ABSTRACT
Thesecoinslackmanyofthefeaturesthatarestandardonmost otherissuesoftheeasternIslamicworldinthe2rd-4th/9th-10th centuries.Thesemissingfeaturesinclude:theshahada,lailahilia AllahthatisanalmostuniversalfeatureofIslamiccoinageinthe classicalperiod;thenameofthe'Abbasidcaliphorsomeotherimam; theplaceofissueand(onallbuttwospecimens)thedate;andthe Propheticmission,MufJammadrasulAllaharsalahibi'lhuda,etc., whichisanormalfeatureofgoldandsilvercoinageofthetime.On theotherhand,severalofthecoinshaveaveryunusualinscription, la!Jaw/wa-laguwwailiabillah,which,asfarasisknown,occurs onlyononeotherIslamicissue,acopperfalsofal-Mawsil(Mosul), issuedprobablyinthelateUmayyadperiod,about127-32H./C.E. 745-50. 5QernotRotterattributesthisMosulissue,whichbearsthe nameofal-AmirZuhayrb.'Alqama(otherwiseunknown),tothe KharijirebelswhoheldMosulin126H./C.E.744,buthisattribution, thoughplausible,haslittletodowiththeunusualreligiousslogan, anddoesnotjustifyregardingthissloganasdistinctivelyKhariji. LaterinIslamichistoryasimilarslogan,al-IJawlwa'l-gowwabillah, isfoundonMaghribiissuesoftheI:Iaf~ids,theMarinids,andperhaps theHiididsandZiyanids,allofwhomareregardedasSunni.6Onthe otherhand,theformulationofthephraseontheissueofMismaris parallelinformtothewell-knownKharijisloganla!Jukmilialilliih, asRotterobserves,anditisnotablethatthislatterphrasealsois foundontheissuesof'Alib.Mul).ammad,Sal).ibal-Zanj,7whohad beenactiveinthemainlandofal-Bahrainjustaquartercentury beforethesecoinswereissued.Nevertheless,assumingtheslogan wasinfluencedby'AHb.Mul).ammadatall,itmaywellhavebeenin reactiontohispreachingratherthaninemulationofit.Finally,the absenceofthenameofanycaliphorimamleavesopenthe possibilitythattheBam1MismarwereKharijis,butdoesnotprove thattheywere.Althoughitwasusualforrulerswhorecognizedthe 'Abbasidstonamethecaliphontheircoins,therearemanyexamples ofminorcoins-copperanddebasedsilver-issuedbySunni dynastieswithoutthecaliph'sname.Insum,thecoinshintthatthe Bam1MismarmighthavebeenKharijis-onecannotsaymorethan this.
