Thus, in the narrations of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, al-Marwazī, and Ḥarb, he stated the prohibition without qualification. In the narrations of Abū Dāwūd and Bakr, he explicitly stated that it was prohibited even in cases of need, such as giving charity or making jewelry. In the narration of Abū Ṭālib, however, he explicitly stated that it was merely non-prohibitively disliked. He said: “I asked Aḥmad about cutting dirhams, and he replied, ‘The Prophet forbade breaking the Muslims’ currency.’” He was asked, “If someone breaks it, is anything due from him?” He replied, “No; but he has done what the Prophet forbade.” His statement, “Nothing is due from him,” means that he bears no sin.
The basis for regarding this as disliked is Allah’s saying: “Or that we do with our wealth whatever we please” (11:87). It has been related from Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī that he said: “The people of Shuʿayb were punished for cutting their dirhams. They said, ‘O Shuʿayb, does your prayer command you that we should abandon what our forefathers worship, or that we should do with our wealth whatever we please?’” Zayd ibn Aslam said: “Among the things Allah prohibited them from was clipping or cutting dirhams.”
Al-Marwazī narrated through his chain of transmission from ʿAlqamah ibn ʿAbdullāh, from his father, that the Prophet forbade breaking the Muslims’ valid currency that circulated among them, except in a case of need. Aḥmad said, in the narrations of al-Marwazī and Ḥarb: “Need means when the coins are defective.” He cited the fact that Ibn Masʿūd used to break debased coins while he was in charge of the public treasury.
The term sikkah originally refers to the iron die on which dirhams were struck; minted dirhams were therefore called sikkah. The governors of the Umayyads used to condemn this practice, until they went to excess. It has been related that Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam seized a man who had clipped one of the Persian dirhams and cut off his hand. Aḥmad said, in the narration of Abū Ṭālib: “Their dirhams were mithqāls—those large baghlī dirhams. A man would cut around one of them and then spend it at full value; that is why his hand was cut off.”
Ibn Manṣūr narrated that he said to Aḥmad: “Ibn al-Zubayr came to Mecca and found a man clipping dirhams, so he cut off his hand.” Aḥmad replied: “The dirhams were accepted by count and face value, without weighing, so he treated him as a thief.” He added: “This is excessive discretionary punishment.” Al-Wāqidī related: “Abān ibn ʿUthmān was governor of Medina and punished anyone who clipped dirhams with thirty lashes.”