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There are many views in relation to the weight of a dirham. A summary of some of the famous views is presented here followed by the calculations:
1) 1 dirham equals 3.0618g – This is the view of Mufti Muḥammad Shafīʿ Uthmānī (d.1396/1976), a view endorsed by most ḥanafī jurists of the Indian subcontinent including Mawlānā Ashraf ʿAlī Thānawī (d. 1362/1943), ʿAllāmah Shabbīr Aḥmad ʿUthmānī (d. 1369/1949), Mawlānā Ẓafar Aḥmad ʿUthmānī (d. 1394/1974), Mufti Maḥmūd Ḥasan Gangohī (d. 1417/1996), Mufti ʿAbd al-Raḥim Lājpūrī (d. 1422/2001), Mufti Raḍaʾ al-Ḥaq (b. 1369/1950), Mawlānā Khālid Sayf Allah Raḥmānī (b. 1376/1956) and Mufti Muḥammad Salmān Manṣūrpūrī (b. 1386/1967) (Jawāhir al-Fiqh, 3:437; Fatāwā Maḥmūdiyyah, 17:269, 272, 291; Fatāwā Raḥīmiyyah, 8:231; Fatāwā Dār alʿUlūm Zakariyyā, 3:628; Kitāb al-Fatāwā, 4:391; Kitāb al-Nawāzil, 8:400).
2) 1 dirham equals 3.402g – This is the view of Mufti Rashīd Aḥmad Ludyānwī (d.1422/2002) (Aḥsan al-Fatāwā, 4:415).
3) 1 dirham equals 2.975g – This is the view of Shaykh ʿAlī Pasha Mubārak (d.1311/1893), Shaykh Muḥammad Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Rayyis (d. 1397/1977), Shaykh Ṣubḥī al-Ṣāliḥ (d. 1407/1986), Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qadīm Zallūm (d. 1424/2003), Shaykh Wahbah al-Zuḥaylī (d. 1436/2015), Shaykh Yūsuf al-Qarāḍāwī (b. 1345/1926), Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Muktār al-Shanqīṭī (b. 1381/1961) and many Arab scholars (Al-Kharāj wa al-Naẓm al-Māliyyah li al-Dawlah al-Islāmiyyah, p.354; AlNaẓm al-Islāmiyyah Nashʾatuhā wa Taṭawwuruhā, p.428; Al-Amwāl fī Dawlat alKhilāfah, p.203; Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh, 3:1820, 1834; Fiqh al-Zakāt, p.186; Sharḥ Zād al-Mustaqniʿ, Lesson 94; Majallat al-Buḥūth al-Islāmiyyah, 39:281). This appears to be the strongest view and is very close to the view of the majority of the
scholars of the sub-continent.
4) 1 dirham equals 3.104g – This is the view of Dr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Fahmī (d.1365/1946) (Fiqh al-Zakāt, p.183; Majallat al-Buḥūth al-Islāmiyyah, 39:279).
5) 1 dirham equals 3.12g – This is the view of some scholars (Fiqh al-Zakāt, p.184).
6) 1 dirham equals 3.5g according to the ḥanafīs and 2.52g according to the other three schools – This is the view of the Syrian scholar Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ʿUyūn al-Sūd (d. 1399/1979), the Syrian Shāfiʿī scholar Shaykh Muḥammad Asʿad al-ʿAbajī (d. 1393/1973) (Majallat al-Buḥūth al-Islāmiyyah, 39:271). It is worth noting the ḥanafī
amount is close to the view of Mufti Rashīd Aḥmad Ludyānwī (d. 1422/2002).
There are also other views in relation to this. The following table outlines the calculations in grams based on the aforementioned weights. The calculations in grams have been rounded off except for the gold amounts for obvious
reasons.
It should be noted that if the value of silver or gold is being given in dowry, the valuation should be based on the retail purchase price, enabling the wife to purchase the amount of silver or gold if she wishes to do so (for further information refer to the following link:
http://islamicportal.co.uk/calculating-value-of-gold-and-silver/). It is our understanding that silver bullion is subject to VAT in the UK, unlike gold. Therefore, VAT is to be factored into the valuation of silver, a principle also mentioned by Mufti Aḥmad Khānpūrī (b.
1365/1946) in Maḥmūd al-Fatāwā (5:434).
