Due to a fairly recent misunderstanding, we have all come to believe that the al-Khulafa ar-Rashid n (The Rightly Guided

Caliphs) just refers to the first four caliphs of Islam, namely Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthm n and Ali (radiyallahu anhum). However, from classical works of Islamic history, the reign of al-Khulafa ar-Rashid n started with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and ended with Imam al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib because after Sayyiduna Hassan, then came Sayyiduna Muawiah ibn Abi Sufyan and the hereditary Ummayad caliphate started. Sayyiduna al-Hassan (radiyallahu anhu) was one of the best people who lived on Earth. Enough to say he was part of the Ahl alBayt, the family of Ras lAllah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). He was born on the third of al-Hijra to Sayyida Fatima (the Noble Prophet s daughter) and Sayyiduna Ali (the Prophet s cousin) and accompanied, learned and narrated numerous hadiths from our beloved Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), which consequently made him a great man of knowledge, piety and character. His name al-Hassan, besides his brother s name al-Hussayn, were unknown to Arabs and the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) explained that these names came from Jannah and were delivered by Jibril (alayhis salaam). Due to this fact, the Arabs never gave these names to anyone before Islam. The first person to be called Hassan was Sayyiduna al-Hassan ibn Ali (radiyallahu anhu) and the first person to be called Hussayn was Sayyiduna al-Hussayn ibn Ali (radiyallahu anhu). Our beloved Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) also honoured al-Hassan s birth by reciting the Adh n in his right ear, the Iq mah in his left ear, shaved the head of his grandson and sacrificed a ram for the sake of his birth. In a hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari, Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Umar (radiyallahu anhu) narrates that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said that al-Hassan and al-Hussein were the best things that he loved in the Dunya as they were his grandchildren. Also, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) often used to carry al-Hassan on his neck, playing with him as this is the adab (the etiquette) for muslims when around children. This also shows the Prophet s humbleness. Once, when al-Hassan was on the neck of the prophet a Bedouin enquired, what mount are you riding, oh young boy? . He replied, the neck of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) . Next, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) turned around and said And what a good rider he is ! Sayyiduna al-Hassan was the closest in resemblance to Ras lAllah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Imam al-Bukhari narrates from Sayyiduna Anas ibn M lik (radiyallahu anhu) that no one resembled the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) more than alHassan ibn Ali and none were more beloved than he . Imam at-Trimidhi also narrates from Osama ibn Zayd (radiyallahu anhu) that once when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was sitting with Sayyiduna al-Hassan and Sayyiduna al-Hussayn sitting on his knees, he said that these are my sons and my daughter s sons; Oh Allah, I love them, so love them and love anybody else who loves them . InshaAllah, we should all love Imam al-Hassan and the Ahl al-Bayt. That being said, since we are part of the Ahl as-Sunnah (i.e. we are Sunni Muslims), we must realise the best people after Ras lAllah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) were Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali and Uthm n (radiyallahu anhum). Our love for the Ahl al-Bayt should only be due to our beloved Prophet s love for it. Imam al-Hassan was the eldest child in his family, being older than his brother al-Hussein. The Arabs considered very much the difference of age and so this is why the caliphate went to him after the death of Sayyiduna Ali ibn Abi Talib (radiyallahu anhu). Sayyiduna al-Hassan was a master, a noble man with all the elements of nobility found in him. Righteousness, generosity, humbleness, whatever of the traits that you mention, could be found within him. Whatever you mention of the beautiful character of the sahabah (radiyallahu anhum) could be found within him. This is how beautiful his character was. Imam al-Hassan married a lot of times and had a number of children. But he did for good reason. He had inherited from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) what he had said three things are made beloved to me of the Dunya: perfume, women and the cool of my eye in prayer . There is wisdom in this as women are part of the Dunya and as the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was made to love the Akhira and to be attached to the Akhira and so if it was up to him he wouldn t love women yet he had to love women to reconcile with various tribes in order to have his offspring. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said women were made beloved to me meaning that women have a great significance in this Dunya. Once during the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam s lifetime, he was on the minbar carrying Sayyiduna al-Hassan and said My son, this is the master. May Allah reconcile by him between two groups of the Muslims. This is also another miracle from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) about Imam al-Hassan. This is due to the fact that Imam Hassan ibn Ali gave the caliphate and handed over the ruling of the Islamic state to Muawiah ibn Abu Sufyan because of a divine command that was given to him indirectly, as there wasn t a revelation but instead Imam al-Hassan had prior knowledge of the divine command, which in turn led him to pass the caliphate. For doing this, Allah (subhanahu wa-ta'ala) gave him what was better than that (i.e. the caliphate) by compensating him with what is described as being the highest spiritual authority . Allah made him the highest spiritual authority within the awliya (the men of Allah) .

The legacy of knowledge, of spiritual wealth, of prophet hood that they inherited from the Apostle of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was given especially to the caliphs and wasn t given freely to others of the sahabah. This continued through all five of the sahabah (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthm n, Ali and Hassan) but when al-Hassan handed over the caliphate, he handed over the political authority and not the much more important religious authority or legacy that he had inherited. Hassan handed over the caliphate as he was satisfied with Allah and wanted to be with him, and not with the political authority. Furthermore, he didn t want Muslims to be killed for his sake as he had an army willing to fight that of Muawiah s. As for the death, al-Hassan was poisoned by one of his wives. This is because Yazid, the son of Muawiah (radiyallahu anhu) was made caliph after Muawiah on a hereditary basis, rather than on a religious basis and Yazid s claim to the caliphate was rejected by many prominent sahabah such as Abd-Allah ibn Umar (radiyallahu anhu). Since Sayyiduna al-Hassan was a great master of the believers, Yazid and his followers were worried. Hence, Yazid tempted al-Hassan s wife with marriage if she killed her husband. Although Sayyiduna Hassan knew who had betrayed him, he completely forgave his wife before his death. Although his brother Hussayn wanted to know who poisoned al-Hassan so that he could take revenge, Sayyiduna al-Hassan kept quiet and said that the wrath of Allah is stronger than that of mine .