The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought

Hasan b. ‘Ali (ca. 624–70)

Revered as the eldest surviving grandson of the Prophet and the second imam by Shi‘is, Hasan b. ‘Ali was unexpectedly thrust into political life by the assassination of his father, ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, in 661 at the hands of the Khariji ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muljam. Before this event, Hasan’s political activity had not been significant (he was present but not prominent at the battles of the Camel in 656 and Siffin in 657), though he is credited with views at variance with those of his father (e.g., in his refusal of ‘Ali’s command to flog an alcohol-drinking governor of Kufa, his defense of ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan’s home from rebels, and his criticism of ‘Ali’s inaction during the affair). Although ‘Ali himself had not designated Hasan as his political successor, the fact that he was his eldest son, and thus the eldest grandson of the Prophet, and that ‘Ali bequeathed to him his land endowments (ṣadaqāt) in Arabia made him the natural candidate for leadership.

Hasan is depicted as modifying ‘Ali’s bellicose policy toward the Syrians, then under the leadership of Mu‘awiya b. Abi Sufyan (r. 661–80). In the oath of allegiance (bay‘a) that he required of his followers, he not only included the words “make war against those he is at war with” but also “make peace with those he is at peace with,” which displeased those unwilling to embrace peace with Mu‘awiya. When Mu‘awiya rejected his invitation to submit to his leadership and invited Hasan to submit to his authority instead, citing his superior experience, Hasan withheld his reply, apparently wishing to avoid further bloodshed. Hasan eventually consented to suspend his political rights until Mu‘awiya’s death in return for a handsome sum (a reported million dirhams per annum). Thereafter, Hasan retired to Medina and refused further political involvement, preferring quietist opposition to Mu‘awiya’s leadership. Hasan’s hopes to succeed Mu‘awiya as caliph were never realized, for on April 2, 670, he died (numerous accounts claim he was poisoned by one of his wives at Mu‘awiya’s instigation), thus freeing the line of succession for Mu‘awiya’s own son Yazid I.

Many of Hasan’s followers perceived his first declaration of his pacifist inclinations as a betrayal of his father’s legacy and reviled Hasan as “the humiliator of the believers” (mudhill al-mu’minīn). Hostile accusations after his abdication claim that during his time in Medina, he maintained a harem of 300 concubines and earned the title “the divorcer” (al-miṭlāq) for marrying and divorcing as many as 70 to 90 women. But both Sunnis and Shi‘is classically cast his abdication as a noble rather than self-serving deed. Sunnis see him as abdicating to restore peace for the divided community: as a widely disseminated Prophetic hadith claims, “Perhaps through [Hasan] God will cause peace to arise between two mighty factions of Muslims” (la‘alla Allāha an yuṣliḥa bihi bayna fi’atayni ‘aẓīmatayni min al-muslimīn). Sunnis also often count the period after ‘Ali’s murder and before Hasan’s apparent abdication as completing the Rightly Guided Caliphate. Shi‘is, revering Hasan as the second imam, see his abdication as rooted in the imam’s denunciation of worldly ambition and a model of Shi‘i noninvolvement in politics.

Although the Imamis eventually focused their loyalties on the descendents of his younger brother Husayn, the Zaydis also recognized imams to have descended from Hasan. The last two major revolts to be led by descendents of ‘Ali during the Abbasid period in the Muslim heartlands were both led by descendents of the Hasanid line: Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiya (d. 762) and al-Husayn Sahib al-Fakhkh (d. 786). In Morocco, the Idrisid dynasty (eighth to tenth century) and the Sharifs of Morocco (1510 to present day; represented since 1999 by King Muhammad VI of Morocco) both legitimized their rule by appealing to Hasanid descent.