The peace treaty of Imam Hasan (as) 4

2023-04-04

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Contents

Reply Twelve Reply Thirteen –The Tulaqa cannot be Caliphs (3)Reply Fourteen – Mu’awiya took the Caliphate by force Reply Fifteen– Imam Hasan (as) said he had the right to kill Mu’awiya

In this part of the article titled “The peace treaty of Imam Hasan (as)”, we shall give other relevant responses to the question.

Reply Twelve

According to Sunnies it is permissible to make peace with unjust people. We read in one of the esteemed Hanafi works ‘al Hidayah’(1) Kitab al Adab also in ‘Sharah Hidayah (2):

ثم يجوز التقلد من السلطان الجائر كما يجوز من العادل لأن الصحابة تقلده من معاوية والحق كان بيد علي رضي الله تعالى عنه والتابعين تقلدوه من الحجاج وكان جائزا

“It is permissible to be appointed as a Judge by an unjust ruler, in the same way as it is the case of a just ruler. This is because the Sahaba were appointed Judges under Mu’awiya, even though the truth was with Ali [ra]. The Tabieen were appointed as Judges by Hajjaj, even though he was unjust”.

Hidayah contains the Fatwa that both Mu’awiya and Hajjaj were unjust and the Sahaba would accept the position of a judge from the unjust rulers. We appeal to justice. When the Sahaba made peace agreements with the unjust Mu’awiya and Hajjaj did they also become unjust in the process? If they did then we congratulate you for being the adherents of bulk of unjust companions. If they did not, then in the same way the Sahaba did not become transgressor / sinners for entering into such agreements, there was nothing wrong with Imam Hasan (as) making peace with unjust Mu’awiya. This Fatwa will be an eternal slap on the face of the Nasibis.

Reply Thirteen –The Tulaqa cannot be Caliphs (3)

Asad’ul Ghaba: “Umar said that caliphate will remain with the participants of Badr and the Tulaqa and their children have no share in it” Mu’awiya out of deperation embraced Islam after the conquest of Makka, and such people are deemed the’Tulqa’ and according to Umar such people have no right to become Khalifas. Shah Waliyullah commented in Izlatul Khifa,(4) that: “One who does not satisfy the conditions to be khalifa, but takes the seat by injustice is a sinner”

Based on these comments, we can conclude that Shah Waliullah deemed even Mu’awiya’s claim to be khalifa to constitute a sin. In this connection we read in al-Bidaya wa-al Nihaya,(5) Dhikr Mu’awiya: Aswad bin Yazeed narrated: ‘I heared Ayesha say: ‘Aren’t you surprised over a person who is from Tulaqa (freed captive) and yet he fights against the companions of Prophet regarding the issue of caliphate?’ Ayesha further stated: ‘And aren’t you surprised that this is Allah’s reign which He (swt) grants to good and bad and He (swt) made Pharoah King over the people of Egypt for 400 years, and similarly other infidel kings”.

Al-Bidayah (Urdu), under the topic of Merits and virtuous of Muawiyah (6)

Based on the comments of Ayesha, if Mu’awiya’s children deem their father to be a Khailfa of the Prophet (s.a.w.a) then they have perpetuated a major injustice.

Reply Fourteen – Mu’awiya took the Caliphate by force

Ansar.org states: “Mu’awiyah did not take the caliphate by force, but it was given to him by Al-Hasan bin Ali after peace occurred between them.

One needs to look at the historical background to understand why Imam Hasan (as) stood down. The circumstances were such that he had been forced into making a difficult choice peace or bloodshed, Mu’awiya used bribery and intimidation to “win over” Hasan (as)’s army and had posted his army outside Kufa (a clear pressure tactic). Mu’awiya summoned all the commanders of his forces in Syria, Palestine, and Transjordan to join him. Not long after, the Syrian leader marched against Hasan with an army of sixty thousand men.(7)

Clearly marching towards Imam Hasan (as) with a 60,000 force in no way demonstrates Mu’awiya wanted peace – he WAS preparing for battle. If his interest was just peace why not go alone with a handful of supporters? By bringing such a powerful force Mu’awiya was making his intention clear, that he intended to wrest the khilafth from Imam Hasan (as) willingly or unwillingly. Mu’awiya had used the threat of force as a bargaining chip, Imam Hasan (as) was placed under duress to hand over the caliphate, it was not willingly handed to Mu’awiya on silver platter rather Imam Hasan (as) was pressurised into yielding to Mu’awiya’s demands.

The taking of Caliphate by force has also been acknowledged by late Sunni Scholar Sayyid Abu’l Ala Maudoodi who writes: Kingship’s foundation began with this change. The khilafat of Mu’awiya (ra) was not of a kind wherein he was appointed by the Muslims…despite this Mu’awiya wanted to be the Khalifa, he fought in order to achieve the khilafat, and his khilafat was not dependent on the satisfaction/acceptance of the Muslims. The people did not appoint him as Khalifa, he became so by force and when he became Khalifa, people had no other choice but to give him allegiance. Had the people not given him allegiance at that time, it would have not meant that those people had to lose their positions / ranks rather it would have meant bloodshed and disturbance which could not have been given preference over peace and order.

That is why after Imam Hasan’s (ra) abdication (in Rabi al-Awwal, 41 H) all the Sahaba, Tabayeen and Muslims agreed on his allegiance and that year was called ‘Aam al Jamaat’ because of considering the fact that at least civil war was made to an end. Mu’awiya was himself well aware of this position. He stated the following in his speech in the initial days of his Khilafat at Madina:

“By Allah, while taking charge of your government I was not unaware of the fact that you are unhappy over my taking over of government and you people don’t like it. I am well aware of whatever is there in your hearts regarding this matter but still I have took it from you on the basis of my sword… Now if you see that I am not fulfilling your rights, then you should be happy with me with whatever is there.”
khilafat wa mulukiyyat,(8) citing Al Bidaya wa al Nihaya by Ibn Katheer.(9)

This negates the defence advanced by Abu Sulaiman as we hear from the mouth of Mu’awiya himself that his coming to power was via the sword i.e. physical force.

Reply Fifteen– Imam Hasan (as) said he had the right to kill Mu’awiya

We read in Nasa al Kifaya,(10) Dhikr Sulh Hasan:

“The Khawarij opposed the peace made between Mu’awiya and Hasan. Mu’awiya approached Hasan and said “Join us to fight them”. Hasan said” It was permissible for me to make war with you, and I left this matter to protect the Muslim Ummah”.

We appeal to justice, the words of Imam Hasan (as), proves that he (as) did not deem the son of Hind to be the rightful khalifa, but rather the duty was to kill him, in the same way that at the time of the conquest of Makka, the Prophet (s) deemed it incumbent to kill Mu’awiya’s mother and Uthman’s brother. In the same way that the Prophet (s) spared their lives on account of personal reasons, Imam Hasan (as) likewise spared Mu’awiya due to specific reasons. The fact that Imam Hasan (as) maintained this stance even after making peace proves that he did not deem him to be the true Khalifa of the Prophet (s).

Continue in the next article: ( The peace treaty with Imam Hassan (as) 5 )

NOTES:

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1. Volume 3 page 133.

2. Volume 10 page 217.

3. We will evidence this from the following esteemed Sunni works: