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.
* * *
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