Holy Quran & Imam Hassan (as)

After the death of his beloved father and during his short period of Caliphate, Imam Hassan (as) was once performing his prayers at the Mosque, when a person came and poked him with the edge of his sword whilst the Imam (as) was in prostration. On completion of his prayer, Imam Hassan (as) stood up and addressing the people in the Mosque, said, "O people of 'Iraq! Fear Allah and do not treat me in this manner. I am your leader and your guest. And we are the Ahlul-Bayt (progeny of Muhammad) regarding whom Allah (SWT) says: Allah only desires to keep away uncleanness from you O people of the household, and purify you a thorough purifying". (33:33) When the people heard this, they all ackowledged his merit and shed tears. (Sawa-iq al-Muhriqah)

BIRTH OF IMAM (AS):

Imam Hassan (as) was born on the eve of 15th of Holy Ramadhan in the year 3 A.H. in Madina. He was the first child in the house of Ali (as) and Fatima (as). When the good news about his birth was given to the Holy Prophet (saww), he rushed to the house of his daughter to communicate his congratulations and express his delight. When he (saww) arrived at the house, he carried the newly born baby in his arms, kissed him and pressed him to his chest. He (saww) then recite aadhan and iqamah in his ears accordingly. Thus we see that the first voice which Hassan (as) heard was that of his beloved grandfather, the messenger of Allah (saww). The Holy Prophet (saww) asked Imam Ali (as), "What name have you given to my son?" He (as) replied, "I would not preceed you in doing that!" "Nor would I preceed my Lord" said the Prophet (saww). Shortly afterwards, Jibrael descended with the message from Allah (SWT) that the baby should be named al-Hassan. It is reported that on the seventh day of his birth, the Holy Prophet (saww) returned to his daughter's house to perform two rituals:

He (saww) slaughtered a sheep and gave its thigh to the midwife. He (saww) also gave her a dinar as an expression of his gratitude for her services and then, shaved the infant's head and gave the worth of the weight of his hair in silver as sadaqah i.e. alms to the poor.  (Chauda Sitaare)

QURAN & THE AHLUL-BAYT (AS):

The Ahlul-Bayt (as) have been identified with the Holy Quran. And these two will never separate from each other until such time that they meet the Holy Prophet (saww) at the fountain. In the famous tradition known as Hadeeth of Thaqalayn, the Holy Prophet (saww) has said, "Verily I leave (behind) among you two weighty things: The Book of Allah and my progeny, the Ahlul-Bayt. As long as you hold onto them, you will never be led astray". He (saww) then also said, "This two will never separate until they are returned to me at the fountain".

In the nights of Qadr during the Holy month of Ramadhan, we place the Holy Quran on our heads and recite the following dua': "O Allah! For the sake of this Quran. For the sake of one You sent with it. For the sake of every believer You have praised in it. And for the sake of Your right over them, for none is more aware of Your right over them than Yourself" and thereafter, we mention the names of Allah (SWT), His prophet (saww), Seyyida Fatima (as) and all the twelve Imams (as) ten times each. We should ask ourselves: Why do we place the Holy Quran on our heads and mention the names of the 14 infallibles? What relation do they hold with the Holy Quran?

Ayatullah Shaykh Ali Karimi in his book Quran-o-'Itrat writes:

Firstly, this action shows that Quran & Ahlul-Bayt (as) have such a strong bond with each other that they are inseparable. One who wishes to understand Quran without Ahlul-Bayt (as) or vice-versa will never be able to do so. Secondly, just as a bird cannot fly in the air without two wings similarly, a person cannot attain closeness to Allah (SWT) without his faith being supported by Quran & Ahlul-Bayt (as). These two are the wings of Imaan. If man loses any one of them, he cannot reach close to Allah (SWT) and if he flies with both, the distance between him and Allah (SWT) becomes short as described by Imam Zaynul-'Abideen (as) in the dua' of Abu Hamza Thimali, "..and verily the distance is short for one who wants to get to You.." And thirdly, it is meant for us to realize and understand that our lives should be governed in accordance to the teachings of Quran & Ahlul-Bayt (as).

IMAM HASSAN (AS) & QURAN:

It is reported that every night, before going to bed to sleep, Imam Hassan (as) used to recite Surah al-Kahf. (Tarikh Ibn Katheer)

This is the 18th Chapter of the Holy Quran which talks about the companions of the Cave. They were seven young Christian men who had sought refuge inside a Cave to escape persecution from the tyrant ruler of their time. Inside the Cave, they prayed for Allah (SWT)'s help Who made them sleep and woke them up 309 years later during the reign of a Christian king. The following are probable reasons as to why the Imam (as) recited this Surah:

It talks about the great miracle of Allah (SWT) which livens the hearts of the believers.

Whether the sleep is short or long, this Surah gives hope of awaking as was the case of the people of the Cave.

And, it displays absolute power of Allah (SWT) Who is the Creator & Manager of life & death. It is only by His Will that people die in thier sleep and it is only by His Will that people wake up from their sleep. Therefore, this Surah conveys that we should never forget Allah (SWT) even whilst sleeping.

Anas bin Malik narrates that:

One day we were with Hassan bin Ali (as) when one of his female slaves came, greeted the Imam (as) and presented him with a vase of flowers. Imam (as) responded to her salaam and said to her, "(Go!) I have freed you for the sake of Allah". I asked: "She greeted you and presented you with a vase of flowers which has no value at all and in return, you freed her?" Imam (as) replied: "Allah (SWT) has taught me this manner that when someone greets, then in reply, offer a better greeting (And when you are greeted with a greeting, then greet with a better greeting then it 4:86) My best reply for her was in form of her freedom".   (Manaqib of Shahr Aashoob)

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Mulla Mujaheedali Sheriff

mulla@almahdi.org.uk