The Prophet’s Love
The Prophet is reported to have said: “Al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the masters of the youth of paradise.” He regularly interrupted sermons to descend the pulpit and carry al-Hasan when he came running into the mosque. Once prostrating in prayer with Hasan on his back, he prolonged his prostration until the child dismounted — then explained: “My son was riding me and I did not wish to hurry him.”
The Caliphate and the Treaty of 661 CE
After Ali’s assassination in 661 CE, al-Hasan was acclaimed as Caliph in Kufa. Muawiya — then governor of Syria — refused to recognize him and advanced his army. The armies faced each other; then al-Hasan negotiated the Sulh al-Hasan (Treaty of Hasan) and handed authority to Muawiya on conditions: no purges of Ali’s followers, succession would revert to al-Hasan after Muawiya, and the public treasury of Iraq would be managed independently.
The treaty was controversial then and remains so. Al-Hasan’s position: continued civil war would destroy the community and spill Muslim blood for political power. Muawiya — in al-Hasan’s assessment — could not be defeated at that moment.
His Generosity and Death
Al-Hasan gave away his entire wealth twice in his lifetime, keeping nothing. He made the Hajj pilgrimage on foot twenty-five times. He died in Medina in 670 CE. Later Ismaili and Shia tradition holds he was poisoned, likely at Muawiya’s instigation, through his wife Ja’da bint al-Ash’ath.
His burial at Baqi’ al-Gharqad was contested — some wished to bury him with the Prophet. The subsequent events around his funeral are part of the long sorrow of the Ahl al-Bayt tradition.
See also: Ahl Al Bayt, Seerah Ali Early, Karbala, Fitna Islamiyya, Seerah Fatima Zahra, Sahaba