Imam \u1e24asan
\n\u1e24asan, the first child of \u02bfAl\u012b and F\u0101\u1e6dima, was born on March 4, 625 AD in Medina. His birth happened in the fasting month of Ramadan. The name \u1e24asan was chosen by the Prophet. This name was not famous among Arabs of that time. (Muf\u012bd, Irsh\u0101d) Imam \u1e24asan was seven when his grandfather passed away. Shortly after, he lost his mother. \u1e24asan and his younger brother \u1e24usayn consoled themselves in the arms of their father, \u02bfAl\u012b. From his youth, Imam \u1e24asan was full of knowledge and he used to answer people\u2019s questions. (al-K\u0101f\u012b) \u2018\u1e24asan b. \u02bfAl\u012b had unique virtues and moral qualities. He was patient, great, humble and kind,\u2019 writes Suy\u016b\u1e6d\u012b. (T\u0101r\u012bkh al-Kulaf\u0101\u02be)
\nDuring his life time, Imam \u1e24asan donated all his properties for the sake of God twice. Moreover, he divided his properties three times into two parts, keeping one for himself and donating the rest for the sake of God. (T\u0101r\u012bkh Ya\u02bfq\u016bb\u012b)
\nImam \u1e24asan and battles
\nImam \u1e24asan was brave and valiant. He did not know fear. At the Battle of the Camel, his father gave him the mission to go to Kufa and call people to take up arms. The governor of Kufa refused Imam \u1e24asan\u2019s invitation. In spite of this, Imam \u1e24asan managed to mobilize 9,000 people from Kufa to participate in the war. (Akhb\u0101r \u1e6ciwal) Imam \u1e24asan fought alongside his father in the war and dealt devastating blows to the enemy.
\nHe was on the frontline not only in the Battle of the Camel, but also in the Battle of \u1e62iff\u012bn for which he called on people of Iraq to combat the Syrian forces. \u1e24asan and \u1e24usayn were in the midst of the battle, but their father asked other soldiers to prevent them from launching further forays in order to protect the bloodline of the Prophet. (Nahj al-Bal\u0101gha)
\nAfter the martyrdom of Imam \u02bfAl\u012b in 661 AD, Imam \u1e24asan took the podium and delivered a sermon about his father\u2019s virtues. People of Kufa pledged allegiance to \u1e24asan as the successor to his father. This was how Imam \u1e24asan took the reigns of power. He administered their affairs for six months and issued directives to governors. With the announcement of the martyrdom of \u02bfAl\u012b in Syria, Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya led an army against Kufa to try and overthrow \u1e24asan.
\nThe question here is to know why Imam \u1e24asan opted for a negotiated settlement with the enemy while his brother, \u1e24usayn, chose to fight. Numerous books have been written on this subject. It is important to know that Imam \u1e24asan never accepted peace. In fact, peace was imposed on him. The circumstances of that time obliged the Imam to accept peace. Anyone in his place would have agreed to peace too. Had the Imam chose to fight, Islam and Shi\u2019ism would have been harmed.
\nThe Roman Empire, which had suffered crushing blows from Muslims, was seeking an opportunity to invade the Islamic territory. As soon as Rome learnt about military deployments by Imam \u1e24asan and Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya, it decided to lead a strong army into the Islamic country. In the face of such sensitive conditions, Imam \u1e24asan \u2013 whose duty was to safeguard Islam \u2013 had no option but to agree to peace in a bid to protect Islam from this threat.
\nYa\u02bfq\u016bb\u012b writes: \u2018Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya returned to Syria after signing a treaty with Imam \u1e24asan. He received a report about the Roman Empire\u2019s intention to invade the Islamic country. At that time, the Islamic government was not able to counter the Roman Army. Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya had to pay 100,000 dinars a year to the Romans.\u2019 (T\u0101r\u012bkh Ya\u02bfq\u016bb\u012b) This historical document shows that in case of any confrontation between Imam \u1e24usayn and Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya, the Roman Empire would have emerged winner. This threat was dispelled thanks to Imam \u1e24asan\u2019s foresight. To that effect, Imam al-B\u0101qir says: \u2018Had the Imam \u1e24asan not accepted peace, Islam would have faced a tremendous danger.\u2019 (Bi\u1e25\u0101r al-Anw\u0101r)
\nImam \u1e24asan had other reasons for accepting peace with Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya. Firstly, the followers of Imam \u1e24asan \u2013 who had been his father\u2019s followers \u2013 had had no respite from fighting. They were always on a war footing. Therefore, the Imam\u2019s troops was exhausted. Upon hearing news of Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya Army\u2019s move towards Kufa, Imam \u1e24asan called on his followers to be steadfast and prepared to sacrifice in the face of the enemy. But after the Imam concluded his sermon, everyone was silent and nobody agreed. Some followers of the Imam described people of Iraq as fearful and fake heroes. (Maq\u0101til al-\u1e6c\u0101libiyy\u012bn)
\nThe allies of Imam \u1e24asan finally managed to bring together several thousand people in Nukhayla. The Imam had to deliver a new speech to encourage some others to join him. One can easily see that fatigue and low morale dominated his soldiers and such an army could never win a war. The second point is that Imam \u1e24asan\u2019s men were poorly mobilized and organized and there were divisions among them. The main elements of the Imam\u2019s forces were as follows:
\nThe faithful followers of Imam \u02bfAl\u012b and Imam \u1e24asan ; They were ready to give their lives in the battle.
\nKhaw\u0101rij; They had joined Imam \u1e24asan not for his own sake, but due to their enmity with Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya. They were really hostile to both sides.
\nOpportunists; They were seeking their material benefits and they were ready to defect and rise up against Imam \u1e24asan if it served their personal interests.
\nCapricious individuals who were still undecided about their cooperation with Imam \u1e24asan.
\nTribal elements who had to joined Imam \u1e24asan\u2019s side because their tribal chiefs had done so. They were in fact following their tribal chiefs.
\nThe important question here is if such a divided army could fight in the battle. Certainly not! Such a war would have no other result but defeat and death for the faithful followers of Imam \u1e24asan. The Imam preferred battle with Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya but he had to accept peace. In his last speech, Imam \u1e24asan told people that Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya had offered an unfair proposal to him. \u2018If you are ready to die for God we have to battle him with our swords but if you want a life of ease then we have to accept his proposal,\u2019 the Imam said. The troops shouted. \u2018Life! Life!\u2019 In this way, they revealed their true intentions. Suppose that Imam \u1e24asan was commander of Syrian army and Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya was Iraq\u2019s. Could Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya do anything other than what Imam \u1e24asan did? Had Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya killed Imam \u1e24asan, a wave of fury would have grown against the Umayyad rule. Imam \u1e24asan\u2019s agreement to peace let people know rebels as they were. It was known to people during the reign of Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya that the Umayyad rulers wanted the government for their own interests and not for promoting Islam.
\nAfter the Umayyad\u2019s intentions were revealed for all to see, Imam \u1e24asan\u2019s brother \u2013 \u1e24usayn \u2013 managed to lead a revolution. \u1e24usayn lost his life in the battle to show people the true character of their Umayyad rulers.
\nThe text of Imam \u1e24asan\u2019s peace agreement with Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya
\nThe peace agreement signed between Imam \u1e24asan and Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya is an example of the Imam\u2019s endeavours for realizing the sacred ideals of Islam. The articles contained within the treaty show that the Imam sincerely wanted to safeguard the ideals of Islam. The peace treaty is as follows:
\n\u2018Authority shall be handed over to Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya provided that he acts according to the Book of God, the Prophet\u2019s tradition and the tradition of the righteous Caliphs.
\nAuthority shall be for Imam \u1e24asan after Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya. If something were to befall him, authority should be for his brother \u1e24usayn. Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya has no right to entrust it to anybody else.
\nMu\u02bf\u0101wiya shall abandon cursing Imam \u02bfAl\u012b, both in prayers and in other settings, and shall not mention \u02bfAl\u012b except in a good manner.
\nMu\u02bf\u0101wiya shall see to it that the five million dirhams of the treasury of Kufa is spent in the way Imam \u1e24asan deems right. Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya shall distribute one million dirhams among the sons of those who were killed while fighting for \u02bfAl\u012b in the Battle of Camel and the Battle of \u1e62iff\u012bn, and should spend that money from the taxes of Darabgard.
\nPeople shall be safe wherever they are: in Syria, Iraq, Hijaz, Yemen, etc. Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya shall give security to the people of all races. He must bear their slips, should not seek revenge for past deeds, nor should he punish the Iraqis for their past hostility. The Companions of \u02bfAl\u012b shall be given security wherever they are, Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya shall not expose the Sh\u012b\u02bfa of \u02bfAl\u012b to any harm. The Companions and the Sh\u012b\u02bfa of \u02bfAl\u012b shall be given security over their lives, their properties, their women, and their children. Nor shall Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya pursue them for a certain thing, nor should he expose them to any evil.
\nAnd then, at the end of the agreement, Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya solemnly pledges that he will accomplish all the contents of the agreement and takes God as witness to the treaty, which was also confirmed by the dignitaries of Syria.\u2019 (\u1e62ul\u1e25 al-\u1e24asan, Shaykh R\u0101\u1e0d\u012b \u0100l-Y\u0101s\u012bn)
\nA trick used by both the Umayyads and the Abbasids who succeed them was to spread false news in a bid to change public mood vis-\u00e0-vis the family of Imam \u02bfAl\u012b. That is why rumours are heard against Imam \u1e24asan who had been to \u1e24ajj pilgrimage on foot for 25 times. The Imam was rumoured to have married and divorced a large number of women; these rumours were mainly spread by courtiers in the Umayyad dynasty.
\nMu\u02bf\u0101wiya tricked Imam \u1e24asan\u2019s wife Juda\u02bf into poisoning to death her husband in exchange for marrying her to his son Yaz\u012bd. The wife was easily tricked by Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya and poisoned the Imam. Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya was happy with the martyrdom of Imam \u1e24asan who was the biggest obstacle to his plans. (\u02bfAqd al-Far\u012bd)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shia Islam: Imam \u1e24asan\/ 23 Imam \u1e24asan \u1e24asan, the first child of \u02bfAl\u012b and F\u0101\u1e6dima, was born on March 4, 625 AD in Medina. His birth happened in the fasting month of Ramadan. The name \u1e24asan was chosen by the Prophet. This name was not famous among Arabs of that time. (Muf\u012bd, Irsh\u0101d) Imam \u1e24asan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19863],"tags":[19763,20105,20130,19692,19669],"class_list":["post-11742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shia-beliefs","tag-ayatollah-sobhani","tag-imam-hasan","tag-shia-beliefs","tag-shia-islam","tag-shia-studies-world-assembly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}