Islam > Glossary > Ahl al-dywan
Discover the meaning of the term Ahl al-dywan (أهل الديوان) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readThey are the soldiers whose names were inscribed in the diwan; this is Abu Hanifa's view, may God have mercy on him. With al-Shafi'i, may God have mercy on him, the people of the diwan are the kindred, that is, the 'asaba.
A Persian word meaning: the collection of registers in which the men of the army and the men of the stipend are inscribed; it is the reckoning register; then applied to the reckoning, then to the place of reckoning; and a poet's collected poems is named diwan. The author of al-Taj said: its senses are five: the scribes, their place, the ledger, every book, and the collection of poetry. With the jurists: it is the ledger in which are recorded the names of those serving the state who have an allotment or grant from the treasury; it also means the place where the said ledger and its scribe are.
They were defined thus: they are the soldiers whose names were inscribed in the diwan. They are likewise the people of the diwan kindred: that is, the 'asaba. The people of the diwan are also those who draw an allotment from it.
(Dastur al-'Ulama', 1/213; al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya, 7/118).
They are the soldiers whose names were inscribed in the diwan; this is Abu Hanifa's view, may God cover him with mercy: the kindred, that is, the 'asaba.