The demise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was followed by an eventful era when the Islamic world (under the false ruling bodies) came in the grip of the fever of expansionism and conquest. But even under such a revolutionary phase, Imam Hassan (AS) kept devoting himself to the sacred mission of peacefully propagating Islam and the teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) along with his great father Imam Ali (AS).

The martyrdom of Imam Ali (AS) on the 21st of Ramadan marked the inception of Imam Hassan’s (AS) Imamate.

The majority of Muslims pledged their allegiance to him and finalized the formality of Bay’ah (oath of allegiance). No sooner had he taken the reins of leadership into his hands than he had to meet the challenge of Mu’awiyah, the Governor of Syria, who declared a war against him. In compliance with the Will of Allah (SWT) and with a view to refrain from causing the massacre of Muslims however, he entered into a piece treaty with Mu’awiyah on terms (though not totally respected and carried out by Mu’awiyah), yet saved Islam and stopped a civil war.

But this peace treaty was never meant as a surrender by him of the permanent leadership to Mu’awiyah. It was meant only as an interim transfer of the administration of the Islamic kingdom, subject to the condition that the ad- ministration would be surrendered back to Imam Hassan (AS) after Mu’awiyah’s death and then it would in turn be inherited by Imam Hussain (AS). Having relieved himself of the administrative responsibilities, Imam Hassan (AS) kept the religious leadership with himself and devoted his life to the propagation of Islam and the teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in Medina.

Martyrdom

Mu’awiyah’s malice against Imam Hassan (AS) led him to conspire with the Imam’s wife Ja’dah, the daughter of Ash’ath. She was made to give the Imam some poison which affected his liver. Imam Hassan (AS) thus succumbed to Mu’awiyah’s fatal mischief and attained his martyrdom on 28th Safar 50 AH. His funeral was attended by Imam Hussain (AS) and the members of the Hashimite family. His bier while being taken for burial to the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) tomb was shot at with arrows by his enemies, (under direct supervision and consent of ‘A’ishah), and it had to be diverted for burial to the Jannatul-Baqi in Medina.

His tomb was demolished along with others on 8th Shawwal 1344 (21st April 1926) by the Saudi rulers when they came to power in Hijaz. ‘ The terms of the peace treaty were soon  violated, but earned only a short-lived glory for Mu’awiyah. Its aftermath proved disastrous and doomed the fate of his son Yzid and dealt a fatal blow to the entire family of Umayyads. After the death of Mu’awiyah, Imam Hussain (AS) emerged as the insurmountable mountain of truth and determination. In the gruesome tragedy of Karbala’, by sheer force of

numbers, and by isolating the seventy-two members of Imam Hussain’s (AS) party and stopping them from even getting water to drink for three days, Yazid succeeded in annihilating the seventy-two persons including members of the Imam’s family who were with him. This dastardly success of Yazid was, however, short-lived. The Muslims turned against him on learning of the heinous act he had committed and this resulted in the downfall of Yazid and the extinction of the Umayyad power from the face of the earth.

Source: en.shafaqna.com