Legend has it that Abd al-Malik (685-705) issued the first dinars because the Byzantine emperor had threatened to add an anti-Islamic slogan to the Byzantine solidi, which were the international currency in the entire Mediterranean at that time. For this reason the Caliph created a new gold coin. Abd al-Malik's dinars were entirely epigraphic. The central inscription on the obverse was "There is no god except Allah. He has no partner." The legend around it read "Mohammed is the messenger of Allah, he was sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over every other religion." On the reverse the text in the middle went "Allah is one, Allah is eternal, He begetteth not and is not begotten." And the marginal legend read "In the name of Allah was this dinar struck in the year eight and three."