Hassan ibn ‘Ali, the grandson of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam

He is Amir al Mu’minin Sayyidina Hassan ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib al Hashimi, Abu Muhammad radiya Llahu ‘anhu. The grandson of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his rayhanah (sweet smelling flower). He sat in his company and memorised his words. He is the son of Sayyidah Fatimah bint Rasulillah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, his father is Amir al Mu’minin Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu, and he is the grandson of Umm al Mu’minin Sayyidah Khadijah radiya Llahu ‘anha. He is the fifth of the Khulafa’ Rashidin.

عن أسامة بن زيد رضي الله عنه قال كان النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم يجلسني و الحسن بن علي فيقول اللهم إني أحبهما فأحبهما

Usamah ibn Zaid radiya Llahu ‘anhuma reports, “The Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would seat me and Hassan ibn ‘Ali and submit, ‘O Allah, indeed I love them so You love them.’”[1]

He narrated few ahadith which he memorised directly from Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

It appears in Sahih al Bukhari from Ibn Abi Mulaykah from ‘Uqbah ibn al Harith who reports:

صلى بنا أبو بكر العصر ثم خرج فرأى الحسن بن علي يلعب فأخذه فحمله على عنقه و هو يقول بأبي شبيه بالنبي ليس شبيها بعلي و علي يضحك

Abu Bakr led us in Salat al ‘Asr. Thereafter he left and saw Hassan ibn ‘Ali playing. So he picked him up and carried him on his shoulder and commented, “By my father, he resembles the Nabi, not ‘Ali,” and ‘Ali laughed.[2]

Sayyidina Hassan radiya Llahu ‘anhu passed away as a martyr after being poisoned in the year 49 A.H at the age of 47. It is said that he passed away in 50 A.H.

He would perform Hajj on foot and say:

إني أستحيي من الله تعالى أن ألقاه و لم أمش إلى بيته

I feel shy to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala when I have not walked to His house.

Accordingly, he walked 20 times from Madinah for Hajj.[3]

He split his wealth on three occasions and gave half of it for the sake of Allah to the extent that he would give one shoe in charity and keep the other. And he spent all of his wealth in the path of Allah on two occasions.

He was tolerant, magnanimous, and pious. His devoutness and forbearance led him to abandon the world and khilafah for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala. And he was one of the first to rush to help Sayyidina ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan radiya Llahu ‘anhu.[4]

He assumed responsibility of the khilafah after the martyrdom of his father Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu who was killed 13 days before the end of Ramadan 40 A.H. More than 40 000 who had pledged allegiance to his father gave him bay’ah. He remained the Khilafah of Hijaz, Yemen, Iraq, Khorasan, and other places for approximately seven months. Thereafter Sayyidina Muawiyah radiya Llahu ‘anhu travelled to him from Sham and he travelled to the former. When they drew close to each other, he realised that one of the two armies will not overpower the other until majority of the second is destroyed. So he sent word to Sayyidina Muawiyah radiya Llahu ‘anhu to generously hand over the khilafah to him on condition that he will be khalifah after his demise and will not take anyone from the people of Madinah, Hijaz, and Iraq to task for anything that happened in the days of his father. He also stipulated other conditions. Sayyidina Muawiyah radiya Llahu ‘anhu acceded to all his requests. They reached a compromise which was the manifestation of the prophetic miracle. Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam had said about Sayyidina Hassan radiya Llahu ‘anhu:

إن ابني هذا سيد يصلح الله به بين فئتين عظيمتين من المسلمين

This son of mine is a leader. Through him will Allah unite two great factions of the Muslims.[5]

It is said that their reconciliation took place five days before the end of Rabi’ al Awwal 41 A.H. or in Rabi’ al Akhir or in the middle of Jumada al Ula. He had made a bequest to his brother Sayyidina Hussain radiya Llahu ‘anhu.[6]

Glad tidings of Jannat for him and his brother Sayyidina Hussain radiya Llahu ‘anhuma is established unequivocally and soars the level of tawatur as appears in Nazm al Mutanathir[7]. The author narrates such reports from 17 different Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum. I searched for their narrations and came upon 18 Sahabah and one mursal report. The Sahabah are Sayyidina Abu Sa’id al Khudri, Sayyidina Hudhayfah, Sayyidina ‘Umar ibn al Khattab, Sayyidina Ibn ‘Umar, Sayyidina Abu Hurairah, Sayyidina Jahm, Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, Sayyidina Muawiyah, Sayyidina Ibn Qurrah from his father, Sayyidina Malik ibn al Huwayrith, Sayyidina Usamah ibn Zaid, Sayyidina Hussain ibn ‘Ali, Sayyidina Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, Sayyidina Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah, Sayyidina Buraydah ibn al Husayb, Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik, Sayyidina Abu Rimthah, Sayyidina ‘Ali al Hilali radiya Llahu ‘anhum, and the mursal report of Muslim ibn Yasar. I will suffice on the hadith of Sayyidina Abu Sa’id radiya Llahu ‘anhu:

عن عبد الرحمن بن أبي نعم عن أبي سعيد الخدري قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم الحسن و الحسين سيدا شباب أهل الجنة و فاطمة سيدة نسائهم إلا ما كان لمريم بنت عمران

From ‘Abdul Rahman ibn Abi Nu’m from―Abu Sa’id al Khudri who reports that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam declared, “Hassan and Hussain are the leaders of the youth of Jannat and Fatimah is the queen of their women, except for the status Maryam bint ‘Imran enjoys.”[8]

NEXT⇒ Hussain ibn ‘Ali, the grandson of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam

[1] Musnad Ahmed, vol. 4 pg. 283 and vol. 4 pg. 292; Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 3537; al Adab al Mufrad, Hadith: 86; Sahih Muslim, vol. 7 pg. 130.

[2] Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 3349.

[3] Hilyat al Awliya’, vol. 2 pg. 37.

[4] Tahdhib al Asma’, vol. 1 pg. 220.

[5] Musnad Ahmed, vol. 5 pg. 49; Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 2557; Sunan Abi Dawood, Hadith: 4662; Sunan al Nasa’i, Hadith: 1410.

[6] Tahdhib al Asma’, vol. 1 pg. 220.

[7] Nazm al Mutanathir, pg. 196.

[8] Musnad Ahmed, Hadith: 1102; al Sunan al Kubra, Hadith: 8525; Abu Nuaim: Tarikh Asbahan, Hadith: 2021; al Mu’jam al Kabir, vol. 3 pg. 38 – from the chain of Yazid ibn Mardaniyyah from Ibn Abi Nu’m. Musnad Ahmed, Hadith: 11612; Sunan al Tirmidhi, vol. 5 pg. 565; al Sunan al Kubra, Hadith: 8526 – from the chain of Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad from Ibn Abi Nu’m. it is reported from other chains all leading upto Ibn Abi Nu’m from Abu Sa’id radiya Llahu ‘anhu.

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