When asked to explain why he does what he does, Zaim Saidi points to a song, “Kisah 8 Dirham” (“The Story of 8 Dirhams”) by Gita Gutawa.

The tune tells of the Prophet Muhammad going to the market with eight dirhams, or silver coins. Along the way, he gives away six dirhams to the needy and uses the last two to buy new clothes.

“The point is, the price for new clothes was two dirhams,” Zaim said after playing the music video in his office in Depok.

Since today one dirham is worth around Rp 67,000 ($7.50), he said, it means you can still buy new clothes for two dirhams.

That stability in value is one of the main reasons Zaim works to promote a Shariah-based economy that uses gold and silver coins for trade.

“I believe the current economic system based on paper money as a medium of exchange will soon collapse,” he said.

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