HASAN

born 624, Arabia died 680, Medina in full Hasan Ibn 'ali Ibn Abi Talib a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (the founder of Islam), the elder son of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. He belongs to the group of the five most holy persons of Shi'ah, those over whom Muhammad spread his cloak while calling them The People of the House. After his father, 'Ali, he was considered by many of his contemporaries to be the rightful heir to Muhammad's position of leadership. As a child, Hasan lived with Muhammad for seven years, and after the latter's death in 632 he was politically inactive until the end of the reign of the caliph 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (the caliph was the titular leader of the Islamic community). 'Uthman was murdered in 656, an action in which Hasan took no part. 'Ali, Hasan's father, became the next caliph, and in the civil wars that soon broke out Hasan was sent to the important Iraqi city of Kufah to secure acceptance of 'Ali's rule and, if possible, obtain military reinforcements. Later he fought in the Battle of Siffin, which, although not a defeat, did mark the beginning of a steady deterioration in 'Ali's position. After 'Ali was murdered in 661, never having chosen a successor, a large number of his followers pledged their loyalty to Hasan, and Hasan himself stressed his own close connections with the Prophet Muhammad. When Mu'awiyah I, the governor of Syria and the man who had led the rebellion against 'Ali, refused to acknowledge Hasan as caliph and began to prepare for war, Hasan was able to offer considerable resistance: he dispatched a force to meet Mu'awiyah and then himself headed a larger force. With little money left, Hasan, not a warlike person, was plagued by defections from his army. Although some of his followers resented it fiercely, he opened peace negotiations and later in 661 abdicated the caliphate to Mu'awiyah. Hasan ibn 'Ali obtained a generous pension and was allowed to live quietly the rest of his life in Medina.