Nurturing Imam Hassan (peace be upon him) and making peace with him

Ayatollah Hussain Mazaheri

How did it get its name?

His name is Hassan (AS) and this name was bestowed upon him by the Lord of the WorldsIt is narrated from Imam Sajjad (AS) that when Imam Hassan (AS) was born, Gabriel (AS) descended tothe Holy Prophet (S) from the Lord of the Worlds and said, "Since the relationship betweenAmirul Momineen Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) and you is like that between Aaron and Moses (AS), name Ali's (AS)

son after the name of Aaron's (AS) son, whose name was Hassan (AS). Therefore, you should also name your

grandson Hassan."

The Hadith of Manzillat is a famous hadith among Islamic scholars. Several Sunni and Shia sources have narrated

this hadith from the Holy Prophet (PBUH) that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said several times:

يا علی أَنْتَ مِنِّي بِمَنْزِلَةِ هَارُونَ‏ مِنْ مُوسَى إِلَّا إنَّهُ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدِي

O Ali (AS), you are related to me as Aaron (AS) was to Moses (AS). Except that no prophet will come after me.

“That is, just as Moses (AS) was the successor of Moses (AS) in his absence, similarly you are my successor in

my absence, the only difference being that there was a succession of prophethood after Moses (AS) and no prophet

will come after me.

His famous kunya is Abu Muhammad (AS) and his famous title is Mujtaba (AS) and his lineage is Akbar.

He was 47 years old. He was born on the 15th of Ramadan, 3 AH. He spent seven years under the shadow of his

grandfather and 30 years with his father, and his period of Imamate was ten years. He was “Hasan (AS)” in every

aspect, his grandfather was like the Holy Prophet (S), his maternal mother was Hazrat Zahra (AS) Marziyya, and

his father was Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS).

If we study all the laws of the effective factor in the upbringing of a child, such as the law of inheritance, etc., we

cannot deny the influence of the father. Your grandfather used to worship so much that his feet would swell from

standing too much. And this verse was revealed by Allah the Almighty:

طه مَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْءَانَ لِتَشْقَى ‏۔

Our Prophet (PBUH) said, “We have not revealed the Quran to you to cause you hardship.” The grandson grew up

under the tutelage of this same person who performed more than twenty Hajj pilgrimages and whose feet would swell

during some of his journeys.

His father, Hazrat Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS), used to lay out prayer mats in the darkness of the night and listen to

the takbirs of Imam Hassan (AS) and the cries of fear of God. So this son was raised in such a way that he would

tremble while performing ablution and would cry while entering the mosque.

"Illahi zaifuk bibabik ya muhsinnu qad ataka al-musi so fatjawaz an qabeeh ma indi bijameel ma indak ma aindak, O Kareem."

"Oh my God! Your guest is at the door, O doer of good! A sinner has come before you, forgive his sins by your

goodness.

The father who was patient for thirty years for the sake of Islam and lived as if he had a thorn in his eye and a bone

in his throat, his son was patient for ten years for the sake of Islam and made peace with Muawiyah, and his mother,

Zahra (a.s.), was a kind person who first gives the food of her relatives to the poor in charity, then cooks her own

food again, then on hearing the voice of an orphan, she hands over the food to him, and starts cooking food for her

family, when the food is ready, she hands over the food to him on hearing the voice of a captive. And when there is

nothing left to break the fast for herself and her family, she breaks the fast with water.

At that time, this verse was revealed.

وَ يُطْعِمُونَ‏ الطَّعامَ‏ عَلى‏ حُبِّهِ مِسْكِيناً وَ يَتِيماً وَ أَسِيراً۔

These people give their food, which they themselves need, to the poor, orphans and captives.” This same

selflessness

is found in their son Hasan (AS).

One day, a beggar came to him and complained about his poverty and wrote two poems on this subject:

I have nothing that I can sell to fulfill my need. My condition is a witness to this. Only at this time my honor is

safe. I wanted to not sell it, but today I found you a buyer. Buy my honor and save me from poverty. Hearing this,

he said to the person in charge of expenses, give me what is in front of you today. So he handed over twelve

thousand dirhams that were in front of him. And that day there was nothing to eat in the house. He wrote two

poems in response as follows:

“You asked us for something in a hurry. I gave you what was in front of me, but it was very little. Take it and

protect

your honor as if you had not seen us or sold us anything.” Your mother was of such a status that she would stay

engaged in prayers from night to morning and after every prayer she would pray for others. Your son Hassan (AS)

asked her, “Mother, why don’t you pray for us? You only pray for others.” This great mother replied:

يَا بُنَيَّ الْجَارَ ثُمَ‏ الدَّارَ

"Our son, in prayer, our neighbor takes precedence over us." This tradition has been narrated from you that a

mother like Zahra (AS) was the one who raised Hassan (AS).

إِنَّ رَجُلًا أَتَى الْحَسَنَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ ع فَقَالَ بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وَ أُمِّي أَعِنِّي عَلَى قَضَاءِ حَاجَةٍ فَانْتَعَلَ وَ قَامَ مَعَهُ فَمَرَّ عَلَى الْحُسَيْنِ ص

وَ هُوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي فَقَالَ لَهُ أَيْنَ كُنْتَ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ

تَسْتَعِينُهُ عَلَى حَاجَتِكَ قَالَ قَدْ فَعَلْتُ بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وَ أُمِّي فَذُكِرَ أَنَّهُ مُعْتَكِفٌ

فَقَالَ لَهُ أَمَا إِنَّهُ لَوْ أَعَانَكَ كَانَ خَيْراً لَهُ مِنِ‏ اعْتِكَافِهِ‏ شَهْراً

A person had a need, so he made you his intercessor and you went for it. On the way, you saw that Hazrat Imam

Hussain (AS) was praying. You asked the man why you did not contact Hussain (AS) about this. The man replied

that Imam Hussain (AS) was in I’tikaf in the mosque at that time. You said that if he had fulfilled your need, it

would have been better than a month of I’tikaf.

Hazrat Imam Hassan Mujtaba (AS) was the leader of all people in terms of lineage and we hear about other human

virtues only from him.

When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was martyred, he (AS) said, “We are the Ahlul Bayt (A.S.) of the Hizbu-

llah, which has been made known many times: Indeed, the Hizbullah of Allah is the victorious  .

”:فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْغالِبُونَ‏۔

Indeed, the Hizbullah, the party of Allah, is the victorious.” (Surah Al-Ma'idah, verse 56)

We are the descendants of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) has declared us equal to

the Quran and the pillars of Islam, according to the Hadith of Al-Thaqalayn.

إِنِّي تَارِكٌ فِيكُمُ الثَّقَلَيْنِ‏ كِتَابَ‏ اللَّهِ‏ وَ عِتْرَتِي أَهْلَ بَيْتِي لَنْ يَفْتَرِقَا حَتَّى يَرِدَا عَلَيَّ الْحَوْضَ۔

.I am leaving among you two precious things, neither of which will separate from the other, unless you come to me

at the Pool of Kauthar.

We are the ones who are knowledgeable about the revelation and interpretation of the Quran. We are called in the

Quran as the Infallible and the Pure.

إِنَّما يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَ يُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيراً۔

Everyone should obey us because the Quran has commanded them to do so.

Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS)'s reconciliation

Among the actions of Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS) that were beneficial for Muslims and Islam, his reconciliation with

Muawiyah is one. This action of his is considered suspicious by those who are not properly acquainted with Islam

and history. They object that why did Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS) make peace with Muawiyah and why did he not rise

like Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS)?

The first thing that should be kept in mind is that Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) rose up twenty years after Hazrat Imam

Hassan (AS)'s reconciliation. Imam Hussain (AS) stayed with Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS) for ten years and had the

position and authority of Imam for ten years after Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS), but he did not rise up during these ten

years. After these ten years of Imamate, he rose up. Does anyone have any objection to this delay of Imam Hussain

(AS)? Absolutely not! If there is any objection to this position, it is not only against Imam Hassan (a.s.) but against

both Imams. This itself is an argument that an opportunity and place is needed to rise and launch a movement, and

there was no such opportunity and place during these twenty years. In short, Amir Muawiyah was a skilled politician

in the modern sense. And he wanted to achieve his goal by any means possible.

He used any means he had to, whether it was lies, deceit, oppression, murder, plunder, partisanship, or bribery. And

it was because of these means that his government remained in power, which is mentioned in all Sunni and Shia

books of history.

Amir Muawiyah ruled for thirty years on the authority of Hazrat Abu Bakr, Hazrat Umar, and Hazrat Uthman.

According to Ibn Abi al-Hadid, Hazrat Umar was unusually strict with his governors, that is, when he heard about

Abu Hurayrah that he had ten thousand dirhams in his personal savings, he immediately called him to his court and

flogged him until his back was bruised. In addition to removing him from his position, he also confiscated his proper

ty. When he heard about Khalid bin Walid that he had given a gift of ten thousand dirhams to Ash'ath bin Qais, he

ordered that he be humiliated by tying his turban around his neck and taken to the mosque in Homs, where he was

the governor, and then he should be deposed. The same thing happened with Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari, Qudamah bin

Nata'un and Harith bin Wahb, but in the case of Muawiyah, he also remained silent and continued to see that the

palace was magnificent and that he and his friends were wearing silk clothes.

He had been in contact with the infidels and became famous for his extravagance. It reached such a point that he

tested his loyalists by leading the Friday prayer on Wednesday. The Emir of Syria was a man who gathered the

companions of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) around him. He had bought people like Abu Hurairah and Abu

Musa Al-Ash'ari to fabricate fake hadiths. He had bought people like Umar bin Al-Aas who raised the Quran on a

spear. The offer of mediation and Abu Musa's deception are well-known in history.

Muawiyah was an expert in military management. It is said that a man of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.)

once went to Syria. Muawiyah said that he should go and steal his camel. This was done, but after searching, when

the man saw the camel with someone and filed a claim, the defendant presented forty witnesses that the camel

belonged to him, while the plaintiff's claim was on the camel. According to the testimony, the camel was declared

a camel and given to the defendant, but Muawiyah called the plaintiff and gave him a camel and a lot of money and

said, "Go and tell Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) on my behalf that I will send millions of people like these witnesses to

war with you who do not know the difference between a camel and a camel."

Supporters of Imam Hassan (AS)

The people who had pledged allegiance to Imam Hassan (AS) were people who had participated in the battles of

Jamal, Siffin, and Nahrawan, and were tired and hopeless.

There were people among whom the Khawarij and their supporters had infiltrated their ranks. They had pledged

allegiance to Imam Hassan (AS) so that if the Imam were to win over Muawiya, he would remove him (AS) and

rule himself.

However, there were very few capable people among them. Therefore, Muawiya succeeded in luring the great

chieftains to join him by offering them money, positions, and rewards. These chieftains joined Muawiya's ranks

overnight, and the army was left without chieftains.

If Imam Hassan (AS) had not made peace at such a time, Muawiya would have had the Imam (AS) killed by his

supporters after a great deal of bloodshed and would have held a mourning assembly in Syria.

The Peace of Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS)

The acceptance of the mediation of Amirul Momineen (AS) and the rise of Hazrat Imam Hassan (AS) and Hazrat

Imam Hussain (AS) are the basis and source of all three. Hassan (AS) made peace and Hussain (AS) was patient to

the extent that Muawiya, his power and the existence of his supporters were wiped out.

According to the command of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS), when Muawiya died, the hearts of the people were filled

with hatred for the Umayyads and love for the Ahlul Bayt (AS).

As soon as Muawiya died, his politics also ended and the government came into the hands of a gluttonous, foolish

and arrogant person.

That unfortunate person had reached the point where he martyred Hussain (AS) with perfect cruelty of heart,

scattered his Ahlul Bayt (AS) around the cities, held a gathering in celebration of Hussain's murder and recited

these poems of his. It is as if you are giving a lamp in the hands of the people and saying, "Look carefully at the

cruelty and injustice of the Umayyads, recognize their Islam, these are his blasphemous poems."

لَيْتَ أَشْيَاخِي بِبَدْرٍ شَهِدُوا جَزَعَ الْخَزْرَجِ مِنْ وَقْعِ الْأَسَلِ‏

لَأَهَلُّوا وَ اسْتَهَلُّوا فَرَحاً ثُمَّ قَالُوا يَا يَزِيدُ لَا تُشَلَ‏

لعبت‏ هاشم‏ بالملك فلا خبر جاء و لا وحي نزل‏

قَدْ قَتَلْنَا الْقَرْمَ مِنْ سَادَاتِهِمْ‏ وَ عَدَلْنَاهُ بِبَدْرٍ فَاعْتَدَلَ‏

The Bani Hashim had a pretense, neither did any revelation come to them nor did any prophethood come.

We took revenge for our Badr victims and made them equal. I wish my elders of Badr were alive at that time, we

would have seen how we took revenge on them. Zainab (a.s.) who spoke in the tone of Ali (a.s.) was also present in this assembly. She said what she should have

said.

Imam Sajjad (a.s.) was allowed to go to the pulpit in the Jama Masjid, who humiliated the Bani Umayyads. Yazid started the “Battle of Hurra” in the second year of his reign and massacred the people of Medina. And he set

fire to the House of God and as soon as Muawiya died, Imam Hussain (a.s.) rose.

The survival of Islam is due to this rise. But it should not be forgotten that both the peace and patience of Imam

Hasan (a.s.) were to provide the ground for the rise of the Imam.

The rise of Hussain (a.s.) is completely related to the peace of Hasan (a.s.). The Holy Prophet (PBUH) had

probably said for this stage that whether Hasan (AS) and Hussain (AS) are Imams who must be obeyed in both

states, whether they are sitting or standing.

That is, if they stand, follow them. And if they do not stand, follow them. Here are some of the advice that Imam Hasan (AS) gave to Junadah at the time of his death. Junadah says that when

I came to him at the time of his death,

I asked for some advice, and he said: “O Junadah, be ready for death at all times before death comes, prepare a

clear path for the journey of death, your grave and the Day of Judgment. Junadah! Strive for this world as if you were

to live here forever and prepare for the Hereafter as if you were to die tomorrow.

If you want honor and power without nation and tribe, then throw off the humiliating garment of disobedience to

Allah and put on the honorable garment of obedience to Allah.

Excerpt from the book "The Defender of Islam"