Hasan ibn Ali
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Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abū Ṭālib (Template:ArB) (c. 625 - 669) was the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib and Fatima Zahra, and the first grandson of Muhammad. He is considered the second Shia Imam by most Shi'a Muslim sects; other sects accept his brother Husayn ibn Ali as the second Shia Imam. Nonetheless, he is an important figure in both Sunni and Shi'a Islam as a member of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad.
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His birth and family life
Hasan ibn Ali was born two years after the Hijra (622 CE), the migration of the early Muslim community from Mecca to Medina. His parents were Ali, Muhammad's cousin and trusted lieutenant, and Fatima Zahra, Muhammad's daughter.
Hasan ibn Ali was Muhammad's first grandchild. According to Shi'a tradition, he was named by his grandfather, who acted on divine inspiration. Hasan means "handsome" in Arabic.
Hasan and his brother Husayn ibn Ali are said to have been greatly beloved by their grandfather. There are numerous hadith, or oral traditions, that make this claim. Other hadiths say that Hasan and Husayn will be the leaders of the youth in paradise. Shi'a believe that Hasan is one of the four persons included in the Hadith Of The Cloak.
The Caliphate
Upon the death of Ali at Kufa, the Muslim garrison town in what is now southern Iraq, a number of Ali's Kufan supporters swore allegiance to Hasan as caliph. This threatened the ambitious Muawiyah, who been fighting Ali for the caliphate. Mu'awiya summoned all the commanders of his forces in Syria, Palestine, and Transjordan to join him in preparation for war. He also attempted to negotiate with Hasan, sending the young heir letters asking him to give up his claim. If he could persuad Hasan to renounce his claim to the caliphate, then Muawiyah could avoid having to kill fellow Muslims and would have a much stronger claim to the caliphate himself. If Muawiyah were forced to defeat Hasan in battle, Muawiyah would gain absolute power, but questions regarding his legitimacy would linger.
Negotiations stalled, and Mu'awiya marched against Hasan with an army said to number sixty thousand men Template:Ref. Hasan too marched his army towards Mu'awiya. The two armies faced each near Sabat.
During this period of suspense, Hasan is said to have given a sermon in which he proclaimed his hatred of schism and appealed to his men to follow his orders even though they did not agree with him. Some of the troops took this as a sign that Hasan was preparing to surrender, and attacked Hasan. Hasan was wounded, but loyal soldiers surrounded him and killed the mutineers. Another one of Hasan's commanders, Ubayd Allah, deserted and joined Mu'awiya's forces.
The two armies fought a few inconclusive skirmishes. Hasan, wounded, facing disaffection in his own army, finally negotiated a settlement with Mu'awiyah. Hasan stipulated that Mu'awiyah should follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah, allow a shura to be held after his death, and refrain from any acts of revenge against Hasan's followers. Mu'awiyah is said to have later repudiated this agreement as extorted from him, hence not binding.
Mu'awiyah proceeded to Kufa and demanded that the Muslims there swear allegiance. He also attempted to force Hasan to fight for him against the rebellious Kharijites. Hasan is said to have written:
"I have abandoned the fight against you, even though it was my legal right, for the sake of peace and reconciliation of the Community. Do you think that I shall fight together with you?" Template:Ref
Was he a Sunni Caliph?
Most caliph chronologies do not include Hasan. Hasan claimed the caliphate only briefly and was recognized by only a small portion of the Islamic empire. He resigned his claim, and recognized Mu'awiya. However, a handful of the older Sunni historians, such as Suyuti, Ibn Arabi, and Ibn Kathir accept Hasan as a caliph Template:Ref. Shi'a Muslims also regard Hasan as a caliph.
Retirement to Medina
Hasan retired to Medina. He received a pension from Mu'awiyah and also some income from the properties he had inherited.
Three hundred concubines?
Some Islamic historians, such as Al-Madā'inī and Muhammad Al-Kalbī, claimed that Hasan lived a life of indulgence and ease, marrying and divorcing numerous wives (said to number sixty to ninety) and accumulating three hundred concubines. Some scholars still accept these stories (Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Version, per Madelung 1997: 330). Wilferd Madelung, a contemporary expert in early Islam and Shi'a studies, regards those stories as base slander and devotes a whole section of his book on the succession to refuting them (Madelung 1997: 380-387)
His death
Hasan died in Medina in the year 669. He is buried at the famous Jannat ul-Baqi cemetery across from the Masjid al Nabawi. Shi'a say that he was poisoned by his wife, at the urging of Muawiyah, and that his death was thus a martyrdom.
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See also
- Hasan, hadith classification
- Shi'a Islam
- Sharif
Notes
- Template:Note 1: Ibn A'tham IV, p. 153. Other numbers: [1]
- Template:Note 2: Madelung The Succession to Muhammad 1997 pp. 324-325
- Template:Note 3: Suyuti in The Khalifas who took the right way page 9 and History of the Caliphs Vol 12
References
- Madelung, Wilferd -- The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997
External links
- http://home.swipnet.se/islam/imamhassan.htm
- The Second Imam
- Sulh al-Hasan The Peace Treaty of al-Hasan by Shaykh Radi Al-Yasin.
- http://www.balagh.net/english/ahl_bayt/sulh_al-hasan/25.htmar:الحسن بن علي بن أبي طالب
de:Hasan ibn 'Alī fr:Hasan ben Ali pl:Hasan ibn Ali su:Hasan bin Ali sv:Hasan ibn Ali ur:حسن بن علی