Diwan suna ne da ake bai wa wurin da sakatarori ke zama suna aiki da kuma inda ake ajiye takardu da bayanai. Haka kuma, suna ne da ake bai wa bayanan da kansu, kuma akwai alaƙa tsakanin ma'anoni biyu.

The Diwan is a name given to the place where the secretaries sit down to work and records are kept. It is also a name given to the records themselves, and there is an attachment between the two meanings.

An farko da aka kafa Diwanai da kuma ware wuri domin ajiye su ya kasance a zamanin ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab a shekara ta 20 bayan hijira. A lokacin rayuwar Manzon Allah ﷺ, Baitul-mali ba shi da Diwan na musamman, duk da cewa Manzon Allah ﷺ ya nada sakatarori domin su rika rubuta kudaden. Ya nada Mu’ayqeeb Ibnu Abi Fatima Aldusi a matsayin sakataren ganima (Al-ghanaim), da Zubayr Ibnul Awwam a matsayin sakataren Sadaqat, da Huzaifah Ibnul Yaman a matsayin mai kula da amfanin gona na Hijaz, da Abdullah Ibnu Ruwaha a matsayin mai kula da amfanin gona na Khaybar. Al Mughira Ibnu Shu’ba an nada shi sakataren lamuni da ciniki, yayin da Abdullah Ibnu Arqam ya kasance sakataren bayanan kabilu da ruwansu. Duk da haka, Manzon Allah ﷺ bai ajiye wani Diwan ba, kuma bai kafa wuri domin ajiyewa da rubuta su ba. Haka abin ya ci gaba a lokacin Khilafar Abu Bakr. Sai dai abubuwa sun canja a lokacin da ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab ya zama Khalifa, fãtawoyi suka karu. Wannan ya sa kudade suka yi ta kwarara zuwa Madina, lamarin da ya wajabta kafa diwanai, rubuta bayanai, da ware wurare domin ajiyewa da rubuta su.

The first establishment of Diwans and designation of a place to keep them in was at the time of ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab in the year 20AH. In the life time of the Messenger of Allah (saw) , the Treasury did not have a reserved Diwan though the Messenger of Allah (saw) did appoint secretaries to keep record of the funds. He appointed Mu’ayqeeb Ibnu Abi Fatima Aldusi as secretary of the spoils (Al-ghanaim), and Zubayr Ibnul Awwam as secretary of the Sadaqat, Huzaifah Ibnul Yaman as secretary over the agricultural produce of Hijaz, and Abdullah Ibnu Ruwaha as secretary over the agricultural produce of Khaybar. Al Mughira Ibnu Shu’ba was appointed as secretary for the loans and transactions, while Abdullah Ibnu Arqam was a secretary for the records of the tribes and their water. However, the Messenger of Allah (saw) did not keep any Diwans nor did he set up a place for keeping them and writing them. This went on during the Khilafah of Abu Bakr . However, things changed when ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab became Khalifah, and the conquests increased. This consequently increased funds pouring into Madinah, which necessitated the setting up of diwans and writing records and designating places for keeping them and writing them.

An rahoto cewa dalilin kafa Diwanai kai tsaye shi ne lokacin da Abu Hurayra ya kawo wa ‘Umar kuɗi masu yawa daga Bahrain. Sai ‘Umar ya tambaye shi: “Me ka kawo?” Ya ce: “Na kawo maka dirhami dubu ɗari biyar (500,0000).” ‘Umar ya ce masa: “Ka san abin da kake faɗa? Ka gaji ne, don haka ka je ka kwanta, ka zo wurina da safe.” Washegari da ya zo, ‘Umar ya tambaye shi: “Nawa ne?” Abu Hurayra ya ce: “Dirhami 500,000.” ‘Umar ya ce: “Halal ne?” Abu Hurayra ya amsa: “Ban san komai ba face haka.” A nan ‘Umar ya hau mimbari, ya yabi Allah (SWT) ya girmama Shi, sa’an nan ya ce: “Ya ku mutane! Kuɗi masu yawa sun iso mana, don haka idan kuna so, za mu raba muku su bisa ma’auni, ko kuma idan kuna so, za mu ƙidaya su.” Sai wani mutum daga cikin jama’a ya ce: “Ya Amirul Mu’minin! Don me ba za ka kafa littattafan asusu (Diwan) ba, domin ka rubuta duk abin da ka ba mutane?”

It has been reported that the direct reason behind establishing the Diwans was because Abu Hurayra once brought to ‘Umar a large amount of funds from Bahrain. So ‘Umar asked him: “What have you brought?” He said: “I brought you five hundred thousand Dirhams (500,0000).” ‘Umar said to him: “Do you know what you are talking about? You must be tired, so go to sleep and come and see me in the morning. When he came the next day, ‘Umar asked him ‘How much is it?’ Abu Hurayra said: ‘500,000 Dirham.’ ‘Umar enquired: ‘Is it legitimate (Halal)?’ Abu Hurayra replied: ‘I know nothing else but that. Upon this ‘Umar stepped up the Mimbar, praised Allah (swt) and glorified Him, then said: ‘O people! A large amount of funds has reached us, so if you wish we can divide it among you in measure or if you wish we can count it. A man from among the people said: “O Amir al-Mu’amineen!, Why don’t you set up account books (Diwan) so that you can record whatever you give to people.’”.

Al-Waqidi ya ruwaito: Lalle ‘Umar ɗan Al-Khattab ya tuntuɓi Musulmi game da kafa littattafan asusu (Diwans). Ali ya ce masa: "Kowace shekara, ya kamata ka raba duk kuɗaɗen da ka karɓa ba tare da riƙe komai ba." Uthman ya ce: "Ina ganin akwai manyan kuɗaɗe da za a bai wa mutane, idan ba a ƙidaya waɗannan mutane don taimakawa wajen bin diddigin wanda ya karɓa da wanda bai karɓa ba, ina tsoron abubuwa su iya tafiya ba daidai ba." Bisa haka, Al-Walid Ibnu Hisham Ibnul Mughira ya ce: "Na je Ash-Sham, na kuma gano cewa Sarakunanta sun kafa littafin asusu (Diwan) suka kuma ɗauki sojoji (don yaƙi), to me ya sa ba za ku yi irin haka ba?" ‘Umar ya karɓi shawararsa, ya kira Aqeel Ibnu Abi Talib da Makhrama Ibnu Nawfal, da Jubayr Ibnu Mut’im, waɗanda ƙwararrun masana nasabar Quraish ne, ya ce musu: "Ku je ku gudanar da ƙidayar gida-gida." Sai suka fara da Bani Hashim, sannan da Abu Bakr da iyalansa, sannan ‘Umar da iyalansa, sannan suka ƙidaya sauran kabilu suka dawo suka sanar da ‘Umar. Da ‘Umar ya duba ƙidayar sai ya ce: "A’a, ba wannan ne nake so ba. Amma ku fara da iyalan Manzon Allah ﷺ, sannan waɗanda suka fi kusa da su, haka har a sanya ‘Umar inda Allah (SWT) ya sanya shi."

Al- Waqidi reported: Verily ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab consulted the Muslims about setting up the account books (Diwans). Ali said to him; “Each year, you should divide all the funds you receive without holding back anything.” Uthman said: “I can see that there are large amounts of funds to be given to the people, if these people are not counted to help keep track of who has taken from who has not , I fear that things could get out of hand.” Upon this Al-Walid Ibnu Hisham Ibnul Mughira said: I have been to Ash-Sham and I learnt that its Kings had set up an account book(Diwan) and recruited conscripts (for war), so why don’t you do the same? ‘Umar took up his advice and summoned Aqueel Ibnu Abi Talib and Makhrama Ibnu Nawfal, and Jubayr Ibnu Mut’im who were of the genealogist of Quraysh, and said to them: Go and carry a house to house census. So they began with Bani Hashim, then with Abu Bakr and his folk then ‘Umar and his folk, then they counted the tribes and reported back to ‘Umar. When ‘Umar looked at the census he said: No, I did not want it to be like this, however, do start with the family of the Messenger (saw), then the nearer to them and so on until you put ‘Umar where Allah (swt) has put him.

Wannan, dangane da Diwan (littafin asusu) na tallafi da na wajibcin soji, an rubuta shi da Larabci. Amma game da Diwan na lokacin biyan haraji da tara kudade, lamarin ya sha bamban. An rubuta Diwan na Iraki da harshen Farisanci, kamar yadda aka yi a zamanin daular Farisawa; haka ma Diwan na kasashen da suke karkashin mulkin Farisawa. Don haka, Diwan na harajin kasa da na Jizya, da lokacin biyan haraji da tara kudade, an rubuta su da Farisanci. Amma game da Sham da yankunan da Rumawa ke mulki, an rubuta Diwan nasu da harshen Rumawa, kamar yadda ake yi a lokacin da Rumawa ke mulkinsu. Haka abin ya ci gaba tun zamanin Umar b. Al-Khattab har zuwa lokacin Halifancin Umayyawa Abdul Malik Ibnu Marwan, inda a shekara ta 81 bayan hijira aka mayar da Diwan na Sham zuwa harshen Larabci.

This, as far as the Diwan (account book) of the grants and the conscripts is concerned, and it was written in Arabic. As for the Diwan of the payment time and fund collection, the case was different. The Diwan of Iraq was written in Persian as it was the case in the times of the Persian empire, so was the Diwan of the countries which were under the Persian ruling. Thus the Diwan of their land tax and Jizya, payment time and funds collection were written in Persian. As for Ash- Sham and the areas which were ruled by the Romans, their Diwan was written in Roman as it was the case when these were ruled by the Romans. This went on since the days of ‘Umar b. Al- Khattab until the time of the Khilafah of the Umayyad Abdul Malik Ibnu Marwan, when in the year 81AH the Diwan of Ash-sham was transferred to Arabic.

An wallafa cewa abin da ya sa Abdul Malik Ibnu Marwan ya mayar da Diwan daga harshen Rumi zuwa Larabci shi ne, wani lokaci sakataren Diwan, wanda Balumi ne, ya buƙaci ruwa don kwankwasonsa na tawada, sai ya yi fitsari a cikin kwankwason maimakon ya zuba ruwa. Abdul Malik ya ji labarin haka, ya tsawata masa; sannan ya umarci Sulaiman Ibnu Sa'ad da ya mayar da Diwan zuwa Larabci. Don haka ya nemi taimakonsa ta hanyar ba shi Kharaj na Jordan na tsawon shekara guda. Ya amince, ya naɗa shi Wali a kan Jordan, wanda Kharajinsa ya kai Dinare 180,000. Bai ɗauki Sulaiman fiye da shekara guda ba kafin ya kammala fassara Diwan zuwa Larabci. Ya kai wa Abdul Malik Ibnu Marwan, wanda ya kira sakataren sa Sarjoon, ya nuna masa. Sarjoon ya yi baƙin ciki da haka, ya fita daga fadar Abdul Malik cikin damuwa. Sai wasu ma'aikatan Rumawa suka same shi, sai ya ce musu: "Ku nemi wata hanyar samun abincinku, domin Allah (SWT) ya ɗauke muku wannan arziƙin."

It has been reported that what led Abdul Malik Ibnu Marwan to transfer the Diwan from Roman to Arabic was that the Secretary of the Diwan who was Roman, was once in need of water for his inkwell so he urinated in the inkwell instead of putting water. Abdul Malik heard of this and rebuked him; then he ordered Sulayman Ibnu Sa’ad to tranfer the Diwan to Arabic. So he asked him for assistance by making the Kharaj of Jordan available to him for one year. He agreed and appointed him Wali over Jordan, whose Kharaj was 180,000 Dinars. It took Sulayman less than a year to complete the translation of the Diwan into Arabic. He took it to Abdul Malik Ibnu Marwan who then summoned his Secretary Sarjoon and showed it to him. Sarjoon was saddened by this and left Abdul Malik’s court dejected. Other Roman clerks met with him, so he said to them: “You better seek another way of earning your living, for Allah (swt) has taken away this provision from you.”.

Game da Diwan na Iraki kuwa, shi ne Wali na Al-Hajjaj Abdul Malik a kan Iraki ya umarci Sakatarensa Salih Ibnu Abdul-Rahman da ya mayar da shi daga harshen Farisa zuwa Larabci. Salih yana iya magana da harsunan biyu sosai, don haka ya amince da wannan aiki aka kuma ba shi lokaci ya kammala aikin. Lokacin da Sakatare na Farisa na Al-Hajjaj, Muradnashah Ibnu Zadan Farukh, ya ji labarin haka, ya yi ƙoƙarin yi wa Salih rashawa da Dirhami 100,000 domin ya nuna cewa bai iya aikin ba, amma ya ƙi. Sai ya ce masa: Allah (SWT) ya raba ka da wannan rayuwa kamar yadda ka raba harshen Farisa.

As for the Diwan of Iraq, it was Al- Hajjaj Abdul Malik’s Wali over Iraq that ordered his Secretary Salih Ibnu Abdul-Rahman to transfer it from Persian into Arabic. Salih was fluent in both languages, so he agreed to do this and was given time to complete the task. When the Persian Secretary of Al- Hajjaj, Muradnashah Ibnu Zadan Farukh, heard of this, he tried to bribe Salih with 100,000 Dirham in order to pretend his incompetence, but he refused. So he said to him: May Allah (swt) dissect you from this life as you have dissected the Persian language.