Hasan (r.a.)

The Prophet (pbuh) married his beloved daughter Hz. Fatima off to Hz. Ali upon the order of Allah. Both of them were brought up and educated by the Messenger of Allah. Therefore, they led a life that could serve as a model for all Muslims. The Prophet (pbuh) visited them frequently and gave them various advice; he dealt with all of their problems. 

It was the 3rd year of the Migration. About one year passed after their happy marriage. Fatima was pregnant. This rejoiced all of the Muslims, primarily the Prophet.

Finally, the day determined by Allah came. The Prophet sent his nanny Umm Ayman to Hz. Fatima’s house. He advised her to read Ayatu’l-Kursiyy and the chapters of al-Falaq and an-Nas.  Hz. Umm Ayman went to Hz. Ali’s house without losing any time. She did what the Prophet told her. After a while, Hz. Hasan was born.

As soon as the Prophet heard the news of the birth, he hurried to his daughter's house. He was very happy. He said, “Where is my grandson? Show him to me!” They brought Hz. Hasan in swaddling clothes. He held the baby and cuddled him. Then, he asked, “What did you name him?” Hz. Ali said, “Harb (War)”. The Prophet said,

“You will definitely be called by your names and your fathers' names on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, give nice names to your children.”

Then, the Prophet recited adhan to the baby's right ear and iqamah to his left ear. He changed his name as “Hasan”.[1]

Two rams were sacrificed on the seventh day of Hz. Hasan’s birth. His hair was weighed and its weight was given to the poor in silver. He was also circumcised.

The house of Hz. Fatima had a different significance in the eye of the Prophet. It was the abode for the generation of sayyids. The Prophet started to visit her daughter more frequently and loved his grandson, by smelling him and putting him on his shoulders.

Once, he put Hz. Hasan on his back. A Companions saw this and said, “O child! What a nice mount you have!” The Prophet (pbuh) said, “He is a nice rider too.”[2]

Once, the Prophet was caressing Hz. Hasan. Aqra bin Habis (r.a.) arrived; he said, “O Messenger of Allah! Do you love children? I have ten children but I do not kiss any of them.” The Prophet said, “He who shows no mercy, will receive no mercy.”[3]

Hz. Hasan sometimes visited his grandfather and talked to him. Once, he went to see his grandson. He stayed there for a long time. It was late and dark. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to him, “Go home now!” Abu Hurayra was there, too. He said, “O Messenger of Allah! Shall I take him home?” The Prophet did not allow him. Meanwhile, a light shone and Hz. Hasan went home easily thanks to that light.[4]

The Messenger of Allah loved Hz. Hasan very much and advised his ummah to love him. He said, “O Allah! I love him. Love him and those who love him.”[5] Thus, he stated that Allah would love a person who loved Hz. Hasan. This deep love of the Prophet's toward Hz. Hasan was not due to kinship only. It had more important reasons. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states the following regarding the issue:

“Yes, the Most Noble Prophet (pbuh) used to take Hasan (r.a.) tenderly into his arms and kiss his head for the sake of the luminous, blessed, Mehdi-like descendents who would spring from him, like Shah Geylani, Ghawth al-A'zam, who would be the inheritors of prophethood and would bear the sacred Shari'a of Muhammad. He saw with the eye of prophethood the sacred service and duty they would perform in the future, and approved and applauded them. He kissed Hasan's head as a sign of approval and encouragement... Yes, Shah Geylani has a large part in his kissing Hasan's head.”[6]

Hz. Hasan about whom the Prophet said, “He is my basil that I smell in this world” and “He is the master of the youths of Paradise”, was brought up and educated by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He learnt many things from his grandfather. Hasan's heart became very sad when he lost his grandfather when he was eight and his mother six months after him. However, he was consoled by the fact that death does not mean disappearance and that he would be able to see them again in Paradise. 

Hz. Hasan’s body from his head to his navel resembled that of the Prophet. Therefore, Hz. Fatima loved him by saying, “my baby who resembles the Prophet but not Ali”.

Hz. Hasan was distinguished for his generosity. He gave all of his property to the poor twice and half of his property three times. When the grandson of the Prophet had two pairs of shoes, he would definitely give one pair to the poor. He always gave sadaqah. When he bought something, he would bargain and try to get things cheap. This attracted the attention of the Muslims. Once, somebody said to him, “You give thousands of dirhams to the poor but when you buy something, you bargain for a long time.” Hz. Hasan explained why he did so as follows:  

“We give money to the poor for the sake of Allah. It is not enough no matter how much we give. In business, deceiving is possible. We bargain because we do not want to be deceived because being deceived originates from lack of mind and causes one's property to decrease.”

Hz. Hasan was a Companion who worshipped a lot.  He performed prayers and fasting a lot. He went to hajj from Madinah to Makkah on foot 25 times. 

Hasan (r.a.) was away from pride and arrogance; he was a modest person. He would accept the invitations of the people whether they were poor or rich. Once, he was passing by a group of Bedouins. They were eating plain bread. He greeted them. The Bedouins answered his greeting. They said, “O grandson of the Messenger of Allah! Come and eat with us.” Hz. Ha­san said, “I will. Allah does not like conceited people.” He sat down and ate plain bread with them. When he was about to leave, he said, “I accepted your invitation; now I invite you to my house.” Thus, he invited them to dinner.

Hz. Hasan gave advice to the believers from time to time. Once, he gave the following advice:

“The world slams a person who desires the world. A person who does not attach his heart to the world does not care who obtains worldly riches. A person who loves the world becomes the slave of the rich. A person whose yesterday and today are equal is at a loss. A person whose yesterday is better than his today is at a complete loss. A person who regards himself perfect actually has a lot of incompleteness. Tender-mindedness is a jewel for man. Loyalty is treasure. Haste is frivolity. It is a stain to be friends with those whose hearts are attached to the world. It causes suspicions to be friends with bad people.”

The beloved grandson of the Prophet was distinguished with his courage too. During the mischievous times when Hz. Uthman was the Caliph, he kept guard with his brother Hz. Husayn at the door of Hz. Uthman upon the wish of his father. He prevented the mischievous people from entering the house through the door. However, he could not prevent the raving men from entering the house through the chimney and martyring Hz. Uthman.

Years after this incident, Hz. Hasan became very sorry when his father was wounded. He went over to his father by crying. When his father asked why he was crying, he said, “How should I not cry? You are on the last day of the world and first day of the hereafter.” Hz. Ali told him not to cry. Then, he said he would give him some advice, that he should keep his advice and that he would always benefit from his advice.

Hz. Hasan asked, “What is your advice, dad?” Hz. Ali spoke as follows:

“The greatest wealth is wisdom; the greatest poverty is stupidity. The worst ignorance is vanity; and the best superiority is high ethics. Do not make friends with a fool because when he tries to do you good he will do you harm. Do not make friends with a liar because he will make you visualize very near the things which lie at a great distance and will make you see at the great distance the things which are near to you. Do not approach a miser because he will not give you what you need at the time of your dire need. Do not be friendly with a vicious and wicked person because he will sell you and your friendship at the cheapest price.”[7]

A little while after this speech, Hz. Ali passed away. He went to the gardens of Paradise from the dungeons of the world. He rejoined the Prophet, Hz. Abu Bakr, Hz. Umar and Hz. Uthman.

His death saddened the Muslims. The people were in a daze and did not know what to do. At that moment, Hz. Hasan stood up. After praising Allah, he made the following effective speech:

“O people! Tonight, a man has died whom the first Muslims did not outrun with good deeds, nor did the last ones catch up with him in pleasing acts. The Messenger of Allah would send him to wars. Jibril would stand on his right and Mikail on his left. He would not return from the battlefield until Allah had given him victory. He died on this night, when Isa (Christ) ascended to heaven, and when the repentance of Children of Israel was accepted.

“Those who have recognized me knows me. As for those who have not, let him know that I am the (grand)son of the Holy Prophet. I am the son of the bearer of the good news, and the warner. I am the son of the Caller to Allah by His permission. I am the son of the bright lamp. I am the son of the person who was sent as mercy to people. I am from a family whose members Allah kept away from uncleanness and made them totally purified. I am from a household whose love Allah made an obligation on every Muslim. In a verse, Allah said to His Prophet, 'Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives;...“

After this nice speech of Hz. Hasan’s, the Muslims paid allegiance to Hz. Hasan and chose him as the caliph. In the following days, the number of those who paid allegiance to him reached 40. 000. Thus, the beloved grandson of the Prophet became the caliph of the Muslims living in Iraq, Hejaz, Khorasan, Yemen, Makkah and Madinah. However, the people of Egypt and Damascus did not recognize his caliphate. They had paid allegiance to Muawiyah beforehand.

Uniformity among Muslims could not be secured. It looked as if there would be a war and the blood of Muslims would be shed. In the seventh month of Hz. Hasan’s caliphate, two armies confronted at Madayin. When Amr Ibn As, who was with Muawiya, saw Hz. Hasan’s army, he said, “I see such an army confronting me that it will not return before eliminating the army against it.” Thus, he had to admit the power of Hz. Hasan’s army.

However, Hz. Hasan did not want Muslim blood to be shed. He did not pursue a high rank or position. Besides, he was very disturbed by the acts of dissidence and mischief that started during the caliphate of Hz. Uthman and that caused Muslims to fight one another instead of serving Islam. That day, he had a big opportunity. He could have beaten the army of Muawiya and united Muslims under one flag. However, he did not choose to do so; he showed a great example of sacrifice and waived his right of caliphate. Thus, he hoped that the Muslims would be strong again. They would conquer new countries and many people would become Muslims.

In fact, Muawiya did not want Muslim blood to be shed, either. He also wanted peace. He sent an envoy to Hz. Hasan with a proposal of peace. He said he would accept all offers of Hasan if he waived his right of caliphate. Hz. Hasan set some conditions. One of them was that the Muslims should choose their own caliph. Therefore, he set it as a condition that Muawiya should not appoint Yazid as heir to the caliphate after him.   

Another demand of Hz. Hasan, the beloved grandson of the Prophet, was that Muawiya would send a certain amount of money to give to the poor. Muawiya accepted all of the conditions. 

Then, Hz. Hasan addressed his supporters to tell them why he waived his right of caliphate as follows:

“It is wise to act in accordance with taqwa. Mischief and evil originate from foolishness. If caliphate is my right, I waive my right in order to unite Muslims and to prevent Muslim blood from being shed. If it is the right of someone who deserves it more, it means I am doing what is necessary.”

After this speech, the supporters of Hz. Hasan paid allegiance to Muawiya.[8]

Thus, another miracle of the Prophet (pbuh) appeared. For, the Prophet (pbuh) addressed Hz. Hasan as follows: “This son of mine is a noble and honorable person.and may Allah make peace between two big groups of Muslims through him.”[9]

Hz. Hasan narrated 13 hadiths from the Prophet. One of them is as follows:

“O people! I do not order you anything but what Allah orders; I do not forbid you anything but what Allah forbids. Pursue your sustenance in a nice way. I swear by Allah in whose hand of power is my life that your sustenance will find you just as death will do. If you have difficulty in finding your sustenance, do not disobey Allah while you look for it.”[10]

Hz. Hasan was martyred in the 49th year of the Migration by being poisoned. Before his death, he was asked who had poisoned him. He said, “I cannot accuse anybody. I do not want an innocent person to be harmed because of me.” Then, he sent Hz. Husayn to Hz. Aisha and asked permission from her to be buried next to the Messenger of Allah. Hz. Aisha gave permission but Marwan bin Hakam, the governor of Madinah, did not give permission. Hz. Hasan was buried in the Cemetery of Baqi.

May Allah be pleased with him!

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[1] Mustadrak, 3: 165; Usdu’l-Ghaba, 2: 10; Musnad, 5: 194.
[2] Tirmidhi, Manaqib: 31.
[3] at-Targhib, 3: 203.
[4] Hayatu’s-Sahaba, 3: 451.
[5] Muslim, Fadailu’s-Sahaba: 56.
[6] Lem’alar, s. 18.
[7] Hayatu’s-Sahaba, 3: 370.
[8] Mustadrak, 3: 372; Hayatu’s-Sahaba, 3: 350.
[9] Bukhari, Sulh: 9; Tirmidhi, Manaqib: 31.
[10] Hayatu’s-Sahaba, 3: 292.