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

On [[Ramadan 21]], [[40 AH]]/[[January 28]], [[661 CE|661]], and after the [[martyrdom]] of Imam Ali (a), al-Hasan (a) became the Imam and successor of his father. More than forty thousand men pledged [[allegiance]] to him on the same day. However, [[Muʿawiya|Mu'awiya]] did not accept his caliphate, and launched a military expedition against him. Imam al-Hasan (a) sent an army under the command of [['Ubayd Allah b. 'Abbas]] to confront Mu'awiya's army. The Imam (a) himself headed to [[Sabat]] with a group of soldiers. Mu'awiya tried to spread rumors among the Imam's (a) troops to prepare the ground for a peace treaty. At the same time, one of the [[Kharijites]] tried to assassinate Imam al-Hasan (a), which resulted in the Imam’s (a) injury. The Imam (a) was taken to [[Madain]] to receive treatment. Simultaneously, a group of Kufan chiefs wrote a letter to Mu'awiya and promised him to either kill al-Hasan (a) or to surrender him to Mu'awiya. Mu'awiya sent their letter to Imam al-Hasan (a) and proposed a peace treaty to the Imam (a). Seeing no other choices before him, Imam al-Hasan (a) accepted the peace treaty and abdicated the caliphate with the condition that Mu'awiya should rule according to the [[Qur'an]] and the [[Sunna]] of the Prophet (s) and should not appoint any successor for himself, and that no one, including the Shi'as, should be persecuted. Mu'awiya did not abide by any of these conditions later. The peace treaty with Mu'awiya led to the dissatisfaction of a number of the Imam’s (a) companions, so much so that some of them called the Imam (a) the Humiliator of the Believers.

The Imam (a) returned to Medina after the peace treaty in [[41 AH|41]]/661 and remained there until the end of his life. In Medina, he was as a religious and scholarly authority and had a high social status.

 

When Mu'awiya decided to introduce his son [[Yazid]] as his successor and demanded that people pledge allegiance to him, he sent one-hundred thousand [[dirham]]s to [[Ja'da bt. al-Ash'ath]], Imam al-Hasan's wife, to poison the Imam (a). She did so and Imam al-Hasan (a) was martyred forty days after he was poisoned. According to a report, the Imam (a) had requested to be buried next to the grave of the Prophet (s), but [[Marwan b. al-Hakam]] and a group of the [[Umayyads]] did not let that happen. Thus, he was buried in [[al-Baqi' cemetery]].

When Imam al-Hasan (a) left Kufa, a group of [[Kharijites]] gathered in [[Nukhayla]] to wage war against Mu'awiya. The latter wrote a letter to Imam al-Hasan (a) and asked him to return to Kufa and fight with them. The Imam (a) refused and responded, “If I were to fight with any Muslims, I would fight with you.”<ref>Ibn Athīr, ''al-Kāmīl fī al-tārīkh'', vol. 3, p. 409.</ref> Likewise, when another group of Kharijites revolted against Mu'awiya under the command of Hawthara al-Asadi, Mu'awiya made a similar request from the Imam (a), to which he received the same response.<ref>Irbilī, ''Kashf al-ghumma'', vol. 1, p. 536.</ref>

There are some reports of offensive behavior by some [[Umayyads]] toward Imam al-Hasan (a).<ref>Ibn Shahrāshūb, ''al-Manāqib'', vol. 4, p. 8.</ref> Moreover, in ''[[al-Ihtijaj]]'', several debates between Imam al-Hasan (a) and Mu'awiyah and his supporters are recorded. In those debates, the Imam (a) defended the high position of [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] and revealed the wickedness of his enemies.<ref>Ṭabrisī, ''al-Iḥtijāj'', vol. 1, p. 270-284.</ref>