ones catch up with him in pleasing acts. He used to fight by the
side of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), risking his own life
for the sake of the Prophet's. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.)
would send him as his standard-bearer. Jibra'il would protect
him by fighting on his right, and Mika'il on his left. He would
not return from the battlefield until Allah had given him
victory. He died in this night, on which Isa bin Maryam (a.s.)
ascended to heaven, and Yusha' bin Noon, the trustee of Musa (a.s.),
passed away. He has left no dirhams or dinars besides the 700
Dirhams which were left over from his pay."(21)
At
this point Imam Hasan (a.s.) halted his speech for his tears
choaked him. The image of the great departing man, with his
eternal deeds and stances, loomed before his eyes. The Muslims
could not help crying bitterly with him. Then he resumed his
speech. He said:
"O
people! Who has recognized me, that is that. Who has not, let
him know that I am Hasan bin Ali. I am the son of the Holy
Prophet. I am the son of the Trustee. I am the son of the bearer
of the good news, and the warner. I am the son of the Caller to
Allah by His permission. I am the son of the bright lamp. I am
from the house at which Jibra'il used to descend to us, and
ascend from us, and from the Ahlul-Bait whom Allah kept away
from uncleanness and totally purified them. I am from a
household whose love Allah made an obligation on every Muslim.
Allah, the Blessed and the Most High, said to His Prophet:
‘...say. I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my
near relatives;...’
Holy
Qur'an (42:23)
Imam
Hasan (a.s.) concluded his speech by saying, 'Doing a good
deed means loving us, the Ahlul-Bait...'"(22)
In this speech, Imam Hasan (a.s.) spells out the qualities of
the late leader. Also he presents his own qualifications and
stature in the Muslim world, and asserted the fact that he, and
not any other person, was entitled to be the next leader of the
Muslims.
No sooner did the Imam Hasan (a.s.) wind up his speech, than Bin
Abbas rose to his feet urging the people to give their pledge of
allegiance to the new Imam. And that was exactly what the people
did.
Imam
Hasan (a.s.) received the pledge of allegiance from the people,
and was acknowledged as the caliph and the ruler of Kufah. Then
the other Muslim cities. The news of the demise of Imam Ali (a.s.)
and the passing of the caliphate to his son, the grandson of the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), soon spread.
Mu'awiyah rejoiced at the death of Ali (a.s.). His capital
witnessed noisy festivals. Happiness flooded it! On the other
hand, Mu'awiyah was greatly shaken by the announcement of Imam
Hasan (a.s.) as the new caliph, and at the pledge of allegiance
which he had received. He sent for his advisors, and his leading
men. They got together in an emergency meeting at his palace to
discuss the latest developments and draw the policy which they
would adopt in challenging Imam Hasan (a.s.). The participants
decided to send spies to the Muslim community, under the rule of
Imam Hasan (a.s.) to frighten the people and float rumors
against the rule of Ahlul-Bait (a.s.), to the interest of the
Syrian sedition.
Meanwhile the Umayyad party was busy winning over the leadership
and the influential chiefs, who could influence the course of
events in Iraq to the advantage of the Umayyad rule. They were
generous in bribery, promising the people good rewards,
presenting gifts to them, threatening them...and so on.
Mu'awiyah lost no time in implementing the resolutions of the
meeting. He set up a network of spies, and appointed two men to
surprise them. One of them was named Humairi. He made for Kufah.
The other was called Qeeni. He headed for Basrah...(23)
Imam
Hasan's (a.s.) plans of solidifying the government sys tem, and
establishing it on a firm ground, were soon effective in
unearthing the plots of the Umayyads.(24)
In the wake of that, Imam Hasan (a.s.) sent a letter to
Mu'awiyah warning him, and threatening him with war:
"...Mind you. You have sent stealthily men to me. It is as if
you like to go to war. I have no doubt it. Then anticipate it,
Allah willing. I have heard that you rejoiced about what the
wise men do not gloat over. Your parable is like the one of whom
the poet says: "I and the one who had died are like someone who
goes home, goes to sleep, to wake up the following day. So, tell
him who remains behind that who departs: 'Prepare for something
like this. You, too, will be something of the past.’"(25)
Mu'awiyah, in a responding letter, dodged and denied that he had
rejoiced at the death of Imam Ali (a.s.), something which we
will not discuss in length here. They exchanged letters. The
most important of the letters was that which was sent by Imam
Hasan (a.s.) in which he called on Mu'awiyah to stop opposing
him and submit to him as he was the legitimate leader. Tension
heightened between the two parties, so much so, that Mu'awiyah
wrote a letter in which he called on Imam Hasan (a.s.) to
abdicate and join him, with the promise that the caliphate would
be his after Mu'awiyah's death!
Imam
Hasan (a.s.) sent a short letter which displays his insistance
and determination:
"Mind you, your letter has arrived. You mention in it what you
mention and I did not answer you...I take refuge with Allah from
that. Follow the right, you will know that I am its follower. I
will be a sinner if I tell a lie. And peace be upon you."(26)
That
was the last letter. The situation went from bad to worst. War
was declared between the two parties.
Mu'awiyah was the first to declare the state of war. He began to
advance his armies towards Iraq. The Muslims communicated the
news of Mu'awiyah's move to one another. Imam Hasan (a.s.) took
due measures to face the coming enemy.
Imam
Hasan (a.s.) announced, in a statement, the next move. He called
the ummah to mobilize and prepare to war:
"Mind you, Allah ordained jihad on His creatures, and made it a
duty which they receive reluctantly. Then He said to the
combatants: 'Be patient, Allah is certainly with the patient.'
You, O people, will not win what you love without enduring what
you do not like. Go out, may Allah have mercy on you, to your
camp at al-Nukhailah, till we think and you think, and see and
you see."(27)
It
brings excruciating pain to know that the multitudes of people
who listened to the statement of Imam Hasan (a.s.) were
susceptible to the Umayyad rumors and lies.
Instead of preparing themselves to defend the clear right, they
were shocked and flustered. They responded coldly to the
statement of their Imam. They did not accept his call to prepare
for war and shoulder their responsibilities.
Some of the people were resigned to the status quo and they
appeared drawn to life. Others were lured into apathy by Umayyad
money. Imam Hasan (a.s.) was disappointed when he saw the true
feeling of the masses which he led, and in which he saw the base
on which he was depending to ward of the dangers encircling the
Islamic message because of the hostile activities of the Umayyad
party.
Those listless multitudes were stolid. They lost their vitality
because of only a slight shock. It was because of their weak
faith.
The followers of the Imam (a.s.) were unaware of their
historical responsibility to keep the Divine Message intact and
keep it safe from sedition. They were oblivious to the line of
Imamate represented by Imam Hasan (a.s.), and to the fact that
they should obey him and defend him because he was the actual
representative of the same Islam which was revealed to the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.).
Amid those stunned, defeated lumps of people, the call of the
few faithful of Islam and the true committed men who attached
themselves to Ahlul-Bait (a.s.), thundered. They expressed their
deep loyalty. They reproached those cowardly multitudes, and
spoke their minds uncompromisingly and daringly.
At the top of the list of those faithful, pious men were: Uday
bin Hatim, Qais bin S'ad bin Ubadah, Ma'qal bin Qais, and Ziyad
bin Sa'sa'ah al-Timeemi.(28)
They
scolded, reprimanded and urged the people to take on their
religious responsibility. At the same time they did not forget
their Imam (a.s.). They took his hand and made a pledge to march
forward in support of right and face tyranny and sedition
fearlessly until they achieved martyrdom or victory.
Imam Hasan (a.s.) praised them for their true stance, and
addressed them in these words:
"You are truthful, may Allah have mercy on you. I still know of
your true intention and loyalty, your approval and true love.
May Allah reward you the best of rewards."(29)
The
committed people hastened to al-Nukhailah and encamped there, in
obedience to their Imam (a.s.). Imam Hasan (a.s.), afterwards,
followed them with an army, estimated by some historians, at
4,000 men.(30) The rest of the people were to join him.
Imam Hasan (a.s.) hoped that the people would support the right
cause and so come to defend Islam. But their delay in joining
him made Imam Hasan (a.s.) return once again to his capital,
Kufah, to egg on the people to join him.
He marched on, leading a tremendous army, which was
paradoxically in low spirit, eaten away by weakness and
disharmony. He arrived in al-Nukhailah, where he organized his
army, and set plans for the commanders of the divisions. From
there, he headed for Dair Abdul-Rahman. There he decided to send
a military force ahead of his army. He elected his cousin
Ubaidullah bin al-Abbas as its commander. He said to him:
"...Cousin! I am sending with you twelve thousand men, among
whom there are famous horsemen of the Arabs, and the Quranic
reciters of Kufah. Each one of them is equal to one battalion in
courage. March with them, be kind to them, look at them with a
smiling face, be humble to them, and consult them. They are the
remaining men whom the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) trusted.
Lead them along the bank of Euphrates. Then march till you come
face to face with the army of Mu'awiyah. If you meet him, keep
him there till I join you.
I will go, following you closely behind. Keep me informed of
your moves on a daily basis. Consult these two men, Qais bin
S'ad and Sa'eed bin Qais. If you meet Mu'awiyah, refrain from
engaging him in battle till he fights you. Should he do so, then
fight him. If you are injured or killed, Qais bin S'ad will
succeed you as the commander of the army, and if he is injured
or killed, Sa'eed bin Qais will succeed him."(31)
The
vanguard took its position at Maskin, on the banks of al-Dijail
river in Iraq. The main army, under the command of Imam Hasan (a.s.),
encamped at Madhlam Sabat, near al-Mada'in.
It was not long before all the hitherto hidden ills came to the
surface, in the forms of disunity, frailty, sedition, chaos, and
conspiracy against the leadership itself Imam Hasan (a.s.) was
pressured to sign a treaty with Mu'awiyah.
This document still remains in a state of vagueness to many of
the researchers who wrote about the life of Imam Hasan (a.s.).
The circumstances and implications that led to its signing are
not explained or covered in any detail. It is vague in its
causes and outcome. For these reasons we try to analyze it here.
Hoping to shed some light on it, to arrive at the truth. By
doing so, we can make the ingenuity of Imam Hasan (a.s.)
clearer. |