IMAM HASAN BIN ‘ALI AL-‘ASKARY (A.S.)

Imam Hasan bin ‘Ali (as) was born in Madina on the 8th/10th of Rabi’ al-Aakhir 232 Hijrah (846 AD). He (as) died in Samarrah Iraq on 8th of Rabi ul-Awwal 260 Hijrah (874 AD), aged 28 years. The period of his Imamate was only 6 years.

Samarrah was a garrison town about 60 miles north of Baghdad. River Euphrates flows in the middle of the town, and because of the surrounding hills a cool breeze keeps the area cooler in comparison to Baghdad. The word 'Askar' in Arabic is used for army. Our 11th Imam's title became known as al-Askary, the one who lived all his life in a garrison town.

Imam Hasan Al-Askary’ s (as) life from childhood to adulthood was spent in the house where his father Imam Ali al-Naqi (as) was to remain under house arrest. But despite this close guard on the Imam, he conducted his duties as Imam from inside the house. He taught people Quran and instructed his followers the true teachings of Islam as taught by the Prophet of Islam and his Ahlul bayt. In fact Imam Hasan Al-Askary (as) wrote a complete Tafseer of the Quran, which has been mentioned by many scholars, historians and exegetes, including Shaykh Kulayni and Shaykh Sadooq.

Imam's life in Samarrah was not in peace even under house arrest. From time to time he was taken to Baghdad, questioned and put in prison there. On one such occasion, the Turkish guards took the Imam (as) to Baghdad where he was kept in prison during the short reign of the Caliph al-Muqtadi and al-Mu'tamid afterwards.

HIS PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE:

Once when the 'Abbasid caliph asked Ahmed ibn 'Abd Allah ibn khaqan, his Minister for Charities (awqaf), about the descendants of Imam 'Ali (A.S.), he reported: "I do not know anybody among them who is more distinguished than Hasan al-'Askary. None can surpass him in dignity, knowledge, piety and abstinence, nor can anybody match him in the point of nobleness majestic grandeur, modesty and honesty".

Several high-ranking scholars benefited from his ocean of knowledge. He also stemmed the flood of atheism and disbelief, which ensued, from the philosophers of that age, winning conspicuous success over them. One of those was Ishaq al-Kindi. He was writing a book on what he called "self-contradictions" in the Holy Quran. When the news reached the Imam (as), he waited for an opportunity to refute him. By chance, some of Ishaq's students came to him. The Imam asked them: "Is there anyone among you who can stop Ishaq from wasting his time in this useless effort fighting the Holy Quran?" The students said: "Sir, we are his students: how can we object to his teaching?" The Imam urged that they could at least convey to their teacher what he had to tell them. They replied that they would be ready to cooperate as much as they could in that respect.

The Imam (A.S.) then recited a few verses from the Holy Quran, which the philosopher thought as contradictory of one another. He then explained to them thus: "Your teacher thinks that some of the words in these verses have only one meaning. But according to the Arabic language, these words have other meanings too which, when taken into consideration, indicate no contradiction in he overall meaning. Thus, your teacher is not justified for basing his objections and claim of contradictions on the premises of the 'wrong meaning' he himself selects for such verses". He then put up some examples of such words before them so clearly that the students conceived the whole discussion and the precedents of more than one meaning.

When these students visited Ishaq al-Kindi and after routine talk, reproduced the disputed points, he was surprised. He was a fair-minded scholar and he listened to his students' explanations. Then he said: "What you have argued is beyond your capacity: tell me truly who has taught you these points?" The students said that it was their own reflection, but when he insisted that they could never have conceived those points, they admitted that, it was explained to them by Abu Muhammad Imam Hasan al-Askary (as). The instructor said: "Yes: this level of knowledge is the heritage of that House and only that House". Then he asked the students to set fire to all such works of his.

On the occasion of the martyrdom of Imam Hasan al-‘Askary (as), we extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to our 12^th Imam, Imam Al-Hujjah (AJ) and to all the followers of Ahlul-bayt (as).