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Imam Hassan (A.S)
AL-HASAN IBN 'ALI AL-MUJTABA ( Peace be on him )
Name: al-Hasan. Title: al-Mujtaba. Agnomen: Abu Muhammad.
Father's name: 'All Amir al-Mu'minin. Mother's name: Fatimah
(daughter of the Holy Prophet). Birth: In Medina on Tuesday, 15th
Ramadan 3 AH. Death: Died at the age of 46, in Medina on
Thursday, 28th Safar 50 AH; buried in Jannatu 'I-Baqi, in Medina.
IMAM HASAN was the eldest son of Imam 'Ali and Hadrat Fatimah.
When the Holy Prophet received the happy news of the birth of his
grandson, he came to the house of his beloved daughter, took the
newly born child in his arms, recited adhan and iqamah in his
right and left ears respectively, and in compliance with Allah's
command named him al-Hasan.
* * *
Childhood:
The first phase of seven years of his infancy was blessed with
the gracious patronage of the Holy Prophet, who gifted him all
his great qualities and adorned him with Divine knowledge,
tolerance, intelligence, bounty and valour. Being infallible by
birth and decorated with heavenly knowledge by Allah, his insight
had an access to al-lawhu'I-mahfuz ( the Guarded Tablet on which
the transactions of mankind have been written by Allah for all
eternity). The Holy Imam immediately became conversant with all
the contents of any wahy (Qur'anic verses) revealed when the Holy
Prophet would disclose it to his associates. To the great
surprise of the Holy Prophet, Hadrat Fatimah would often recite
the exact text of a newly revealed wahy before he disclosed it
personally to her. When he inquired, she would inform him that it
was Hasan through whom she had learned the Revelation.
* * *
Remembrance of Allah:
The Holy Imam devoted himself to prayers in such abundance,
that all the limbs employed in prostration bore scars and
impressions of his Sajdah (prostration). Most of the nights were
spent on the prayer-carpet. The sense of his absorption and
humiliation in prayers to Allah were in such earnest that he
would shed tears profusely out of fear of Allah. While performing
ablution, he trembled with the fear of Allah and his face grew
pale at the time of prayers. His earnest meditation in the
offering of prayers and his extreme absorption in communion with
Allah would render him entirely unconscious of his environments.
* * *
His Piousness and Contentment:
Imam Hasan had the worldly possessions at his disposal and
could have well enjoyed a luxurious life, but he utilized all of
it in the betterment of the condition of the poor. He was so
courteous and humble that he never hesitated to sit along with
the beggars in the lanes and on the thoroughfares of Medina to
reply to some of their religious queries. Through his cordial
attitude and hospitality he never let the poor and the humble
feel inferior to him when they visited his abode.
* * *
Imamate:
The demise of the Holy Prophet was followed by an eventful era
when the Islamic world (under the false ruling bodies) came in
the grip of the fever of expansionism and conquest. But even
under such a revolutionary phase, Imam Hasan kept devoting
himself to the sacred mission of peacefully propagating Islam and
the teachings of the Holy Prophet along with his great father
Imam 'Ali. The martyrdom of Imam 'All on the 21st Ramadan marked
the inception of Imam Hasan's Imamate. The majority of Muslims
pledged their allegiance to him and finalized the formality of
bay'ah (oath of allegiance). No sooner had he taken the reins of
leadership into his hands than he had to meet the challenge of
Mu'awiyah, the Governor of Syria, who declared a war against him.
In compliance with the Will of Allah and with a view to refrain
from causing the massacre of Muslims however, he entered into a
piece treaty with Mu'awiyah on terms (though not totally
respected and carried out by Mu'awiyah), yet saved Islam and
stopped a civil war. But this peace treaty was never meant as a
surrender by him of the permanent leadership to Mu'awiyah. It was
meant only as an interim transfer of the administration of the
Islamic kingdom, subject to the condition that the ad-
ministration would be surrendered back to Imam Hasan after
Mu'awiyah's death and then it would in turn be inherited by Imam
Husayn. Having relieved himself of the administrative
responsibilities, Imam Hasan kept the religious leadership with
himself and devoted his life to the propagation of Islam and the
teachings of the Holy Prophet in Medina.
* * *
Martyrdom:
Mu'awiyah's malice against Imam Hasan led him to conspire with
the Imam's wife Ja'dah, the daughter of Ash'ath. She was made to
give the Imam some poison which affected his liver. Imam Hasan
thus succumbed to Mu'awiyah's fatal mischief and attained his
martyrdom on 28th Safar 50 AH. His funeral was attended by Imam
Husayn and the members of the Hashimite family. His bier while
being taken for burial to the Holy Prophet's tomb was shot at
with arrows by his enemies, (under direct supervision and consent
of 'A'ishah), and it had to be diverted for burial to the Jannatu
'I-Baq;' at Medina. His tomb was demolished along with others on
8th Shawwal 1344 (21st April 1926) by the Saudi rulers when they
came to power in .Hijaz. The terms of the peace treaty were soon
violated, but earned only a short-lived glory for Mu'awiyah. Its
aftermath proved disastrous and doomed the fate of his son Yzid
and dealt a fatal blow to the entire family of Umayyads. After
the death of Mu'awiyah, Imam Husayn emerged as the insurmountable
mountain of truth and determination. In the gruesome tragedy of
Karbala', by sheer force of numbers, and by isolating the
seventy-two members of Imam Husayn' s party and stopping them
from even getting water to drink for three days, Yazid succeeded
in annihilating the seventy-two persons including members of the
Imam's family who were with him. This dastardly success of Yazid
was, however, short-lived. The Muslims turned against him on
learning of the heinous act he had committed and this resulted in
the downfall of Yazid and the extinction of the Umayyad power
from the face of the earth.
Allamah Tabatabai writes:
Imam Hasan Mujtaba, upon whom be peace, was the second Imam.
He and his brother Imam Husayn were the two sons of Amir
al-Mu'minin 'Ali and Hadrat Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet.
Many times the Prophet had said, Hasan and Husayn are my
children. Because of these same words 'Ali would say to his
other children, You are my children and Hasan and Husayn
are the children of the Prophet. Imam Hasan was born in the
year 3 AH, in Medina and shared in the life of the Prophet for
somewhat over seven years, growing up during that time under his
loving care. After the death of the Prophet which was no more
than three, or according to some, six months earlier than the
death of Hadrat Fatimah, Hasan was placed directly under the care
of his noble father. After the death of his father, through
Divine Command and according to the will of his father, Imam
Hasan became Imam; he also occupied the outward function of
caliph for about six months, during which time he administered
the affairs of the Muslims. During that time Mu'awiyah, who was a
bitter enemy of 'Ali and his family and had fought for years with
the ambition of capturing the caliphate, first on the pretext of
avenging the death of the third caliph and finally with an open
claim to the caliphate, marched his army to Iraq, the seat of
Imam Hasan's caliphate. War ensued during which Mu'awiyah
gradually subverted the generals and commanders of Imam Hasan' s
army with large sums of money and deceiving promises until the
army rebelled against Imam Hasan. Finally, the Imam was forced to
make peace and to yield the caliphate to Mu'awiyah, provided it
would again return to Imam Hasan after Mu'awiyah's death and the
Imam's Household and partisans would be protected in every way.
In this way Mu'awiyah captured the Islamic caliphate and entered
Iraq. In a public speech he officially made null and void all the
peace conditions and in every way possible placed the severest
pressure upon the members of the Household of the Prophet and the
Shi'ah. During all the ten years of his Imamate, Imam Hasan lived
in conditions of extreme hardship and under persecution, with no
security even in his own house. In the year 50 AH, he was
poisoned and martyred by one of his own House- hold who, as has
been accounted by historians, had been motivated by Mu'awiyah. In
human perfection Imam Hasan was reminiscent of his father and a
perfect example of his noble grand- father. In fact, as long as
the Prophet was alive, he and his brother were always in the
company of the Prophet who even sometimes would carry them on his
shoulders. Both Sunni and Shl'ite sources have transmitted this
saying of the Holy Prophet concerning Hasan and Husayn:
These two children of mine are Imams (leaders) whether they
stand up or sit down ( allusion to whether they occupy the
external function of caliphate or not). Also, there are many
traditions of the Holy Prophet and 'Al concerning the fact that
Imam Hasan would gain the function of Imamate after his noble
father. (Shi'ite Islam).
Imam al-Hasan ibn 'Ali', peace be on him, said:
If you fail to obtain something of worldly benefit, take it as
if the thought of it had never crossed your mind at all.
Never did a nation resort to mutual counsel except that they
were guided by it towards maturity.
It is love which brings closer those who are remote by
ancestry, and it is (the absence of) love which causes
dissociation between those who are related by ancestry.
Opportunity is something which is quick to vanish and late to
return.
* * *
(A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles, p. 87-93)
