‘Abd al-Malik and the Shahāda Solidus

Abstract

It is argued that ‘Abd al-Malik (685–705) chose the obverse of the so-called shahāda solidus
that he began striking in c. 691 in order to provoke Justinian II (685–695, 705–711) into refusing
to accept tribute in this coin. In this way, he hoped to manipulate Justinian into breaking the
treaty between the Arab and Byzantine empires. His choice of obverse had nothing to do
with Emperor Heraclius (610–641), even though it was based on a Heraclian prototype, but it
alluded rather to the manner in which Justinian had risen to power and implicitly questioned
the legitimacy of his rule.