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The Peace Treaty of Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him)
Imam Ali (Peace Be Upon Him) fought three defensive wars during his brief caliphate, and the enemies never allowed him to settle even briefly for the social, political, and intellectual reforms he was aiming to establish in the Muslim community. Eventually, he passed away as a martyr, wronged and oppressed. Likewise, the enemies did not allow Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) to take a breath and reorganize the social fabric that had been torn apart by the three wars during his father’s caliphate. As soon as Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) was pledged allegiance to the caliphate, Muawiya gathered the people of Syria and marched with them towards Iraq. In such a situation, Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) had no choice but to defend.
He began calling upon the people of Kufa to rise up and fight their enemy, but only a small number responded to him, and they were a scattered group with differing intentions. As Sheikh al-Mufid mentioned: “Muawiya marched towards Iraq to overpower it. When he reached the bridge of Manbij, Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) moved and sent Hajar bin Adi to order the workers to move and to call the people for jihad, but they hesitated. Then some mixed groups joined him, some were his Shi‘a and that of his father (Peace Be Upon Him), some were from the Kharijites who favored fighting Muawiya without a plan, some were opportunists desiring spoils of war, others were skeptics, and others were people who followed their tribal leaders rather than religion.”
The Kharijites, in their strategy, joined Imam Hasan’s army to fight Muawiya’s forces, intending that if the people of Kufa succeeded, they would turn against Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) and overthrow his government after weakening his army through the prolonged war. They had been a large number in Kufa; twelve thousand gathered at Nahrawan, eight thousand of whom withdrew before the battle began, once they saw the advantage of Imam Ali’s (Peace Be Upon Him) army. They were waiting for a chance to avenge their comrades from Nahrawan. Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) was well aware of their intentions and goals, so he took precautions in dealing with them.
In one of his speeches, Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) remarked: “By God, we were not deterred from fighting the people of Sham out of weakness or fear, but we were fighting them with peace and patience, while peace was mixed with hostility and patience with impatience. You used to march with us, and your religion was ahead of your world, but now your world is ahead of your religion. We used to be with you, and you with us, but now you are against us. You began to lament over two martyrs: one from Siffin whom you mourn, and one from Nahrawan whom you seek revenge for. The mourners are the traitors, and the ones seeking vengeance are the rebels.”
As for the greedy faction, Muawiya won them over with large amounts of money and temptations, so some of them joined the army of Syria, while others remained in Imam Hasan’s army, trying to dishearten others, spread rumors, and lower the morale of the fighters. They even attempted to capture Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) and his family or assassinate him.
Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) was the target of an assassination attempt. According to al-Saduq in “Al-‘Ilal,” Muawiya sent secret agents to Umar bin Harith, Al-Ashath, Hajar bin al-Harith, and Shabth bin Rab’i, each with a reward of two hundred thousand dirhams, a division of the Syrian army, and a daughter of Muawiya if they killed Hasan. When Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) learned of this plot, he wore a coat of mail and took precautions, but one of the assassins shot an arrow at him during prayer, which did not penetrate due to his armor. Later, in the dark of Sabaat, one of them stabbed him with a poisoned dagger, causing him injury.
Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) said: “Woe to you! By God, Muawiya will not fulfill his promise to any of you in killing me. I believe if I offer my hand to him in peace, he will not allow me to follow the religion of my grandfather, and I am able to worship Allah alone. But I can see your children standing at the doors of the children of others, seeking water and food, and they will neither be given water nor food. Woe and destruction to what they have earned, and soon those who have wronged will know to what end they will be turned.”
No one doubts that Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) was superior to Muawiya, that he was more deserving of the caliphate, and more worthy of implementing the Islamic Sharia. Muawiya, on the other hand, was a man who craved power and the throne, without concern for the well-being of the Muslims. He was from the early Muslims who embraced Islam out of fear of the sword, the son of Abu Sufyan, the head of the enemies of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), who repeatedly mobilized armies against the Prophet until he was forced to enter Islam unwillingly.
The legitimacy of Imam Hasan’s (Peace Be Upon Him) stance in making peace with Muawiya is unquestionable. This is recognized by both the Shi‘a, who see him as an Imam deserving of obedience and infallibility, and by the Sunni, who report from the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) that he said, “My son will reconcile two factions of Muslims.” However, some have criticized this stance, claiming that it humiliated the believers and empowered the hypocrites, arguing that the better course of action would have been to resist Muawiya’s army until they met their death.
Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) responded to such criticisms by saying: “Woe to you! You do not know what I have done. By the One who I swear, what I did is better for my Shi‘a than the sun rising and setting. Do you not know that I am your Imam, and it is obligatory upon you to obey me? And that I am one of the two lords of the youth of Paradise, as per the Prophet’s (PBUH) statement about me?” They said: “Yes.” He said: “Did you not know that when Khidr (A.S.) damaged the ship, killed the boy, and repaired the wall, Moses (A.S.) was angered, because he did not understand the wisdom behind those actions, but they were, in fact, wisdom and correct in the sight of Allah? Did you not know that none of us is exempt from the allegiance to the tyrants of his time, except the Mahdi, who will pray behind Jesus (A.S.)?”
Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) clarified the wisdom behind his peace treaty with Muawiya and emphasized that the time for war had come to an end, and the ultimate goal was to preserve life and avoid unnecessary bloodshed. His actions would later prove to be part of a grander divine plan leading to the eventual victory of the true Islamic cause.
The Peace Treaty of Imam Hasan (Peace Be Upon Him) was a political move to save the Muslim community from further bloodshed. It also provided the time needed for the eventual emergence of Imam Hussein (Peace Be Upon Him) and the tragedy of Karbala, which would become the catalyst for the revival of the true Islamic values and principles.