Imam al-Hasan b. Ali al-Mujtaba (a): Difference between revisions

The Word “al-Hasan” in Arabic means good or beautiful. This name was chosen for Imam al-Hasan (a) by the [[Prophet (s)]].<ref>1. Ibn Ḥabal, al-Musnad, vol. 1, p. 98, 118; Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 6, p. 33-34.</ref> According to a hadith, this name was chosen by God's command,<ref>Ibn Shahrāshūb, al-Manāqib, vol. 4, p. 397; Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 10, p. 244.</ref> and did not have a precedent in pre-Islamic history.<ref>Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 6, p. 657; Ibn al-Athīr, Usd al-ghāba, vol. 2, p. 10.</ref>

According to some [[Sunni]] sources, before the Prophet (s) chose the name al-Hasan for his grandson, [[Imam Ali (a)]] had the names Hamza<ref>Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh madīnat Dimashq, vol. 13, p. 170.</ref> or Harb<ref>Ḥākim al-Nayshābūrī, al-Mustadrak ʿala l-ṣaḥīḥayn, vol. 3, p. 165.</ref> in mind, but he told the Prophet (s) that he would choose the name that the Prophet (s) would choose for his son.<ref>Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 6, p. 239-244; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 39, p. 63.</ref> Some Shiite scholars have rejected these reports for a number of reasons.<ref>Al-Qarashī, Ḥayāt al-Imām al-Ḥasan, vol. 1, p.52-53.</ref>

His [[teknonym]] was Abu Muhammad or Abu l-Qasim,<ref>Ibn Shahrāshūb, al-Manāqib, vol. 4, p. 29; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 44, p. 35.</ref> and epithets such as al-Mujtaba (the Chosen One), al-Sayyid (Master), and al-Zaki (the Pure One) have been used for him.<ref>Ibn Shahrāshūb, al-Manāqib, vol. 4, p. 29.</ref> There are a number of epithets that have been commonly used for him and for [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]], such as Sayyid Shabab Ahl al-Janna (the Master of the Youths of Paradise), Rayhanat Nabi Allah (The Flower of the Prophet of God),<ref>Ibn Ṣabbāgh Mālikī, al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma, vol. 2, p. 759.</ref> and al-Sibt (the Grandson).<ref>Qundūzī, Yanābīʿ al-mawadda, vol. 3, p. 128.</ref> According to a prophetic hadith, “Al-Hasan is a Sibt from the Asbat “pl. of sibt]”.<ref>Ibn al-Athīr, Usd al-ghāba, vol. 1, p. 490.</ref> The word “sibt” in some [[Quranic verses]] and hadiths is regarded as meaning an Imam chosen by [[God]] from the descendants of prophets.<ref>Rayshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Ḥusayn, vol. 1, p. 474-477.</ref>

It is reported that Imam al-Hasan (a) used to attend the sessions of the Prophet (s) and would retell to his mother what was revealed in those sessions unto the Prophet (s).<ref>Ibn Shahrāshūb, al-Manāqib, vol. 4, p. 7.</ref>

[[Sulaym b. Qays]] is reported to have said that after the [[demise of the Prophet (s)]], when [[Abu Bakr]] was chosen as the caliph, al-Hasan (a) would go together with his brother and his parents to the houses of the [[Helpers]] and call them to support Imam Ali (a).<ref>Sulaym b. Qays, Kitāb sulaym b. qays al-hilāli, p. 665 and 918.</ref> It is also reported that he would object to Abu Bakr’s sitting on the [[minbar]] of the Prophet (s).<ref>Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 3, p. 26-27; Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 10, p. 300.</ref>

There are few reports about Imam al-Hasan's youth. It is reported, for instance, that Umar appointed him as a witness in the [[six-member council]] that was to appoint the next caliph.<ref>Ibn Qutayba, al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa, vol. 1, p. 42.</ref>

According to some Sunni sources, Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a), participated in the Battle of Ifriqiyya in [[26 AH]]/646 <ref>Ibn Khaldūn, al-ʿIbar, vol. 2, p. 573-574.</ref> and in the Battle of [[Tabaristan]] in [[29 AH]]/649 or [[30 AH]]/650.<ref>Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, vol. 4, p. 269.</ref> Scholars disagree as to whether these reports are reliable. Considering problems in their chains of transmitters and taking into account the opposition of the Imams (a) to the conquests, [[Sayyid Ja'far Murtada]] regards these reports as unreliable. He refers as further evidence for his view to the fact that [[Imam Ali (a)]] did not allow Imam al-Hasan (a) and [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] to participate in the [[Battle of Siffin]].<ref>Jaʿfar al-Murtaḍā, al-Ḥayāt al-sīyāsīyya li-l-Imām al-Ḥasan, p. 158.</ref>

It is also reported that in this period, whenever people complained about [[Uthman]]'s conducts to Imam Ali (a), he would send his son al-Hasan (a) to Uthman.<ref>Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, al-ʿAqd al-farīd, vol. 5, p. 58-59.</ref> According to al-Baladhuri, during the revolt at the end of Uthman's caliphate, when his house was besieged, al-Hasan (a) and al-Husayn (a) and a number of other people were commanded by Imam Ali (a) to protect Uthman’s house,<ref>Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 5, p. 558-559.</ref> and, according to [[Qadi Nuʿman al-Maghribi]] (d. 363/973) to take water for him.<ref>Qāḍī Nuʿmān, al-Manāqib wa al-mathālib, p. 251; Ṭabarī, Dalāʾil al-imāma, p. 168.</ref> Some reports indicate that al-Hasan (a) was even injured in this episode.<ref>Dīyārbakrī, Tārīkh al-khamīs, vol. 2, p. 262.</ref> Some Shiite scholars, such as [[Allama Amini]], regard these reports as unreliable.<ref>Amīnī, al-Ghadīr, vol. 9, p. 262.</ref> [[Al-Sharif al-Murtada]] also questions the authenticity of these reports and states that even if they were authentic, they only indicate that Imam Ali (a) was against [[murdering Uthamn]] and depriving his family of food and water, not that he opposed overthrowing him as the caliph.<ref>Sayyid Murtaḍā, Shāfī fī al-imāma, vol. 4, p. 242.</ref>

There are various reports about the number of Imam al-Hasan's (a) children and wives. Although historical sources do not mention the names of more than  eighteen women<ref>Shūshtarī, Risālat fī tawārīkh al-nabī wa al-āl, p. 71-72; Zamānī Aḥmad, Ḥaqāyiq-i pinhān, pazhūhishī dar zindigānī-yi sīyāsī-yi Imām al-Ḥasan, p. 339-340; Al-Qarashī, Ḥayāt al-Imām al-Ḥasan, vol. 2, p. 455-460.</ref> as the wives of the Imam (a), some of them claim that the Imam (a) had 70,<ref>Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 44, p. 173.</ref> 90,<ref>Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 3, p. 25.</ref> 200,<ref>Muqaddasī, al-Bidaʾ wa al-tārīkh, vol. 5, p. 74.</ref> or 250 wives.<ref>Ibn Shahrāshūb, al-Manāqib āl-i Abiṭālib, vol. 4, p. 30.</ref> It has been claimed that Imam al-Hasan (a) was mitlaq (one who marries and divorces numerous women)<ref>Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 10, p. 290 and 302; Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 3, p. 25; Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 6, p. 56.</ref> and that he had many concubines, with some of whom he had children.<ref>Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 3, p. 73.</ref>

This claim has been subjected to much criticism in past and recent scholarly works.<ref>Mahdawī Dāmghānī, Ḥasan b. Alī, Imām, p. 309.</ref> According to [[Madelung]], the first person to have spread the rumor that Imam al-Hasan (a) had ninety wives was Muhammad b. al-Kalbi, and the number was made up by al-Madaʾini (d. 225/839). However, al-Kalbi himself mentions only the names of eleven women as the Imam's wives, and from these eleven, five were arguably not the Imam's wives.<ref>Wilferd Madelung, Jānishīnī-yi Muḥammad, p. 514-515.</ref> Al-Qurashi maintains that these reports were fabricated by the [[Abbasids]] to tarnish the reputation of the descendants of Imam al-Hasan (a) who led several revolts against them.<ref>Al-Qarashī, Ḥayāt al-Imām al-Ḥasan, vol. 2, p. 453-454.</ref>

There is disagreement as to the number of Imam al-Hasan's (a) children. According to [[al-Shaykh al-Mufid]], they were fifteen,<ref>Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 2, p. 20.</ref> but [[al-Tabrisi]] considers them sixteen, among whom was Abu Bakr who was martyred in the [[event of Karbala]].<ref>Ṭabrisī, Iʿlām al-warā, vol. 1, p. 416.</ref>

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