Al-Nawawī said:
It is related from al-Shāfiʿī that he explained: “That was done only so that the people would know that making dhikr after the obligatory prayers is prescribed; once they had learned that, there was no longer any point in raising the voice.”
Likewise, it is reported that Ibn ʿAbbās used to recite the Fātiḥah aloud in the funeral prayer so the people would realize that it is a sunnah. There are other parallels to this, and Allah knows best.
[As for the innovation that al-Maʾmūn introduced, it is a newly invented practice to which none of the early generations ever gave effect.
Among the events of the year:
• An extremely severe cold spell struck.
• The same man who had led the pilgrims the previous year conducted the ḥajj again; some said it was another person, and Allah knows best] (1).
[Those of note who died this year included]
Habban ibn Hilāl (2);
ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Qurayb al-Aṣmaʿī, the scholar of language, grammar, poetry, and more (3);
Muḥammad ibn Bakkār ibn Hilāl (4);
Hawdhah ibn Khalīfah (5);
and Zubaydah, the wife and cousin of Hārūn al-Rashīd (6). She was Umm Jaʿfar Amat al-ʿAzīz, better known as Zubaydah, daughter of Jaʿfar ibn al-Manṣūr Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allah ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, a Hāshimite of the Abbasid branch of Quraysh.
(1) The text within parentheses is an addition found only in one manuscript and does not appear in the established primary sources.
(2) Hubban ibn Hilal al-Bahli, known as Abu Habib al-Basri. Rated trustworthy, reliable, and authoritative; he refrained from hadith transmission until his death. Tahdhib al-Kamal, vol. 5, p. 328.
(3) ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Qurayb ibn ʿAli ibn Asmaʿ al-Bahli, known as Abu Saʿid al-Asmaʿi. One of the foremost authorities on Arabic language, poetry, geography, and historical reports. He traveled extensively in the desert regions, collecting their local knowledge and anecdotes to present to successive caliphs, who rewarded him generously. He is reported to have said, “I have memorized sixteen thousand lines of ʿarūḍ.” He authored numerous works. Sources: Aḫbār al-naḥwiyyīn al-baṣriyyīn, p. 58; Tārīkh Baghdād, vol. 10, p. 410; Tārīkh Ibn ʿAsākir, vol. 10 (papers 239a–247a); Wafayāt al-aʿyān, vol. 3, p. 170; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 10, p. 175; Al-Aʿlām (al-Zarkalī), vol. 4, p. 162.
(4) The manuscripts and printed editions read differently here; the correct name is Bilal. He was Muḥammad ibn Bakkār ibn Bilal al-ʿĀmilī, known as Abu ʿAbdallah al-Dimashqi, a judge. Rated trustworthy. He died this year at the age of seventy-four. See Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 11, p. 114; Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, vol. 2, p. 147.
(5) Hawdhah ibn Khalifah ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Thaqafī al-Bakrawī, known as Abu al-Ashhab al-Basri, “the mute,” resident of Baghdad. Rated trustworthy. Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, vol. 2, p. 322.
(6) Tārīkh Baghdād, vol. 1, p. 433; Wafayāt al-aʿyān, vol. 2, p. 314; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 10, p. 241; Al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah, vol. 2, p. 213; Al-Durr al-Manthūr fī Ṭabaqāt Rabāt al-Khudūr, p. 215.