speeches he said:
"Thanks be to Allah. There is no god other than He. He has no
partner. I praise Him and He is Praiseworthy. Allah gave you
great favors and showered you with His graces which are beyond
number. One cannot possibly thank Him for them. Neither a
statement or saying can express them. We are angry only on
behalf of Allah. He favored us with what cannot be given by
anyone but Him. We should, therefore, thank Him for His
bounties, tribulations and favors. Our praise should ascend to
Allah, carrying our satisfaction to Him. It should be truthful.
Our praise has to be so true that Allah believes us. It has to
make us entitled to receive more of his bounties. Our praise
should increase rather than decrease Allah's favors. No group of
people gather around some matter without making it firmer, and
their beliefs solid. So mobilize yourselves for the fight
against your enemy, Mu'awiyah, and his soldiers, because he has
advanced against you. And do not discourage one another, for
discouragement cuts assunder the heartstrings. Advancing under
the spearheads is a sign of bravery and piety, for no people had
ever observed jihad without the lifting of malaise from among
them by Allah. He would spare them the tribulations of humility,
and guide them to the hallmarks of denomination..."(17)
In
this speech, Imam Hasan's (a.s.) aim was to solidify the bonds
of unity, close the ranks of the people, and rally the people to
challenge the party led by Mu'awiyah and a handful of
opportunists.
C.
The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali bin Abi-Talib (a.s.),
had warned the people against the arbitration during the Battle
of Siffin. He knew it was a trick. After the charade of
arbitration was over--and it ended with Abu-Musa al-Ash'ari's
failing Imam Ali (a.s.)--the camp of Imam Ali (a.s.) was thrown
into confusion. Chaos prevailed, and each group of people began
to disassociate themselves from the other. They started reviling
each other. Imam Ali (a.s.) wanted to explain to the people the
situation as it was, and to show that the arbitration was
invalid because it was not based on truth and logic. He assigned
this task to his son Abu-Muhammad Hasan (a.s.).
"Stand up, son, and talk about these two men: Abdullah bin
Qais, (18) and Amru bin al-Aas," Imam Ali (a.s.) told
his son.
Imam
Hasan (a.s.) stood and addressed the people, telling them the
real dimensions of the situation. He said:
"O
people! You have talked too much about these two men. They were
only chosen to judge according to the Book and in the light of
its guidance. But, they judged according to their whims and not
the Book. This being true, their verdict cannot be called a
judgement. Rather, it was an opinion forced upon them. Abdullah
bin Qais erred when he named Abdullah bin Umar as the caliph. He
made mistakes concerning three points: First, he disagreed with
his father who did not rate him as qualified for caliphate, nor
did he appoint him as a member of the Shura (consultative
group). Secondly, he did not consult him on the matter. And
thirdly, neither the immigrants nor the ansar (helpers) rallied
around him. These are those who appoint the ruler and establish
his reign over the people. As for arbitration, the Messenger of
Allah (s.a.w.) himself had chosen Sa'd bin Ma'ath for this. And
he did judge with what pleases Allah. Undoubtedly, if he had
deviated, the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) would not have
approved of him".(19)
In
these words, the grandson of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w ), Imam
Hasan (a.s.), clarified the matter, disclosed the falsity of the
arbitration, and proved to the people the mistake of Abu Musa
al-Ash'ari, who was elected by the common people among the army
of Imam Ali (a.s.), and without thinking it over, they charged
him with a task he could not fairly accomplish. The man had bad
intentions.
Imam Hasan (a.s.) demonstrated some of Abu-Musa's mistakes.
Among them was deposing Imam Ali (a.s.) and calling Abdullah bin
Umar bin al-Khattab the caliph of Muslims. His judgement
involved three errors, not to mention the rest of his
arbitration. Imam Hasan (a.s.) was an astute thinker, had a
sound foundation in logic and politics. His analysis of Abu-Musa's
actions in the arbitration process was acute and left no doubt
in a reasonable mind that the analysis was without flaw.
He said that:
1.
When Umar bin al-Khattab appointed a six-man consultative group
at his deathbed, he did not appoint his son Abdullah as one of
the group. That was because he recognised that his son was not
qualified to be a caliph, and a leader of the people.
2.
The pledge of allegiance, as was the order of the day, was
initiated by the immigrants and ansar, then, the whole of the
ummah followed suit. How could al-Ash'ari do something without
consulting them?
3.
Al-Ash'ari, when he appointed Abdullah as the caliph of Muslims,
did it without seeking the view of the man himself He could not
tell whether Abdullah would consent or refuse. The man was not
informed of the question earlier, and he was not asked about
this most historically critical matter.
Moreover, Imam Hasan (a.s.) set an example of a just and good
arbitration, which is approved of by Allah. He cited the
arbitration of S'ad bin Ma'ath, who was chosen by the Messenger
of Allah (s.a.w.), to settle the question of Bani Quraidhah,
after their military defeat by the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.).
His judgement was firm and sound.
D.
Imam Hasan (a.s.) took part in all the wars fought by his
father, Imam Ali (a.s.), including those of Basrah, Nahrawan,
and Siffin. He played a critical role in them. He fought in
those battles and put down those seditions without any motives
other than his concern over Islam.
These
are a few of the practical attitudes which were taken by Imam
Hasan (a.s.) during the lifetime of his father. They represent
the first stage of his religious role in the life of the
Muslims. |