Mithqāl ( ar, ) is a unit of mass equal to which is mostly used for measuring precious metals, such as

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, and other commodities, like

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...

. The name was also applied as an alternative term for the

gold dinar The gold dinar ( ar, ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهبي) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Lat ...

, a coin that was used throughout much of the Islamic world from the 8th century onward and survived in parts of Africa until the 19th century. The name of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

's currency since 1980, the '' metical'', is derived from ''mithqāl''.

Etymology

The word ''mithqāl'' ( ar, ; “weight, unit of weight”) comes from the Arabic ''thaqala'' (), meaning “to weigh”. Other variants of the unit in English include ''miskal'' (from

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the measurement is known as ''mithqaal''. It contains 4 and 3½ (rata'ii; مثقال). It is equivalent to 4.25 grams when measuring

, or 4.5 grams when measuring commodities. It may be more or less than this.

Conversion factors

The mithqāl in another more modern calculation is as follows: Nakhud is a Baháʼí unit of mass used by Bahá'u'lláh. The mithqāl had originally consisted of 24 nakhuds, but in the Bayán, the collective works of the

Báb The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed ...

, this was reduced to 19.

References

Units of mass Measurement Ottoman units of measurement Islamic banking Arabic words and phrases Islamic banking and finance terminology {{india-culture-stub

Etymology

Conversion factors

See also

References