Deleting the Name of al-Muhassan Without Saying Why

1. Al-Kafi, Al-`Idda, from Ahmed ibn Muhammed from al-Qasim from his grandfather from Aba Busayr from Aba Abdullah (A.S.) from his forefathers (A.S.) said, “The Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) has said, `On the Day of Judgment, if you chose no name for your children born during miscarriages, when the latter meet you, each will ask his father, `Why did you not choose a name for me?’ The Messenger of Allah (A.S.) chose a name for Muhassan even before his birth.”¹

2. Some people say that the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) had the following children by Fatima (A.S.): al-Hasan (A.S.), al-Husain (A.S.), al-Muhassan, a miscarriage, and Umm Kulthum..., etc.²

3. Kamal ad-Din ibn Talhah, the Shafi`i scholar, may Allah have mercy on him, has said,

Chapter 11: His Offspring (A.S.): Be informed, may Allah support you with a Spirit from Him, that people have varied in their views regarding the number of his offspring, males and females. Some of them list a large number, including the miscarriage without excluding lineage, and others discounted that, seeing no need to count him, so each statement came according to what he took into consideration.³

4. Al-Sabban has said, “Fatima (A.S.) gave birth by Ali (A.S.) to six children, three males and three females. The males are: al-Hasan (A.S.), al-Husain (A.S.) and al-Muhassin [thus differing from others’ spelling of al-Muhassan]. The females were: Zainab..., etc. As for al-Hasan (A.S.) and al-Husain (A.S.), they both left offspring, numerous and good, and they will both be discussed later. As for al-Muhassin, he died in a miscarriage.”⁴

5. Ibn Abul-Thalj has said, “The following children were born for the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) by Fatima (A.S.): al-Hasan (A.S.), al-Husain (A.S.) and Muhassan who died in a miscarriage.”⁵

6. “And some other people have added to the above al-Muhassan as a brother of al-Hasan (A.S.) and al-Husain (A.S.), and who died in a miscarriage.”⁶

7. Al-Tibrisi, listing the offspring of the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.), has said, “Al-Hasan (A.S.), al-Husain (A.S.), and al-Muhassan who died in a miscarriage.”⁷

8. Al-Mamqani has said, “... She gave birth for him to Hasan (A.S.), Husain (A.S.), Muhassan, Zainab and Umm Kulthum. She miscarried Muhassan.”⁸

9. Al-Tibrisi has said, “Fatima (A.S.) had five children, males and females: al-Hasan and al-Husain, peace be upon them both, Zainab al-Kubra, and Zainab al-Sughra who is nicknamed Umm Kulthum, may Allah be pleased with her. Also she gave birth after the demise of the Prophet, greeting and salutation upon him, to another son in a miscarriage whom the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) had already named, even as he was in his mother’s womb, as Muhassan.”⁹

10. Ibn al-Sabbagh, the Malikite scholars, has said, “They have stated that among them is Muhassan, a brother of al-Hasan and al-Husain, peace be upon them both, whom the Shi`as mention, and that he died in a miscarriage.”¹⁰

11. Al-Safari, the Shafi`i scholar, has said, “Al-Hasan (A.S.) is the first of Fatima’s five children: al-Hasan (A.S.), al-Husain (A.S.), al-Muhassan, who died in a miscarriage, Zainab al-Kubra and Zainab al-Sughra.”¹¹

12. Shaikh al-Mufid has said, “... Among the Shi`as are those who state that Fatima, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon her), had a miscarriage after the demise of the Prophet (A.S.) of a boy whom the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) had named, even as he was in his mother’s womb, Muhassan.”¹²

13. Close to this text is what is mentioned by al-Fadl ibn al-Hasan al-Tibrisi.¹³

14. This is also mentioned by `allama al-Hilli in his own summary of Al-Irshad.¹⁴

15. Also close to this text is stated by Ibn al-Batraq¹⁵; so, you may refer to it.