social
objectives.

Notwithstanding IMF’s role, the prospect of devaluation invites hedge funds to their doorsteps as well. By "buying low - selling
high", arbitragers seek immediate profits based on exchange rate differentials. Fueled by greed, in the name of market forces
they further brought the short-selling the currency. Excessive money creation earlier, landed say the ringgit or bath in
international bank accounts. Arbitragers, namely the international speculators borrow these ringgits to sell them back.
Oversupply of ringgit saw it plunged further down. By buying ringgit at the lower price and paying a minimal interest charges o-
n the ringgit loan, speculators make money in the billions leaving the economy bleeding with corporate bankruptcies, rising
unemployment and production standstill.

Without any remedial international consensus to regulate hedge funds and putting a tight control on money creation, returning
to the gold standard is one viable option. As nearly all financial crisis put a blame of money, either too much or too little of it,
controlling the money supply must be a basic necessity. If the power to create money lies in the hands of the state, it can be
used as a political tool to garner more power and corrupt practices and when banks are made free to create money by way of
deposit creation it can lead to similar evils. The Asian economic crisis is a clear evidence of banks destructive capabilities,
which according to Thomas Jefferson "The banking institutions are more dangerous to our freedom than the enemies
armies..The creation of money has to be removed from the banks’ hand".

Under the gold standard countries agree to define its monetary units in terms of a physical amount of pure gold. For example,
is the dollar can buy 1/20 of an ounce of gold and a British pound is defined as 1/4 of an ounce of gold, implicitly it means one
British pound can be exchanged with five dollar or 1 British pound = US$5. Based on mint parities, the exchange rate
exchange rate between dollar, franc, deutch mark, yen, ringgit etc can be established.

Central banks should be able to redeem all currencies for the amount of gold they are defined. In this manner, the country’s
money supply is dependent on the amount of gold reserves the nation’s monetary authority has. A ratio of money stock and
gold reserves can be then established. For example, between 1879 and 1913, the U.S money stock was 8.5 times the amount
of monetary gold stock. If the supply of gold remains constant, it promotes long-term stability in the money stock and long-run
stability in real output, prices and exchange rates.

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However, without a gold standard, printing money and deposit creation can run out of control. The Bretton Woods system is o-
ne step up to reduce the role of gold in making international trade settlement. Instead the system uses the U.S dollar to settle
cross-border transactions with only a U.S dollar - gold convertibility. However, the U.S. abandoned the convertibility of dollar
into gold reserves partly driven by the Vietnam War. Financing the war implies printing more money, which is only possible if it
has enough gold to do so. The U.S. also fear that foreign governments may sabotage the country by presenting their million
dollar reserves for gold. When President Nixon closes the Gold Window in 1971 he says:

The US would suspend temporarily the convertibility of dollar into gold or other reserves assets, except in
amounts and conditions determined to be in the interest of monetary stability and in the best interest of the
United States.

However, with the impending slowing down of the U.S. economy, people may find it less worthy to hold the dollar as it may
lose value over time. The Yen too is not spared with the Japanese economy still in the doldrums after a decade of
recession. In Malaysia, a prospect of depreciating dollar would also mean a falling ringgit if it persists to peg the currency to
the greenback. Malaysia may run a huge trade deficits in view of her high dependence of capital and intermediate imports.

What we fear is that no more currency is worth holding because they worth nothing. Money as a legal tender is a promise of
payment but now it is not convertible into gold or guarantees a tangible conversion. Economies may resort to the barter
system and even use commodity money to settle economic transactions. Abu Bakr ibn Abi Maryam reported that he heard
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say " A time is certainly coming over mankind in which
there will be nothing (left) which will be of use save a dinar and a dirham" (The Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal).

The Islamic Dinar is a specific weight of gold equivalent to 4.3 grams. Returning to the gold standard can mean adopting the
Dinar standard or the mint standard of the early gold exchange rate system. on this ground, the Islamic Dinar must take the
form of a commodity-backed money rather than commodity money, although the latter can be used on a limited basis
involving cross -border transactions.

The Islamic Dinar can help control the supply of money by way of changes in gold reserves similar to the gold standard. In
this manner, the role of the central bank can be made redundant since money supply is no longer determined by size of
monetary base but the amount of gold reserves. An increase in the money supply is a reflection of real growth arising from
more exports. No longer it came into being by way of artificial demand arising from speculative purchases in real estate and
shares.

As the Shariah serves to protect common interest, the prohibition of riba must accompany the Dinar system. It is a monetary
order that establishes the framework within which individuals conduct and settle transactions. Without an order i.e laws and
regulations, it is impossible to see how justice can be promoted effectively.

For example, in the Islamic Dinar Order, both debtor and creditor can be protected from the evils of inflation and recession.
In the case of inflation, it is normal that a creditors gains while a debtors losses out. In the Islamic Dinar Order, loans given
out in currency say 3 year RM5,000 ringgit personal loan is peg to the dinar. The contract of loan thus, is based on dinar
and not ringgit. If I dinar is equivalent to RM500, then the loan made is 50 dinar which the debtor must pay the same amount
on maturity. If the price level increases on payment day where has to pay, say RM6,000 to buy 50 dinar he must do so. In
this manner the creditor is protected from monetary depreciation since he receives 50 dinar but higher amount in currency.
This is not riba, since the contract is not based on currency but dinar as the Prophet (pbuh) says, " gold for gold, silver for
silver, like for like". It is a natural process of indexation that serves to protect the creditor in time of inflation.

The Islamic Dinar

The call by Malaysia to revamp existing international monetary order is timely and the Islamic Dinar can play a meaning
role, at least among Muslim countries. Before that, it is crucial to determine the mint parity of 1 dinar for each of the
Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) member countries mint parity. To maintain the mint parity i.e the exchange value of
the nation’s currency with gold, the country must condition its money stock on the level of its gold reserves. Doing so will
see hedge funds unable to find enough money to execute short-selling activities. In short, the value of a nation’s currency is
now dependent on gold and not the market forces. In some sense, market forces is necessary to guarantee efficiency, but it
is also open to manipulation.

th
On this point, it is worthy to reflect the sayings of the 11 Century Islamic jurist Ibn Taimiyyah in his Fatawa said that:

"rise and fall in prices is always due to injustice (zulm) of some people. Sometimes its reason is deficiency in
production or a decline in imports of the goods in demand. Thus, if the desire for the goods increases while its
supply decreases, its price rises. on the other hand, if availability of the good increases and the desire for it
decreases, the price comes down. This scarcity or abundance may not be caused by the action of any people;
it may be due to a cause not involving any injustice or, sometimes, it may have a cause that involves injustice.
It is Allah the Almighty Who creates desires in the hearts of people". (Fatawa)

Thus, a market represents the desire of people. When markets are exposed to skillful manipulation of hedge funds, prices
are no longer equitable and this invites volatility. In the Islamic dinar system, Malaysia can sell oil palm to Saudi Arabia paid

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in Riyals, which Malaysia can convert into the Islamic dinar on call. Thus, there is less to worry about currency fluctuation
and the need to hedge against adverse price movements.

In the Islamic Dinar system the role of fiat money as a medium of exchange will be replaced by dinar-backed money. By
definition, fiat money is money not redeemable for any commodity and its status as money is conferred by the government.
In Islamic history, the introduction of copper coins or fulus as money by the Mamluks (648/1250) coupled with famine
created a period of high inflation or ghala’, leading to its downfall. The fulus unlike the dinar can easily be produced at will.
Without control, excessive supply of copper fulus leads to spiraling inflation. The same applies in modern times when
excessive fiat money creation created overspending and asset bubbles. In this paper, we will attempt to look into Islamic
history, particularly to trace the ideas and thoughts about money, its role as a medium of exchange and how it impacted
general economic activities. Among the scholars the Shafi’te Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn ‘ Ali al-Maqrizi stands out as the most
vocal critic of the Circassian monetary policy. It is thus, imperative to highlight al-Maqrizi’s ideas on money, the monetary
system and his proposal for monetary reform so that our objective in returning to the gold dinar standard can achieved in a
more convincing fashion.

2 Life of Al-Maqrizi

Al-Maqrizi full name is Ahmad bin Abd al-Qader bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Tamim al-Bali al-Abidi al-Hsini. He was
also known as Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi. He was born in Cairo in 766 AH/ 1364 AD and died on Thursday 26 of Ramadhan
845AH/1441 AD. He was buried in Friday in Hush al-Sufiah al-Bibarsiah in Cairo. Al-Maqrizi was exceptionally fortunate in
that his grandfavtehr from his father’s side Shaikh Muhi al-Deen al-Qader (732/1331) and his grandfather from his mother’s
side Shamsul-Din ibn Saiqh (786/1384) were scholars in Hadiths, Arabic and Fiqh. Even when al-Maqrizi was still young he
accompanied his grandfather to classes held by scholars. He received his formal education in Cairo where he studied the
Quran, Prophet Muhammad traditions and other branches of Islamic studies such as dialectical theology, usul-fiqh. He also
studies Arabic literature, philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. one of the famous teachers of al-Maqrizi was Ibn
Khaldun.

Al-Maqrizi devoted most of his life tohis literary work in the field of history and biography. Like all other scholars al-Maqrizi
held academic posts in important schools (madrassas). He was first appointed by Sultan Barkuk to teach Hadiths in
Muayyadiah School in Cairo. Al-Maqrizi also served the government of the mamluk under Sultan Barkuk. He began his
career as a government officer in Diwan al-Insha in 791/1388 AH. He was promoted from the periphery of the mamluk
bureaucracy to its center. He worked as a Qadi of the Shari Mazhab. Later he was Imam of the Mesjid al-Hakim al-Fatimi.
Al-Maqrizi quickly moved up to his exceptional capabilities and receved his most important appointment as tehe Muhtasib
(Ombudsman) of Cairo and al-Wajeh al-Bahri of Sultan Barquq (801/1398). He was responsible for the conduct of the
markets and the control of the merchants. The post of Muhtasib in Cairo is the highest position among other muhtasib. After
spending ten years in Damascus, al-Maqrizi moved to Cairo and withdrew from all government post. He lived a life of fame
and respect for the rest of his life. He devoted himself to research in Islamic history wher he made his house as a center for
teaching until his death in 845 H/ 1441 AD).

3 Al-Maqrizi Economic Ideas

With his knowledge and experience, the economic ideas of Al-Maqrizi are not only confined to that of money and inflation
alone, but encompasses the analysis of economic crises and its linkages to the market forces and the economic role of the
state. These ideas are found in his four monumental works, namely the:

1) Ighathat al-Ummah bi-kashf al-ghummah

2) Al-suluk li-Ma’rifat dawal al-Muluk.

This book consists of four volumes and each volumes contains three parts. In general the suluk examines
history of Egypt during Mamluk recording data from 577 AH to 845 AH. The Suluk has a more geographical
and demograhic content compared with the Ighatat. In the suluk, al-Maqrizi discusses the following: : This one
volume book presented the history of famines, economic crises and its causes, which took place in Egypt up
1405 AH. Among others, the Ighatat examines the nature of business cycle, money and its history under
Islamic rule, inflation and its causes, the economic functions of the state, the market forces, price control and
monopolistic practices of the Mamluks.

a) The economic role of the state

b) Money, its functions and history aster 808 AH. This part of history was not found in the
Ighathat al-Ummah bi-kashf al-ghummah and Shothur al-‘ugood fi thiker al-Nuqud as it
was written after the completion of the Igathat and Nuqud.

c) Inflation, its causes, effects and remedies

d) Market mechanism and its imperfections.

3) Shothur al-‘ugood fi thiker al-Nuqud

4) Al-Mawa’iz wa-al-‘I’tbar bi-dhikr wa-la-Athar

: This book printed in two volumes examines the features of the Cairo economy, its market, streets, mosques

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and schools. He recorded and provides detailed reports and news of Egyptian cities, the ruling system and
biographies of people in their daily life. This important work of Maqrizi was translated into French and
German.: This one volume book written between 814-822 AH specializes on money, its nature and functions
and devoted exclusively to the monetary system. It was translated in French and Italian and published in 1797
AD. In this book al-Maqrizi looked into the monetary system of his time, its history beginning from the
Prophetic era to his time.

The importance of studying the economic thought of al-Maqrizi emerges from the fact that he lived in a crucial period of
Islamic history, that is the Mamluk’s period. This period spanning over 250 years, can be divided into two distinct period, the
first ranging from 658 AH/1250 AD to 792 AH/1390 AD and the second 784 AH/1382 AD to 922 AH/1517 AD. The second
period of the Mamluk empire witnessed changes in economic, social and political life. It witnessed internal problems and
lack of inner stability as well as large-scale migration from rural areas to cities where there was a decline in population due
to the outbreak of the Black Death in the middle of the fourteenth century. It witnessed a downtrend in economic activities
and several changes made to the monetary system, namely from gold and silver money to copper leading to an upward
movement in prices. The Ighatat provides a comprehensive outlook at the economic, social and political problems of the
Eqyptians under the Mamluks. on the nature of the crisis, al- Maqrizi says,

"when the hawadith occur in 806 hijrah, the fall in the river Nile coupled with attacks by Timurlank on Blad-al-sham
(Syria) and the high increases in prices in Egypt, the inflation multiplied (hyperinflation) over a long time, the
destruction of money (talaf an nuqud wa fasaduha), political instability and internal conflicts, the destruction of Sa’id
followed by migration of the people of Sa’id. People fall in utter poverty while government uses its power to confiscate
private property. The government forced people to purchase goods at high prices (aghla al-athman). Thus, all of the
above destroyed social and economic life (kathura al kharab) of the people"

The Asian financial crisis in 1997, was partly caused by inflationary pressure coming from over-borrowing and
over-spending. Inflation increases cost of production, which in turn lowers profit. Declining profit also implies lower company
valuation, which reflected itself in lower share prices of the troubled company. Likewise the hyperinflation during the
Mamluk dynasty is caused by the monetary system, namely the use of fulus as money. In addition, al-Maqrizi also believe
that inflation is also caused by non-monetary factors such as monopoly and hoarding and rising cost of production. Since
money was the main cause of hyperinflation, it is worthy to examine al-Maqrizi’s view on money.

4 Money in Islamic History

In the Ighathat al-Ummah bi-kashf al-ghummah, al-Maqrizi examined money in Islamic history. Gold and silver were used
since the beginning of the Prophetic era and throughout the rule of the Khalifa Rashidin. In the Ighatat al-Maqrizi said:

"The currency that was in circulation among the Arabs in pre-Islamic times consisted if gold and silver only.
From other countries, the Arabs received gold dinars, among which were the imperial dinars from the
Byzantine empire. The dinar was called dinar because of its weight, but it was also a coin. When God sent
forth His prophet Muhammad, the Prophet confirmed all these weights used by the inhabitants of Mecca and
said: ‘The weight is that of Mecca’ abd according to another version 9he said0: ‘The weight is that of Medina’.
The Messenger of God prescribed the Zakat on money accordinly: for every five uqiyahs of pure and
unadultered silver he imposed a zakat of five dirhams, i.e equivalent to one nawat and every twenty dinars he
imosed half a dinar".This system was adopted without the slightest alteration by Abu Bakar during his tenure
as caliph, following the death of the Messenger of God. When Umar ibn Khattab became caliph, he kept the
currencies as they were and did not alter them until the year 18/639-40 during the sixth year of his caliphate.."

During the Ummayard rule gold made independent from international system. In this manner, the purity of the
dinar is well maintained. The debasement of money however, began during the end of the Abbasid era when
the ruling government is weakening. By debasement, the pure gold content in the dinar became less.
Greshem’s law stating that bad money chase away good money is the order of the day. The Egyptians under
the Fatimid rule also used gold. When Eqypt under Ayubi took power from Fatimi and made aligience to
Abassid, he introduced silver (dirham) while keeping gold in government treasury. In this early period of the
Mamluk, currency system under the dinar and dirham is still intact. However, in the later period the system
began to use the fulus (copper) as money eventually leading to hyperinflations and widespread poverty. The
crisis or ghala was described in all of al-Maqrizi’s four books

5 Why Fulus (Copper Coins) Were Used to Replace the Dinar and Dirham as Money?

Al-Maqrizi provided some explanations behind the adoption of the fulus over the dinar and dirham in the late
Mamluk era. First, there was scarcity in silver (dirham) partly due to international trade where merchants took
out silver out of the country to make payments. Silver was also used make decorative and luxurious household
and palatial items as well as utensils. In this manner, the amount of silver dirham currency in circulation
became more scarce. Maqrizi was against the idea of using gold and silver as commodity or article of trade. It
can only be sued as money. To make matter worse, the government had been storing gold in the treasury,
thus limiting the amount of gold dinar in circulation.

Secondly, when the dinar and dirham were in short supply, the level of economic activity declined since
people have less currency to execute their daily transactions. To alleviate further decline in the economic

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activities the government began to import large quantities of fulus (copper) to be used as currency or money
since they are cheaper and abundant in supply.

According to al-Maqrizi, the introduction of the fulus was initiated by Sultan Barkuk during the second period
(1382 -1399 AD ) of the Mamluk rule. In the Nuqud, al-Maqrizi observed:

"During the time of Barquq, his wazir increases the quantity of fulus. Traders from the western Europe
(firanj) brought red copper to Cairo to sell them to the government to make profit. The minting of fulus in
large quantities continued for many years. These firanj took away silver dirham from Eqypt to their
countries. The people of Egypt converted silver dirham into decorations and utensils for both personal
and business purposes. These incidents continued until it is rare and difficult to find silver (a’zat).
Meantime, fulus is found in abundance and serve as money and the measure of value".

When Sultan Barkuk died 801 Hijrah, prices began to increase. The changes in the price level can be
classified into three stages. In the first stage (801-805 H) price increases but not sharply. In the second
stage (806-814 H), the economy was struck by hyperinflation. In both stages, the country is ruled by
Sultan Faraj bin Barkuk. In the Ighatat, al-Maqrizi desribed the situation:

"This continued until the death of al-Zahir Barquq in the middle of Shawwal 801/20 June 1399. on
that date, in Cairo, one irdabb of wheat is sold for less than thirty dirhams. The next day its price
reached fourty dirhams. Prices continues to rise until one irdabb of wheat sold for more than
seventy dirhams in the year 802/1399-1400"

The inflation was further aggravated by natural calamities when the River Nile failed to flood in
806/1403-4. Excess supply of the fulus exceeded the depleting supplies of food and commodities
due to the famine. Al-Maqrizi says:

"Wheat prices remained at this level (seventy dirhams) until the Nile failed to reached its
plentitude in 806/1403-4. This led to calamity: prices soured so high that the price of one
irdabb of wheat exceeded four hundred dirham of accounts. Prices of commodities such
as foodstuffs, drink and clothing followed a similar trend, thus causing an increase
unheard of in recent times in the wages of such persons as construction workers,
labourers, craftsmen and artisans"

In the Suluk, Al-Miqrizi further described the nature of inflation in Eqypt:

"A calf sold for 7,000 dirhams of account although its regular price was only 500; o-
ne pair of geese sold for 2,200 and one egg cost 2 dirhams of account. In the same
year, the rate of the dinar jumped in two months from 100 dirhams of account in
mod-Jumada to 310 in Rajab"

The third stage saw the reintroduction of the silver dirham by Sultan Muaayad who
followed the monetary reform proposed by al-Maqrizi. By the end of his rule,
decline in population (black death) brought in a period economic slowdown.

6 Al-Maqrizi’s Monetary Reform

The monetary reform proposed by al-Maqrizi is discussed in all his four books
wrote on the history of Egyptian social, political and economic life and its monetary
system. He blamed and critized the government for failing to uphold their
responsibilities abused of power. The monetary mismanagement and failure to
main economic stability was described in the Suluk as follows:

"The ghala hit Egypt in 806H. This is caused by the government

administrators who hoaded food and commodities to sell them at a higher
prices. They increase the rent on land in Eqypt causing the cost of
production to rise drastically. They also destroy the monetary system by not
following the Islamic standard of monetary regulation (ibtal assikah al
Islamiah). They do so by using dinar from the west and deliberately increase
the price of gold from 20 dirham to 240 dirham for each mithqal or dinar
(hoarding of gold among government administrators was rampant). They
want to make profit by purposely imposing high prices of gold). The system
of dinar and dirham is then changed into the system of fulus. The fulus
which was never used as a monetary base now becomes a medium of
exchange and measure of value".

Al-Maqrizi puts the fluctuation of the currency as the main cause the economic
crises of Mamluk Egypt followed by hoarding and corruption of government
officials. In the Ighatat he observed:

"We are presently at the beginning of the year 808/1405-6 and because of

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the fluctuation of the currency, the scarcity of the necessities of life and the
malfeasance and poor judgment (on the part of officials), the situation is
continually worsening due to greatly distressed and abominable conditions"

Al-Maqrizi’s proposals are as follows:

First

"We shall say: Know- May God guide you to your own
righteousness and inspire you to follow the straight paths of your
fellow humans - that the currencies that are legally, logically and
customarily acceptable are only those of gold and silver and that
many other metal is unsuitable as a currency. By the same token,
the situation of the people cannot be sound unless they are
obliged to follow the natural and legal course in this regard (i.e.
currency), namely that they should deal exclusively with gold and
silver for pricing goods and estimating labour costs."

In this proposal, it is evident that all payments made in trading (al-bay’)

and services (wages) must be made using only gold and silver. To
ensure that people have confidence on the quality of the gold and silver
currencies, al- Maqrizi proposed the prohibition of the debasement of
money. This is further explained in his second proposal next.

Secondly

"The price of 100 dirham of pure and unadultered silver is 6

mithqals of gold, to which is added ¼ dinar at current prices to
be paid to the mint as a fee to cover the price of copper (used in
the alloy), the taxes due the sultan, cost of firewoods, the wages
of workers, and the like"

Forbidding debasement of money would also mean using silver dirham

to pay wages as well as prices of goods and commodities. In this
manner, the welfare of the people is guaranteed. This point was clearly
spelt out by al-Maqrizi in the Ighatat. He said:

"If God would guide those whom He has entrusted with the
welfare of His servants to reinstate gold as the exclusive basis for
transactions as it was

previously - to link the value of goods and the costs of labor - this
would lead to the succor of the community, the amelioration of
the general situation and the checking of the decay that heralds
destruction"

Thirdly

"One mithqal of gold will be exchanged for 24 silver dirham coins

24 dirham coins is equivalent to a weight of 140 dirhams in
copper coins (fulus), which will be spent for purchasing
insignificant goods and for daily household transactions. This
will greatly benefit the population and cause prices to drop

"

Al-Maqrizi’s proposals namely, 1) using only gold and silver as money

2) stop debasement of money and 3) restricted use of the fulus, are
expected to reduce the price level in the following way as described in
the Ighatat:

"This will greatly benefit the population and cause the price to
drop. Shortly thereafter, people will rush to the mint and bring
forth such large quantities of (hoarded) silver that it will surpass
the capacity of the mint. Consequently, the situation will improve,
conditions will ease, wealth will be abundant and prosperity will
increase infinitely. ‘God knows and you know not’ (Quran :
2:216)"

The superiority of gold and silver as money over fulus, was

mentioned in the Khitat as:

"the price of goods under gold and silver increases slightly

but under fulus price of goods increase rapidly"

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In this manner, people who use gold and silver will find ease and
comfort from the fruit of their labor. on this point al-Maqrizi says
in the Ighatat:

"It is clear that if currency regained its previous status,

anyone who received money, whether from land tax, rent
from a property, a salary from the sultan, income from a
religious endowment or wages would receive it in gold or
in silver, according to whatever the officials deemed
appropriate and would spend it on this needs for food,
drink, clothing and other necessities. Despite the unstable
(economic) conditions through which we are living, if (my
proposal) were put into practice, anyone who received any
money in these two currencies would not feel cheated at
all"

God guides whom He wishes.

Praise be to God alone and Peace be upon the Prophet after

whom no

other prophet will come (Al-Maqrizi)

References

[1] Ighathat al-Ummah bi-kashf al-ghummah

[2] Al-suluk li-Ma’rifat dawal al-Muluk.
[3] Shothur al-‘ugood fi thiker al-Nuqud
[4] Al-Mawa’iz wa-al-‘I’tbar bi-dhikr wa-la-Athar of the above
destroyed social and economic life (kathura al kharab) of the
people"
[5] Adel Allouche, Mamluk Economics ( A study and Translation
of Al-Maqrizi’s Ighathah), University of Utah Press, Salt Lake
City, 1994.
[6] Saiful Azhar Rosly, The Islamic Dinar, Investors’ Digest,
February 2002.
, the use of fulus is restricted to meet local needs such as fulfilling the
sale and purchase of less expensive commodities such as food and daily
household expenditure. on this point al-Maqrizi said in the Ighatat that:,
debasement of money must not be allowed. Any activities of
debasement must be stop and discontinued. This is because religious
obligation such as Zakat payments was made on genuine money and
not impure or debased money. on this note, al-Maqrizi says in the
Ighatat that:

in the Ighatat, al-Maqrizi stressed that only gold and silver can be used as
money. He said:

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