In the

Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

, the term () referred to the two key attributes of

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

: minting

coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

(especially of gold or silver) in one's own name, and being named in the , the sermon that precedes the

Friday prayer Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...

. The term originally referred to the iron die used to stamp designs on coins, and came to be used for the designs themselves, and eventually the institution of the mint. As the power of the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

waned during the late 9th century, the numerous ''de facto'' autonomous rulers who emerged in the Islamic world, such as Ya'qub al-Saffar or

Ahmad ibn Tulun Ahmad ibn Tulun (; c. 20 September 835 – 10 May 884) was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt in the Middle Ages, Egypt and Bilad al-Sham, Syria between 868 and 905. Originally a Turkic peoples, Turkic slave-soldier, in 868 Ibn ...

, added their own names to the coinage underneath that of the caliph, as the last vestige of Abbasid authority, but also as a token of caliphal recognition, suzerainty, and thus legitimacy for the new dynasties. As the historian R. E. Darley-Doran writes, "whether by usurpation or grant from the caliph, the presence of names on the coinage came to be seen as a right that could be exercised by any serious rebel, semi-autonomous local governor or faithful ally of the 'Abbasid caliphate". In the 10th century, when the caliphs themselves became puppets of their commanders-in-chief, the names of the latter also appeared in the coinage. Likewise, in the Friday sermon, held from the pulpit, and where only the sovereign ruler was originally mentioned, but as the caliphs became puppets, the real power-holders also began to be mentioned in the sermon. The phrase ("he was satisfied with the coin and sermon"), reflecting this practice, came to mean someone who was master of something only in name, without real power. With the emergence of the rival caliphates of the

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

, Umayyads and

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

, changes in coin design were undertaken deliberately to differentiate themselves from the Abbasid model and set forth the respective regimes' individual claims to authority. Conversely, events like the

Fall of the Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, it ...

in 1171 were marked with the resumption of the Abbasid allegiance and the minting of coinage on the Abbasid model, naming the Abbasid caliph, and the omission of a ruler in coinage and sermon was the usual way to declare independence. In this manner, changes to the rulers mentioned in the sermon and coinage, or the choice of specific legends on coins, became indicative of switches in the political and even religious allegiance of regional potentates or cities. Such changes were not only imposed by an imperial centre; local potentates also changed the names they used according to which patron they sought protection or advantage from. Islamic coinage has therefore become an invaluable tool for modern historians trying to reconstruct the political history of the medieval Islamic world.

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