| Imam Hassan |
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| 624 births | |
| 669 deaths | |
| shia imams | |
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Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib () (c. 625 - 669 ) was the son of Ali Ibn Abu Talib and Fatima Zahra , and the first grandson of Muhammad . He is considered the second Shia Imam by most Shi'a Muslim sects; other sects accept his brother Husayn Ibn Ali as the second Shia Imam. Nonetheless, he is an important figure in both Sunni and Shi'a Islam as a member of the Ahl Al-Bayt , the household of Muhammad. HIS BIRTH AND FAMILY LIFE Hasan ibn Ali was born two years after the Hijra (622 CE), the migration of the early Muslim community from Mecca to Medina . His parents were Ali, Muhammad's cousin and trusted lieutenant, and Fatima Zahra, Muhammad's daughter. Hasan ibn Ali was Muhammad's first grandchild. According to Shi'a tradition, he was named by his grandfather, who acted on divine inspiration. Hasan means "handsome" in Arabic . Hasan and his brother Husayn Ibn Ali are said to have been greatly beloved by their grandfather. There are numerous Hadith , or oral traditions, that make this claim. Other hadiths say that Hasan and Husayn will be the leaders of the youth in paradise. Shi'a believe that Hasan is one of the four persons included in the Hadith Of The Cloak . THE CALIPHATE Upon the death of Ali at Kufa , the Muslim garrison town in what is now southern Iraq , a number of Ali's Kufan supporters swore allegiance to Hasan as caliph. This threatened the ambitious Muawiyah , who been fighting Ali for the caliphate. Mu'awiya summoned all the commanders of his forces in Syria, Palestine, and Transjordan to join him in preparation for war. He also attempted to negotiate with Hasan, sending the young heir letters asking him to give up his claim. If he could persuad Hasan to renounce his claim to the caliphate, then Muawiyah could avoid having to kill fellow Muslims and would have a much stronger claim to the caliphate himself. If Muawiyah were forced to defeat Hasan in battle, Muawiyah would gain absolute power, but questions regarding his legitimacy would linger. Negotiations stalled, and Mu'awiya marched against Hasan with an army said to number sixty thousand men . Hasan too marched his army towards Mu'awiya. The two armies faced each near Sabat. During this period of suspense, Hasan is said to have given a sermon in which he proclaimed his hatred of schism and appealed to his men to follow his orders even though they did not agree with him. Some of the troops took this as a sign that Hasan was preparing to surrender, and attacked Hasan. Hasan was wounded, but loyal soldiers surrounded him and killed the mutineers. Another one of Hasan's commanders, Ubayd Allah, deserted and joined Mu'awiya's forces. The two armies fought a few inconclusive skirmishes. Hasan, wounded, facing disaffection in his own army, finally negotiated a settlement with Mu'awiyah. Hasan stipulated that Mu'awiyah should follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah, allow a Shura to be held after his death, and refrain from any acts of revenge against Hasan's followers. Mu'awiyah is said to have later repudiated this agreement as extorted from him, hence not binding. Mu'awiyah proceeded to Kufa and demanded that the Muslims there swear allegiance. He also attempted to force Hasan to fight for him against the rebellious Kharijite s. Hasan is said to have written: "I have abandoned the fight against you, even though it was my legal right, for the sake of peace and reconciliation of the Community. Do you think that I shall fight together with you?" Was he a Sunni Caliph? Most caliph chronologies do not include Hasan. Hasan claimed the caliphate only briefly and was recognized by only a small portion of the Islamic empire. He resigned his claim, and recognized Mu'awiya. However, a handful of the older Sunni historians, such as Suyuti , Ibn Arabi , and Ibn Kathir accept Hasan as a caliph . Shi'a Muslims also regard Hasan as a caliph. THE CONSPIRACIES OF MUAWIYAH Muawiyah had established a government and dominion in Syria and for years he had played tricks with cunning ways and means against Ali. He killed the friends of Ali and brought into existence the perverted group and sect of Kharijites now, when he heard that people, after the martyrdom of Ali, took oath of allegiance to elect Hassan ibn Ali for the caliphate post as the successor of the Prophet. This thing was very hard for him to tolerate. He sent spies to Kufa and Basra to find out and get him informed about what was going on. And thereafter, they may plot and hatch conspiracies against Hassan ibn Ali if they deem fit and suitable they might start subversion and sabotage and create chaos, and disorder. Hassan ibn Ali gave the order that the spies should be arrested and killed. Then he wrote a letter to Muawiyah: "Oh Muawiyah! You send spies and set your hands upon subversion? I presume that you intend to fight a war and you like war. If it is so, then I am also ready for it and the war is at hand. Do wait " Insha'Allah ". Muawiyah! I am surprised over you that you are the candidate for a job, which you don't deserve and are not worthy for it. Neither you have any superiority in the religion nor have you left any good effect, mark or impression from yourself as a monument and memorial. Muslims have taken oath of allegiance for me (caliphate). It would be to the interest and benefit of Islam that you too accept this act (caliphate) like the rest of the Muslims. Oh Muawiyah! Do not move the untrue and illusive ( Batil ) ahead, and you also take the oath and allegiance of faithfulness to me like the others, and do consider the blood of the Muslims respect worthy. If you do not accept my advice and wish to create disorder and chaos and spill the blood of Muslim I will quickly attack you along with the other Muslims, and will put you on trial. RETIREMENT TO MEDINA Hasan retired to Medina . He received a pension from Mu'awiyah and also some income from the properties he had inherited. HIS DEATH The womanly scruples regarding the money and fame blinded the eyes of the wife of Hassan ibn Ali and made her accept the suggestion of the cunning fox and commit such a dishonesty which history will never forget. Although Hassan ibn Ali had said several times that I will get martyred by my wife. And people had requested him that if it is so then divorce her and turn her out of your house. But Hassan ibn Ali replied, "She has not yet committed any crime and if I turn her out of the house, I would not have done a right thing. Because, she will make this step an excuse and will say, Hassan ibn Ali has turned me out of his house without any fault. So that by this means she may cover her crime up and show her work as correct. Beware Muawiyah will not let me go. If I leave my wife, even then she will not abandon her dishonesty except this that she will carry her program forward under the cover of her being oppressed. Finally on the 28th day of Safar, 50th Hijrah when the weather was extremely hot and the Hassan ibn Ali was fasting, Jaada, poisoned his milk pot and presented to him for breaking the fast. Hassan ibn Ali drank a portion of the poisonous milk and then addressed her, "Oh the enemy of God and Prophet you have killed me. God kill you. By God, you and Muawiyah both will become abject, despised and helpless." And the same happened as Hassan ibn Ali told Jaada, and predicted. Jaada was turned out of Muawiyah's court with humility and not very long had passed that she died. And Muawiyah too died of a terrible life taking pain. Hassan ibn Ali passed away having faced pain and discomfort. Hassan ibn Ali was buried in the graveyard of Jannat Al-Baqi in Medina . THREE HUNDRED CONCUBINES? Some Islamic historians, such as Al-Madā'inī and Muhammad Al-Kalbī, claimed that Hasan lived a life of indulgence and ease, marrying and divorcing numerous wives (said to number sixty to ninety) and accumulating three hundred concubines. Some scholars still accept these stories (Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Version, per Madelung 1997: 330). Wilferd Madelung , a contemporary expert in early Islam and Shi'a studies, regards those stories as base slander and devotes a whole section of his book on the succession to refuting them (Madelung 1997: 380-387). SAYINGS ATTRIBUTED TO HASSAN IBN ALI 1. Be prepared for your traveling (for Akhira), and keep ready your necessity before your death comes. 2. If you fail to obtain something of worldly benefit, take it as if the thought of it had never crossed your mind at all. 3. Never did a nation resort to mutual counsel except that they were guided by it towards maturity. 4. 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. 5. Opportunity is something which is quick to vanish and late to return. 6. I wonder about the person who contemplates about his nutrition but he does not consider (the food of) his intellect. Thus, he avoids of what hurts him in his stomach but he lets his mind to be filled with what destroys him. SEE ALSO
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