Sanat al-Wufud

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Sanat al-wufūd (Arabic: سنة الوفود) or 'Ām al-wufūd (Arabic: عام الوفود), or the Year of Delegates is the 9th year after Hijra/(630-1). This is called so because after the conquest of Mecca (fath al-Makka), many delegates from different Arabian tribes went to the Prophet (s), and expressed their commitment to Islam, and were kindly received by the Prophet (s).

Lexicology

Timeline of Prophet (s) in Medina
1/622 Hijra
2/624 Marriage of Imam 'Ali (a) and Lady Fatima (a)
2/624 Change of the Qibla
2/624 Battle of Badr
2/624 Battle of Banu Qaynuqa'
3/625 Battle of Uhud
3/625 Battle of Banu Nadir
5/627 Battle of Khandaq
5/627 Battle of Banu Qurayza
6/628 Hudaybiyya Peace Treaty
7/628 Battle of Khaybar
7/629 Presenting Fadak to Lady Fatima (a)
7/629 Umrat al-Qada'
7/629 Battle of Mu'ta
8/630 Conquest of Mecca
8/630 Battle of Hunayn
8/630 Battle of Ta'if
9/631 More dominance over Arabian Peninsula
9/631 Battle of Tabuk
9/631 Sanat al-Wufud
10/632 Hajjat al-Wada'
10/632 Event of Ghadir
11/632 Demise


Both words "sane" (Arabic:سنة) and "'Am" (Arabic:عام) mean 'year', and "Wafd" (Arabic: وفد), the plural form of which is "wufud", means a delegate that goes to a ruler or a governor for an important matter.[1]

The reason for naming

Before and after the 9th year of Hijra/630-1, delegates from different Arabian tribes went to the Prophet (s) to express their conversion to Islam, but it seems that most of these delegates went to the Prophet (s) in 9/630-1, which is the reason why it was called the Year of Delegates.[2]

The delegates and the conversion to Islam

After the conquest of Mecca, many groups of people from different Arabian tribes went to Medina in order to visit the Prophet (s) and convert to Islam. They were kindly received by the Prophet (s).[3] This led to a unification of the Arabian Peninsula, turning all the conflicts and quarrels into peace. In his I'lam al-wara, al-Tabrisi writes: "when the Thaqif tribe (people of Ta'if) converted to Islam, the other tribes sent groups of delegates to Medina and converted to Islam, as God had said in advance".[4] This refers to the Qur'anic verse in which God has predicted the conquest of Mecca and the conversion of groups of people to Islam:

Before the 9th year of Hijra/630-1, some delegates went to the Prophet (s) as well. In his Tarikh (History), al-Ya'qubi mentions 26 tribes whose heads went to Medina with delegates.[5]

Here are some of the delegates who went to the Prophet (s) and converted to Islam:

  • The delegate from the Assad tribe
  • The delegate from the Fazara tribe
  • The delegate of Hilal b. Amir
  • The delegate of Banu Kinana
  • The delegate of Tajib

The book, Tarikh-i payambar-i Islam (The history of the Prophet of Islam) by Muhammad Ibrahim Ayati has a detailed account of these delegates.

Other important events of 9 A.H.

  • Six Sariyyas occurred in this year: "the sariyya of 'Uyayna b. Hisn al-Fazari," "the sariyya of Dahhak b. Sufyan al-Kilabi]]," the sariyya in which Thumama was captured, "the sariyya of 'Alqama b. Mujazzaz al-Mudliji, "the sariyya of Ali b. Abi Talib (a), and "the sariyya of 'Ukkasha b. Mihsan."[6]
  • The Battle of Tabuk[7]
  • Some rich people tried to excuse themselves from taking part in wars, but some Quranic verses were revealed about them:
  • Some hypocrites tried to discourage others from attending the wars, but a Quranic verse was revealed against them:

Notes

  1. Farāhīdī, Kitāb al-ʿayn, under the word "Wafd".
  2. Āyatī, Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām, p. 537.
  3. Āyatī, Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām, p. 537.
  4. Ṭabrisī, Iʿlām al-warā, vol. 1, p. 250.
  5. Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 79.
  6. Āyatī, Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām, p. 504-510.
  7. Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 4, p. 159; Āyatī, Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām, p. 510.
  8. Mufīd, al-Irshād, p. 70; Āyatī, Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām, p. 515.
  9. Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 68; Masʿūdī, al-Tanbīh wa al-ishrāf, p. 236; Ibn Qutayba, al-Maʿārif, p. 343; Maqrizī, Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ, vol. 1, 479; Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 5, p. 20; Ḥalabī, al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 3, p. 142; Āyatī, Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām, p. 523.
  10. Maqrizī, Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ, vol. 1, 480; Āyatī, Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām, p. 524; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 4, p. 173.

References

  • Āyatī, Muḥammad Ibrāhīm. Tārīkh-i payāmbar-i Islām. Edited by Abu l-Qāsim Gurjī. 6th edition. Tehran: Muʾassisa-yi Intishārat wa Chāp-i Dānishgāh-i Tehran, 1378 Sh.
  • Dihkhudā, ʿAlī Akbar. Lughatnāma-yi Dihkhudā. 2nd edition. Tehran: Muʾassisa-yi Intishārat wa Chāp-i Dānishgāh-i Tehran, 1377 Sh.
  • Farāhīdī, Khalīl b. Aḥmad. Kitāb al-ʿayn. Beirut: Dār al-Hijra, 1409 AH.
  • Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Beirut: Dār-i Beirut, [n.d].
  • Ibn ʿAsākir, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan. Tārīkh madīnat Dimashq. Edited by ʿAlī Shīrī. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1415 AH.
  • Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d].
  • Ibn Ḥanbal, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. Edited by Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūt and ʿĀdil Murshid. Beirut: Al-Risāla, 1421 AH.
  • Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim . Al-Maʿārif. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Irshād. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Masʿūdī, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-. Al-Tanbīh wa al-ishrāf. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Maqrizī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Imtāʿ al-asmāʾ. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1417 AH.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Iʿlām al-warā bi-aʿlām al-hudā. 3rd edition. Tehran: Islāmiya, 1390 Sh.
  • Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī. Qom: Āl al-Bayt, [n.d].