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Dirham or Dirhem, the official currency of Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Al Ain, Umm Al Quwain, i.e. all Emirates of United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and Free Zones like JAFZA (Jebel Ali Free Zone), RAK Free Zone etc., is also a unit of currency in several other Arab nations in Middle East, and also formerly the related unit of mass (the "Ottoman Dram") in the Ottoman (USman) Empire.
Earlier, the Dirham was also a unit of weight used across North Africa, the Middle East, and Persia, with varying values. The name comes from Roman "Drachm".
In the late Turkish Ottoman Empire - a standard Dirham was 3.207 g; 400 Dirham equal to one Oka. The unit was also used in the former Ottoman countries like Greece & Cyprus.
In Egypt in 1895, it was equivalent to 47.661 troy grains (3.088 g).
Historically, the word "dirham" is derived from the name of a Greek coin, the Drachm; the Byzantine Empire controlled the Levant and traded with Arabia, circulating the coin there in pre-Islamic times and afterwards. It was this currency which was initially adopted as an Arab word; then near the end of the 7th century the coin became an Islamic currency bearing the name of the sovereign and a religious verse. The dirham was struck in many Mediterranean countries, including Spain, and could be used as currency in Europe between the 10th and 12 centuries.
Compare the Armenian dram for a currency whose name bears a similar origin. Also compare dinar for another currency circulated in the Muslim world but originating with the Romans.
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The AED or UAE Dirhams
The United Arab Emirates dirham was introduced in the year 1973. It replaced the Qatar and Dubai Riyal at par. The Qatar and Dubai riyal had circulated since 1966 in all of the Emirates except Abu Dhabi, where the Dirham replaced the Bahraini dinar at 1 dirham = 0.1 dinar. Before 1966, all the Emirates that were to form the UAE used the Gulf Rupee. As in Qatar, the Emirates briefly adopted the Saudi Riyal during the transition from the Gulf Rupee to the Qatar and Dubai Riyal.
On 28 January 1978, the Dirham was officially pegged to the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). In practice, it is pegged to the U.S. Dollar for most of the time. Since November 1997, the Dirham has been pegged to the 1 U.S. Dollar = 3.6725 Dirhams, which translates to approximately 1 dirham = 0.272294 Dollar.
The name Dirham derives from the Greek word Drachmae, being one of the most widely used currencies of all time. Due to centuries old trade and usage of the currency, Dirham survived through the Ottoman regime.
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In the beginning the Muslims used gold and silver by weight and the Dinar and Dirhams that they used were made by the Persians.
The first dated coins that can be assigned to the Muslims are copies of silver Dirhams of the Sassanian Yezdigird III, struck during the Khalifate of Uthman, radiy'allahu anhu. These coins differ from the original ones in that an Arabic inscription is found in the obverse margins, normally reading "in the Name of Allah". Since then the writing in Arabic of the Name of Allah and parts of Qur'an on the coins became a custom in all mintings made by Muslims.
Under what was known as the coin standard of the Khalif Umar Ibn al-Khattab, the weight of 10 Dirhams was equivalent to 7 Dinars (mithqals)
In the year 75 (695 CE) the Khalifah Abdalmalik ordered Al-Hajjaj to mint the first dirhams, thus he established officially the standard of Umar Ibn al-Khattab. In the next year he ordered the dirhams to be minted in all the regions of the Dar al-Islam. He ordered that the coins be stamped with the sentence: "Allah is Unique, Allah is Eternal". He ordered the removal of human figures and animals from the coins and that they be replaced with letters.
This command was then carried on throughout all the history of Islam. The dinar and the dirham were both round, and the writing was stamped in concentric circles. Typically on one side it was written the "tahlil" and the "tahmid", that is, "la ilaha ill'Allah" and "alhamdulillah"; and on the other side was written the name of the Amir and the date. Later on it became common to introduce the blessings on the Prophet, salla'llahu alayhi wa sallam, and sometimes, ayats of the Qur'an.
Gold and silver coins remained official currency until the fall of the Khalifate. Since then, dozens of different paper currencies were made in each of the new postcolonial national states created from the dismemberment of Dar al-Islam.
Copyright : Islamic Mint
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