Islamic State to Mint its Own Currency
The Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has plans of minting its own currency. The group published designs of the gold, silver and copper currencies on the social media Thursday.
In its statement, the jihadist group said that this move is "purely dedicated to God" and will spare Muslims from the "global economic system that is based on satanic usury," CNN reports.
The statement by the treasury department of IS, "Diwan al-Mal", was released in a jihadi forum. The group said that the currency will relieve the Muslims from using currencies that have been "imposed upon" them and is aimed at "enslaving and impoverishing" them, Mashable reports.
The currency will have seven coins, which includes two gold, three silver and two copper.
A translation via the Site Intelligence Group states that the currency will free ISIS members from "the tyrannical monetary system that was imposed on the Muslims and was a reason for their enslavement and impoverishment, and the wasting the fortunes of the Ummah [the community of Muslims worldwide], making it easy prey in the hands of the Jews and Crusaders, International Business Times reports.
The currency or the dinar/dirham will help the IS members to buy supplies for its expanding Caliphate. The group had declared an Islamic Caliphate earlier this year, with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the Caliph. Recently, Baghdadi had issued an audio recording in which he claimed that teh Caliphate had spread to Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as well.
Laith Alkhouri, the director of MENA Research and Analysis at Flashpoint Global Partners, told Mashable that the idea of establishing a separate currency is completely unrealistic. "Without international recognition of the currency, it will have virtually no trading power," he said.
