Imam Hasan (A.S.) Whose
Obedience Allah made Incumbent on People
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. |