admin
BAGHDAD. — The Islamic State group (IS) announced the launch of its own currency in a video posted online at the weekend, saying it would release Muslims from “enslavement by satanic banks”. The jihadist group showcased its gold, silver and copper coins in an hour-long video released on Saturday, August 29, touting the “return of the Gold Dinar” – a currency originally used in the early days of Islam.
The announcement comes two months after IS first released pictures of the new currency it planned to use in the so-called “caliphate”, a territory carved out of vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.
It marks another step in the group’s efforts to establish itself as a functioning state.
The IS group already boasts of its own territory, armed forces, services (including schools and hospitals), and judicial system. It also raises taxes – the “jizzieh, imposed on religious minorities – in the areas it controls.
France24’s Wassim Nasr, an expert on jihadist networks, said the currency’s launch followed a double imperative for the IS group, which has amassed a war chest of millions of dollars through tax collection, seizing oil refineries, smuggling and kidnappings for ransom.
“The first imperative is religious: according to Islam’s precepts, only gold and silver should be used as exchange currencies,” Nasr said, noting that the IS group often referred to this precept in its propaganda videos.
“The second reason is to break away from an international monetary system they describe as unfair and enslaving, but which they were previously obliged to use in order to access Iraqi, Syrian and even US currencies,” Nasr said.
The video, which featured numerous illustrations and lengthy arguments, claimed international finance was incompatible with Islam because of its use of interest rates. — France24
Online Reporter