After the leader of the Islamic State terror group released a warning audio recording on Thursday, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has now reportedly ordered the terrorist organization to start minting gold, silver and copper coins for its own currency, the Islamic Dinar, according to a website affiliated with the group.
Posted on late Thursday, ISIS followers were instructed to start minting the coins as a step towards changing the "tyrannical monetary system" modeled on Western economies, which, according to al-Baghdadi, has "enslaved Muslims."
The Islamic State, which has seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria, has also been attempting to implement Sharia, or Islamic law, after the terrorist group proclaimed a caliphate on lands under its control, including declaring al-Baghdadi as the caliph, The Guardian reported.
Although the authenticity of the website's posting could not be independently verified, the post stated that the Islamic State group's Shura Council, an advisory board, had already approved of the leader's order.
The coins supposedly have the Arabic words "The Islamic State / A Caliphate Based on the Doctrine of the Prophet" inscribed on them, according to photographs of coin prototypes.
On two of the gold coins, one has a symbol of seven stalks of wheat, mentioned in the Quran, while another has the map of the world, a reference to Islam someday taking over and ruling the entire world.
"One of the silver coins shows a sword and a shield in a reference to holy war, or jihad while another has a minaret symbolizing Damascus mentioned in one of the Prophet Muhammad's sayings," New York Daily News reported.
"Another coin carries the symbol of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, where the Prophet prayed. It's revered as Islam's third-holiest place, complete with the site's iconic gold-topped Dome of the Rock, which enshrines the rock from which Muslims believe the Prophet ascended to heaven."
For the copper coin, a significant Islamic symbol of the crescent moon and three palm trees have been engraved.
For now, it remains unclear where ISIS intends to get the gold, silver and copper for the coins. But the website stated that further instructions will be posted in the future informing followers how to make use of the currency.