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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dltsrq, post: 2312978, member: 75482&quot;]There are some ambiguous early coins which may or may not have been intended to depict Muhammad. This first coin dates from the mid- to late 7th century and belongs to the Arab pseudo-Byzantine class, imitating Constans II. The figure&#039;s right arm (on our left) which normally is wrapped around a long cross has been misunderstood by the engraver as the name <font size="7">محمد</font> &quot;Muhammad&quot;, though crosses are still found elsewhere on the coin:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/album/019/image00274.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>This next coin, struck at Iliya Filastin (Jerusalem) c. AD 693-697 and belonging to the Arab-Byzantine standing caliph class, depicts an image of a caliph in Arab dress and removed of all Christian symbolism, probably intended as &#039;Abd al-Malik, the caliph under whom the coin was struck. However, instead of naming &#039;Abd al-Malik as do the other standing caliph coins, the legend surrounding the figure reads &quot;Muhammad the apostle of Allah&quot;. This phrase is part of the kalima or Mulism profession of faith and appears in some location on nearly all Islamic coins. So here, is it intended to label the figure as Muhammad or is that association merely coincidental?</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://dfpfmltq984k.cloudfront.net/product_image/202/L/6/L8z97MsgCc6AcSm52dEGaYT8o4pP3Z.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Shortly after this second coin was struck, &#039;Abd al-Malik reformed the coinage in accordance with an <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4674864.stm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4674864.stm" rel="nofollow">interpretation</a> of Islamic law which prohibits the depiction of any living thing (including Muhammad; cf. the OT prohibition of &quot;graven images&quot;) and from that point onward (with exceptions such as the Turcoman figural bronzes), the majority of Islamic coins have been purely inscriptional and Islamic art in general has concentrated on calligraphy rather than graphic representation.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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