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Imam al-Hasan b. Ali al-Mujtaba (a): Difference between revisions
Imam al-Hasan b. Ali al-Mujtaba (a) (view source)
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Imam al-Hasan (a) also succeeded his father as the caliph of the Muslim community and held this position for about seven months. | Imam al-Hasan (a) also succeeded his father as the caliph of the Muslim community and held this position for about seven months. | ||
==The Short Period of Caliphate== | |||
Imam al-Hasan was a Caliphate of Muslims since [[Ramadan 21]], [[40]]/[[January 28]], [[661 CE|661]], for 6 or 8 months. Appealing to a hadith attributed to the Prophet (s), Sunni Muslims takes him as the last caliph from among the [[Rashidun Caliphs]]. His caliphate began after the allegiance of people of [[Iraq]] and support of people from neighboring lands. People of [[Syria]] (al-Sham) opposed his caliphate under the leadership of [[Mu'awiya]]. Mu'awiya and armies from Syria went to a war with Iraq. The war was cultivated in a peace in which the position of caliphate was left to Mu'awiya, the first [[Umayyad]] caliphate. | |||
===Allegiance of Muslims and Oppositions by People of Syria=== | |||
According to Shiite and Sunni sources, after the martyrdom of Amir al-Mu'minin in 40/661, people pledged their allegiance to al-Hasan b. 'Ali (a). According to al-Baladhuri (d. 279/892), after the burial of Imam 'Ali (a), [['Ubayad Allah b. 'Abbas]] went to people and gave the news of the Imam's martyrdom, telling them: "he has left a well-deserved and patient successor. You can pledge your allegiance to him if you would like to." According to ''[[al-Irshad]]'', in the morning of Friday, Ramadan 21, al-Hasan b. 'Ali gave a speech in the mosque, in which he enumerated the virtues and merits of his father, emphasized on his own connection to the Prophet (s), pointed to his own merits, and appealed to verses of the Qur'an concerning the special place of [[Ahl al-Bayt]]. After the speech, [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]] stood up and told people: "pledge your allegiance to the son of your Prophet and the successor of your Imam." And people pledged their allegiance to him. According to sources, the number of people who pledged allegiance to him amounted to over 40,000. On al-Tabari's account, [[Qays b. Sa'd al-'Ubada]], a commander of Imam Ali's army, was the first person to pledge allegiance to him. | |||
According to Husayn Muhammad Ja'fari in his book, ''[[Tashayyu' dar masir-i tarikh]]'' (Shiism in the course of history), many companions of the Prophet (s) who had resided in [[Kufa]] after the construction of the city or had moved to the city in the period of Imam 'Ali's caliphate pledged their allegiance to Imam al-Hasan (a) or otherwise accepted his caliphate. Ja'fari relies on certain pieces of evidence to show that people of Mecca and Medina also agreed with the caliphate of al-Hasan b. 'Ali, and people of Iraq considered him as the only candidate for the position. According to Ja'fari, people of [[Yemen]] and Fars (Persia) had also implicitly endorsed his caliphate, or at least, they showed no opposition thereto. | |||
According to some sources, certain conditions were proposed at the time of allegiance. For example, the book, ''[[al-Imama wa l-siyasa]]'', reports that al-Hasan b. 'Ali told people, "will you pledge your allegiance on the condition that you obey me, and you fight whomever I fight, and you make peace with whomever I make peace?" Upon hearing these words, some people became hesitant. Thus, they went to al-Husayn b. 'Ali to make their allegiance to him, but he said, "I refuge to God from letting you make allegiance to me as long as al-Hasan is still alive." They went back and made allegiance with al-Hasan b. 'Ali. Al-Tabari (d. 310/923) says that when Qays b. Sa'd pledged his allegiance to him, he stated the condition that he acts upon the Book of God and the Tradition of the Prophet and to fight those who permit the shedding of the bloods of Muslims. However, al-Imam al-Hasan only accepted the Book of God and the Tradition of the Prophet, suggesting that every other condition should derive from these two. Some people concluded from these reports that Imam al-Hasan (a) was a pacifist, war averse person, and his practice was different from that of his father and brother. | |||
Rasul Ja'fariyan believes that these conditions did not mean that al-Hasan b. 'Ali did not intend to go to war since early on. Instead, his main goal was to protect his authority as the leader of the society to freely make decisions, and his subsequent actions show that he insisted upon war. According to [[Abu l-Faraj Isfahani]], one of the first measures taken by al-Hasan b. 'Ali (a) after his ascension to caliphate was a one-hundred percent increase of the wages of warriors. | |||
According to some reports, Imam al-Hasan (a) did not take any measure toward war or peace for about 50 days or more after the martyrdom of his father and the allegiance of people. The first measure of Imam (a) after allegiance was doubling the salary of soldiers. | |||
=== War with Mu'awiya=== | |||
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|title = Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (a): | |||
|quote = "Think, because thinking is the life of the heart of a man who sees and is the key to doors of wisdom." | |||
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|source = Musnad al-Imam al-Hasan (a) p:718 | |||
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When informed of [[Imam 'Ali]]'s (a) martyrdom and that people had given [[allegiance]] to Imam al-Hasan (a), [[Mu'awiya]] sent two spies to [[Kufa]] and [[Basra]] in an attempt to incite the people against Imam al-Hasan (a). So, Imam al-Hasan (a) ordered the arrest and punishment of the two. Letters were exchanged between Imam al-Hasan (a) and Mu'awiya and in them, Imam al-Hasan (a) proved his right to the [[caliphate]].<ref>Al-Shaykh al-Mufid. ''Al-Irshad'', p. 350</ref> | |||
Mu'awiya tried to mobilize his army and sent letters to his governors asking them to support him. He led his army towards [[Iraq]] and left Dahhak b. Qays al-Fihri in the capital as his temporary substitute. It is reported that 60,000 soldiers or more accompanied Mu'awiya.<ref>Al-Qurashi, Baqir Sharif. ''Zindigani Imam al-Hasan'', p. 334-335</ref> When the army of Mu'awiya crossed Manbaj bridge over Euphrates, Imam al-Hasan (a) asked people of Kufa to prepare themselves for jihad and ordered Hujr b. 'Adi to mobilize people. | |||
Imam (a) joined the army of Kufa in Sabat of Mada'in and in a sermon, called people to unity and said that reconciliation is better than disunity, rancor and enmity. People understood from his speech that Imam (a) wanted to make peace with Mu'awiya. Thus, some people accused him of disbelief and attacked his tent and many people left him. Also, Mu'awiya sent a letter to 'Ubayd Allah b. 'Abbas, the commander of the army of Iraq and pretended that Imam al-Hasan (a) asked him for peace and mentioned that if 'Ubayd Allah accepted to side with him immediately, he would give him government and great amount of money. So, 'Ubayd Allah who had thought that Imam (a) had asked for peace, sought his personal interests and accepted Mu'awiya's request and joined Mu'awiya at night with two third of his army. | |||
One of the consequences of this event was that some of the chiefs of Iraqi tribes wrote a letter to Mu'awiya and expressed their support for him. After this event, Mu'awiya wanted to bribe Qays b. Sa'd who had become the commander of Iraq's army but failed. | |||
=== Peace Treaty === | |||
{{main|Peace Treaty of Imam al-Hasan (a)}} | |||
[[Al-Baladhuri]] wrote that, "[[Mu'awiya]] sent a blank contract with his seal at the bottom for Imam al-Hasan (a) to write anything that he wished and thus he wrote, "In this peace treaty, al-Hasan b. 'Ali (a) establishes peace with Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan and leaves the government of the Muslims to him with the following conditions: | |||
# He observes the [[Book of God]], the conduct of [[the Prophet (s)]] and the conduct of the righteous [[caliph]]s. | |||
# He appoints no one as the caliph after himself; and after him, the caliph should be elected by a council of Muslims. | |||
# Lives, property and children of people should be safe everywhere. | |||
# Mu'awiya should not implicitly or explicitly plot against al-Hasan b. 'Ali or threaten any of his companions. | |||
'Abd Allah b. Harith and 'Amr b. Salama bear witness upon this peace treaty."<ref>Al-Baladhuri, Ahmad ibn Yahya. ''Ansab al-ashraf'', vol. 3, p. 41-42; Shahidi, Sayyid Ja'far. Tarikh-i tahlili-yi Islam, p. 162</ref> | |||
With the conditions made by Imam al-Hasan (a), the peace treaty was signed in 41/661.<ref>Khalifa b. Khayyat. ''Tarikh'', p. 203</ref> However, even though Mu'awiya signed off on them, he denied all of the conditions in his first sermon in [[Kufa]], where the two armies were supposed to meet. He claimed that Imam al-Hasan (a) was asking for peace and insulted [[Imam 'Ali (a)]]. [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] wanted to respond to his insults, but Imam al-Hasan (a) prohibited him from doing so. Then, Imam al-Hasan (a) delivered a sermon and explained everything with regards to the peace treaty and how Mu'awiya had asked for peace. He responded to the insults to his father in a very eloquent way and noted the honour and legacy that his family held as opposed to Mu'awiya's.<ref>Al-Tabari, Muhammad b. Jarir. ''Tarikh al-rusul wa al-muluk'', p. 124-129; Harrani, Ibn Shu'ba al-. ''Tuhaf al-'uqul'', p. 232 ff; ''Da'irat al-ma'arif buzurg Islami'', vol. 20, p. 538</ref>This made Mu'awiya very angry.<ref>Da'irat al-ma'arif buzurg Islami. vol. 20, p. 538</ref> | |||
In different sources, different dates have been mentioned for the peace treaty, including Rabi' I of 41/July 661 and Jumada II/October of the same year. In ''al-Tanbih wa al-ishraf'', al-Mas'udi considered Rabi' I correct and more famous. | |||
==== After the Peace Treaty ==== | |||
After the peace treaty, Imam al-Hasan (a) went to [[Medina]] and became the scientific, religious, social and political leader there. He took positions against Mu'awiya and his companions in Medina and [[Damascus]] and had debates with them. These have been mentioned and discussed in [[al-Tabrisi]]'s ''[[al-Ihtijaj]]''.<ref>Al-Tabrisi, Ahmad b. 'Ali. ''Al-Ihtijaj'', vol. 2, p. 45-65</ref> | |||
After Imam al-Hasan (a) signed the treaty with Mu'awiya to protect the lives of Muslims and avoid any harms to their religion, the most difficult part of his life started. Criticism of people, observing political relations, and losing many of old companions and their martyrdom were among the hardships of this period for Imam (a). | |||
Even with the apparent solitude of Imam al-Hasan (a), this period of his life was one of his most influential yet difficult periods of his life; because, on the one hand, he (a) was the Imam of Shia and on the other hand, changes in his relations with Mu'awiya made it difficult for him to sort out the affairs of Shia. | |||
After the peace treaty, Imam (a) gave a sermon and pointed to this issue that Mu'awiya challenged him over his rights and explained the reasons for his peace which was to protect the lives of people and avoid bloodshed. After the treaty, Mu'awiya too gave a sermon at his first presence in Kufa. He broke his promises, saying that Imam (a) had asked for peace and cursed Imam Ali (a). Then, Imam al-Hasan (a) explained about the peace treaty in a sermon and the proposal of Mu'awiya for it and answered to Mu'awiya's disrespect to his father. | |||
Knowing the position of Imam (a), Mu'awiya respected it in appearance; for example, when [[Ziyad b. Abih]] was the governor of Kufa, a companion of Imam (a) was annoyed and Imam (a) wrote to him and prohibited him of any misbehavior. When Ziyad gave a disrespectful answer to Imam (a), Imam (a) sent him a historical answer and also forwarded the issue to Mu'awiya and Mu'awiya accepted the request of Imam (a) and also seriously admonished Ziyad. | |||
Mu'awiya's planning for [[Yazid]] to take the power was among Imam's (a) most important criticisms to Mu'awiya; asking why a thoughtless drunkard should sit on the throne. Of course, there are so many examples of Imam's (a) enjoining to the good and prohibiting the evil against Mu'awiya, that in some cases, he (a) called the caliph to follow the Book [the Qur'an] and tradition of the Prophet (s). | |||
Considering Mu'awiya's disregard toward criticisms of Imam (a) and refusal of his requests, Imam (a) believed that until after Mu'awiya, no retaliatory action was prudent and emphasized on this. When leaving [[Kufa]] for [[Medina]], Imam (a) asked his companions to keep themselves ready for an appropriate time. | |||
When some people of Hawazin tribe wanted to make an uprising under the banner of Saturad b. 'Alfa, Mu'awiya was preparing for the battle and asked Imam (a) to approve his action and considered his presence with himself necessary. But, Imam (a) made a smart move, mentioned a word of Imam Ali (a) on distinguishing those who made mistake from disbelievers and emphasized on it and refused Mu'awiya's request. Thus, he (a) refused to go under the flag of Mu'awiya leaving their relationships unharmed. | |||
It is mentioned in reports that regardless of his apparently justified behavior in public, Mu'awiya had secretly ordered to put Shia under surveillance and curse at Imam Ali (a) on the pulpits. He also appointed a person such as Ziyad as the governor of Kufa to follow this strategy. | |||
When the companions of Imam (a), some of whom were the companions of the Prophet (s), saw the actions of Mu'awiya and Ziyad b. Abih, criticized them and were always harassed by the government. What happened to 'Amr b. Hamiq al-Khuza'i in the last decades of his life was a clear example of such harassments. Because of his criticisms of Mu'awiya, 'Amr was chased up, captured, and martyred in the prison of Kufa. | |||
When Imam al-Hasan (a) was informed about the martyrdom of 'Amr, wrote a letter to Mu'awiya and severely reprimanded him. Another example of breaking promises by Mu'awiya is his behavior toward [[Hujr b. 'Adi]] and his companions who made serious criticisms about him. He ordered to capture them in Kufa and send to Damascus and finally martyred them. [[Rashid al-Hajari]], a pious companion of Imam Ali (a) can be added to this list, who was martyred. | |||
In general, the last part of Imam al-Hasan's (a) life which included some journeys to Hijaz and Damascus, was a difficult period and Imam (a) passed through it using his wisdom and forbearance; and in practice, he (a) prepared the situation for the Imamate of his brother al-Husayn (a). | |||
==Residence in Medina and Religious Authority== | ==Residence in Medina and Religious Authority== | ||