The presence of Islam in Western history is a subject that is rarely discussed. Periods of history in which Islam was flourishing in parts of Europe are termed as the Dark Ages and brushed aside. Islam’s presence in Europe in ‘conventional history’ is limited to a few short decades which began through economic migration in the mid 20th century. This cannot be further from the truth, as will be demonstrated in this article.
Islam has not only been known to the academic elite in the Western world for over a thousand years, but has also been known to the general public throughout history.
Islam found its roots, and became known in England in only its 2nd century (8th century C.E.), for which there is ample proof.
The evidence lies with a King of Middle England, King Offa, about whom, peculiarly, very little is said.
King Offa of Mercia was one of the most powerful and prominent Kings of a large portion of England, before the unity of England in the 10th century.
He ruled Mercia, Middle England, between 757 C.E. (139A.H.) until his death in July 796. (179A.H.)
King Offa ordered the Building of the famous ‘Offa’s Dyke‘, situated on what is now the Welsh border. It was built to fulfil a similar purpose to that of the Great Wall of China; to protect his Kingdom from foreign intrusion.
His dominion was extended from Middle England to Wessex and Northumbria, two large English kingdoms, prominent alongside his own, after his daughters were married to the Kings of those regions.[1]
King Offa made important pacts with Charlemagne, the King of Franks and Emperor of the Romans, and with Pope Adrian the 1st. He remained on good terms with these two powerful personalities until his demise.
One of the most interesting facts about King Offa is that he was the first European Monarch, outside of Byzantium, to mint gold coins. It is a particular gold coin, minted by King Offa in 774 C.E. (157 A.H.) which is of particular interest. It was a copy of a gold Abbasid coin, which bares the declaration of Islamic faith, “There is no god but Allah, the One, He has no partners” on one side, and the term “Offa Rex” (Offa Rules) on the other.
There are further engravings declaring ‘Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah, Who sent him (Muhammad) with the doctrine and the true faith to prevail over every other religion.’[2]
The coin can be seen at the Numismatic Department of the British Museum, room 68, Exhibit 1, Gold Dinar of Offa. This coin has been the subject of much debate with equal amounts of people standing on both sides of the fence.
Did King Offa become a Muslim?
Is that why he minted this coin?
There are many opinions and debates as to whether or not King Offa did indeed become a Muslim. One undeniable fact is that King Offa would have been aware of the Islamic faith in his day, albeit the doctrine, creed and ethics of Islamic teachings were grossly misrepresented and misunderstood in Western Europe in King Offa’s time. It is this misunderstanding, and Western Europe’s perception of Islam as an “anti-Christian” religion that later allowed for the Crusades to take place. But the advantage King Offa had over the people he ruled is that he would have visited many countries, and one of these is Andalusia, Islamic Spain. Some people, Al-Kalby in particular, are of the opinion that King Offa became astonished by the grandeur of the Muslim civilisation in Spain, and it is possibly here that he came across the true teachings of the Islamic faith.
It is now the common belief of historians that King Offa’s expansionist regime was not inspired by a vision of a United England, but rather by greed and power. It is for this reason, historians believe, that Offa petitioned the Pope to grant him an archbishop for his own kingdom. For allowing him this request, in return he promised 365 Mancus (gold coins) to be paid to the pope every year, one for each day of the year [3].
The pope allowed him his request, and King Offa as promised, continued to pay the amount until his death. Some people have argued that the gold coins were minted not for general circulation in his kingdom, but for a specific purpose. Many believe the purpose of the gold coins was to be paid to the pope as part of the promised 365 Mancus.
However, had this been the case, the Pope, who is seen as an Apostle of God, and a deputy of Christ on Earth, would have been offended had King Offa been paying him with Gold coins bearing the Islamic Doctrine.
Some argue that Offa did not know what the Arabic meant, and saw it as merely adornments and designs. A proof presented for this is the fact that the Arabic contained a few errors in its writing. But surely, the Vatican must have had at least one scholar who was well versed in Arabic, and could have brought the meaning to the Pope’s attention. King Offa, on the other hand, would have had no reason to retain Arabic specialists and so could well have made a mistake in an otherwise intentional inscription of the Islamic creed.
In 775 C.E., one year after minting the coins in question, King Offa took over the region of Kent and annexed it into his Kingdom. The Archbishop of Canterbury accepted King Offa as his overlord and rightful ruler. It is 11 years after this, in 786 C.E., that the Pope sent two representatives to speak to King Offa and work out an agreement to allow him to have his own Archbishop[4].
Those who say that King Offa minted these coins to include in the Mancus as payment to the pope, fail to see that the coins were minted 12 years prior to the arrival of the Pope’s representatives to talk about the agreement for an Archbishop of Mercia.
Another argument as to the coin’s invention is that it may only have been used by pilgrims who visited the Holy Land of Palestine, and that King Offa minted a gold coin similar to the traditions of the Islamic Empire so that it would be more readily accepted.
But the nature of the relationship between King and subject at that time was that the King did not go out of his way to help those he ruled over. Besides, the pilgrims would often trade rather than purchase goods when they travelled.
The fact remains that had King Offa become a Muslim at that time, and if he had publicly declared it, not only would he have lost his throne, but would also have been declared an infidel and killed.
Very little is known of the life of King Offa which is rather peculiar for such a powerful King at that time. This fact has been the basis of the argument from some quarters, claiming that he did in fact convert to Islam, and did not publicly declare his beliefs. Some say that the Church of England in its infancy destroyed all proofs of his conversion [5].
Regardless of whether or not King Offa converted, it is clear that Western Europe knew about Islam in its early days and was impressed with its civilisation.
Whether or not he became a Muslim, King Offa, certainly established the trend of minting gold coins.
He was also the first monarch in Europe to place Arabic inscriptions on gold coins, which was later mimicked by Alfonso VIII of Castile 1158-1214, who had a gold coin minted with an Arabic inscription of the Catholic Christian creed.
It is clear that the Western World has known about the Islamic faith for over a thousand years, contradicting those voices who claim that Islam is new to the West.
A thousand or so years ago those who travelled to the Islamic Empires and came into contact with Muslims were certainly attracted to Islam. There may be differing views as to whether King Offa converted to Islam or not. The gold coin minted by him, declaring there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger, is however, there for all to see.
By Mohsin Ali Akbar
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[1] D.P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings, p. 154. Routledge; 2nd edition (November 7, 2000)
[2] Sheikh Abdullah Quilliam, writing as Professor H. M. Léon, M.A., D.C.L., F.S.P., etc. (1916) –
[3] Simon Keynes, “Offa”, in Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 340
[4] Sir Frank M. Stanton – Anglo-Saxon England p.215-216, Oxford paperbacks; 3rd edition (7 June 2001)
[5] http://www.sunnahonline.com/ilm/seerah/0037.htm
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© Al-HIDAYAH MAGAZINE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1[www.hidayahmag.com].
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