Others said that it was because the Persians disliked their debasement, and so they were called the “disliked” coins.

After al-Ḥajjāj, ʿUmar ibn Hubayra took charge during the reign of Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and minted them to a higher standard than before. He was succeeded by Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qasrī, who took even greater care to improve their quality. After him, Yūsuf ibn ʿUmar minted them with excessive strictness and refinement. The Hubayriyya, Khalidiyya, and Yusufiyya were the highest-quality coins of the Umayyads. Al-Manṣūr would accept no dirhams other than these for the land tax.

Yaḥyā ibn al-Nuʿmān related from his father that the first person to mint dirhams was Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr, on the orders of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, in the year 70, following the coinage of the Persian emperors. One side bore the inscription “Blessing,” and the other “Allah.” After a year, he altered them, inscribing “In the name of Allah” on one side and “al-Ḥajjāj” on the other.

Aḥmad said, in the report of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Munādī: “The Muslims may mint only coins of good quality.” This was because the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to transact with foreign dirhams. Whenever such coins were rejected, they would take them to the market and say, “Who will sell us something in exchange for these?” This was because the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, and Muʿāwiya never minted coins.

When gold and silver are pure and free from adulteration, they are the standard for monetary obligations. The coins among them that are minted with the ruler’s official die, whose sound production is trusted and whose alteration and counterfeit are not feared, are the currency that is due—not silver nuggets or gold ingots, for their purity cannot be relied upon without smelting and refining. Minted coinage, however, is trusted. Thus, it is what is established as a liability with respect to the prices stated for sales and the value of property destroyed.

If minted coins differed in value while being equal in quality, and the tax official demanded the coins of the higher value, the matter must be examined. If they were minted by the reigning sultan, his demand should be met, because abandoning his coinage would amount to departing from obedience to him. If they were minted by someone else, the matter should likewise be examined: if those coins had been accepted as land tax by his predecessor, his demand should be met, in keeping with the established precedent. But if they had not previously been accepted, the demand would be futile and unjust.

Aḥmad said, in the report of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad: “Dirhams may be minted only in the mint, with the ruler’s permission, for if people were given free rein, they would undertake grave abuses.” Thus, he prohibited minting without the ruler’s permission because doing so involved usurping his prerogative.