Shi'a view of Hassan ibn Ali
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Hassan ibn Ali is considered by Shi'as as their second Imam. Twelvers Shi'a put most merit on him, regarding him to be infallible in the same way they regard the others in Ahl al-Bayt.
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[edit] Shi'a view of his life
[edit] Abu Bakrs era
Shi'a view that although he saw his fathers right to the Caliphat being usurped, and his mother house being set to fire and being mortaly wounded, Hasan, together with his younger brother Husain, still followed their fathers way in so much as they valued the Muslim communities stability higher than defending their own rights, this since all three where to succeed each other as responsible for the entire Muslim community, even though they didn't fully recoqnize their duties. Some Shi'a also view that he had his baby brother Muhsin ibn Ali being killed before he was born.
[edit] Umar era
[edit] Uthman era
Hasan, together with his brother Husain, is seen by Shi'a as always standing loyaly on his fathers side, even going to defend Uthman, whom Shi'a view as the third usurper, although they didn't succeed in defending his life.
[edit] Ali era
Shi'a view that during his fathers days as Caliph, he was always close to him and served him in anyway he could, including being a soldier toghether with his brother. The wars fought during Alis era where the battle of the Camel and the Battle of Siffin. Among the things he did is traveling to Mecca together with Ammar ibn Yasir in order to summon armies to fight against Aishas army .
[edit] His era
Shi'a view that Hasan took the caliphat, becoming the fifth leader in power after his fathers death, and at the same time becoming the second Shi'a Imam. The conclusion that he was the fifth leader is also accepted by some prominent Sunni scholars such as Ibn al-Arabi, Suyuti and Ibn Kathir , however, many Sunni do not.
Muawiya I, whom Shi'a believe never stopped to violently or covertly oppose Hasans father, took imediate actions to send an army against Hasan. Shi'a view that Hasan's men where demoralized and bribed by Muawiy, and hence he could no defend his duty to be a leader. Shi'a quote hadith from later Shi'a Imam who assure that Hasan would fight Muawiya if he only had men that could support him.
Shi'a view that since he was faced with inabiliy to fight and win, he did the second best thing, to temporarily give power to Muawiya, Hasan signed an agreement that Muaiya could rule with the condition that he would return the power after his death, ie not give it to his son Yazid I. Shi'a view that also in the agreement was that Muawiya was not to curse Hasans father in his precens.
[edit] Muawiya I era
Hassan ibn Ali became the Caliph after the martyrdom of Ali ibn Abu Talib. Hassan ibn Ali was chosen by the people of Kufa as their Caliph. The election of Hassan ibn Ali as the next Caliph was a thorn in the heart of Muawiyah. His propaganda machine against the House of Ali ibn Abu Talib, in fact against Islam, began its work in earnest. Large sums of money and fraudulent promises of vast properties and governorships of provinces were given to many commanders of Hassan ibn Ali’s army who left Hassan ibn Ali without much power. Thus, Hassan ibn Ali was forced to accept a treaty with Muawiyah in order to save Islam. It was therefore the hallmark of Hassan ibn Ali’s life that making peace was his share in the same manner as the Islamic Prophet Mohammed did in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. The salient points of the treaty are:
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- Muawiyah should rule strictly according to the Holy Quran and the Sunna of Holy Prophet.
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- Muawiyah should not appoint or nominate anyone to the Caliphate after him but that choice should be left to the Muslims.
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- The people should be left in peace, wherever they are in the land of God.
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- The persecution of the companions of Ali ibn Abu Talib should immediately be stopped; their lives, properties and families guaranteed safe conduct and peace.
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- The cursing of Ali ibn Abu Talib from the pulpit should stop immediately.
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- No harm should be done secretly or openly against Hassan ibn Ali and his younger brother Hussain ibn Ali or any of the Ahlul Bayt.
Thus the rightly guided Caliphate came to an end with the abandonment of the Caliphate by Hassan ibn Ali. He returned to Medina after administering the people’s affairs, following the martyrdom of his father, Ali ibn Abu Talib, for a period of six (6) months.
History tells us that from day one Muawiyah did not comply with any one of the terms of the treaty agreed upon between him and Hassan ibn Ali. He trampled the treaty under his feet saying to the people of Kufa, “do you think I have taken power to teach you about Islam. No, I have taken power for the sake of it and if any one of you tries to disagree with me shall pay a costly price of losing his head.”
Muawiyah carried out his ambition of keeping the power in his family by nominating his son Yazid after him as the ruler of the Kingdom. This demanded that Hassan ibn Ali should predecease him, an unlikely event considering their discrepancy in their ages. Hence Muawiyah bribed Ju’ada binte Ash’ath (wife of Hassan ibn Ali), to poison him. He also promised to marry her to his son Yazid and so Ju’ada poisoned Hassan ibn Ali in 50 Hijra. Hassan ibn Ali died with the effect of poisoning on 28th of the month of Safar, at the age of forty seven (47) years.
When Hassan ibn Ali died, the followers of Hassan ibn Ali from Iraq began to make plans. They wrote to Hussain ibn Ali concerning removing Muawiyah and giving the pledge of allegiance to him. However, he refused and chooses to abide by the treaty between Hassan ibn Ali and Muawiyah, which he could not break until the period came to an end.
But the decision of nominating Yazid as the ruler, stirred widespread agitation among the faithful, particularly amidst prominent personalities such as Hussain ibn Ali, Abdul-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr, Abdullah in Omar, Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr and other well-known, leading figures, because Muawiyah was the first one to appoint his son to succeed him and the first ever to do so during his life.
[edit] Hassan ibn Ali’s dead body gets shot by arrows
As the funeral proceeded towards the grave of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed, some Umayyads mounted on horses obstructed and Ayesha binte Abu Bakr appeared, mounting a mule, shouting that the grave of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed was in her house and she would not allow the grandson of Khadijah binte Khuwaylid to be buried beside the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. With the shouts from Ayesha a shower of arrows fell on the coffin. Hussain ibn Ali in the fulfillment of the last wish of his departed brother, turned the procession of the funeral towards Jannat al-Baqi and when the body was taken out of the coffin to be laid to rest in the grave, Hussain ibn Ali finding some of the arrows which were showered at the coffin, had struck holy body of his martyred brother.
[edit] Legacy
Shi'a honour him with the title "Al-Mujtaba" .
The shrine of his tomb was destroyed by the Salafi Saudis .
[edit] Critics
[edit] Sunni
Sunnis generally believe Shi'a have to pious of a view of Hasan.
[edit] Non-Muslim
Wilferd Madelung believes that the poisoning theory is not purely a Shi'a view, and cites several Sunni scholars as supporting the poisoning theory .
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ↑ 1: Sahih Bukhari: [6][7][8]
- ↑ 2: Suyuti in The Khalifas who took the right way page 9 and History of the Caliphs Vol 12
