al-Hasan ibn Ali (ra)
The Prophet's ﷺ first grandson; the 5th Rightly-Guided Caliph who reconciled the ummah.
Hijri Ramadan 4 AH or Sha'ban 5 AH; d. after 41 AH
The first grandson of Muhammad ﷺ — son of Ali (ra) and Fatima — beloved of the Prophet ﷺ, foretold to reconcile two great bodies of Muslims, and the fifth Rightly-Guided Caliph.
Identity & lineage
Son of Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) and Fatima (rha), the Prophet’s ﷺ daughter. Most authorities place his birth in Sha’ban of the 5th year of the Hijrah; others hold it was Ramadan of the 4th year (with Husayn born Sha’ban 5 AH), deducing from narrations that only 10–11 months separated Hasan and Husayn.
Role in the Seerah
The Prophet’s ﷺ first grandchild, and — with his brother Husayn — an object of the Prophet’s ﷺ immense love, the subject of many ahadith.
Key episodes
- Naming, adhan, and aqiqah. When Hasan was born, Ali had named him Harb (“War”); the Prophet ﷺ said, “No, he is not War, rather he is Beauty (Hasan)” — in keeping with his Sunnah of changing bad names to good. Per Abu Dawud, the Prophet ﷺ gave the adhan in Hasan’s right ear, told Fatima to shave his hair and give its weight in silver in charity, and — overjoyed — insisted on performing the aqiqah himself, sacrificing two sheep.
- Carried in sajdah and khutbah. Hasan once crawled onto the Prophet’s ﷺ back during sujud, and he ﷺ prolonged the prostration to let the child play. Another time, when Hasan and Husayn tripped over their long red garments entering the masjid, the Prophet ﷺ interrupted his khutbah to carry them, reciting, “Your wealth and children are a test” (Q 64:15).
- The prophecy of reconciliation. In a hadith of Bukhari the Prophet ﷺ held Hasan during a khutbah and said, “This son of mine is a sayyid (an undisputed leader), and a day will come when he shall cause reconciliation between two large groups of Muslims.” This was fulfilled: after Ali’s (ra) assassination, the people of Madinah gave Hasan their bay’ah while Muawiyah was pledged in Syria; to spare Muslim blood, Hasan abdicated to Muawiyah in Rabi’ al-Awwal of 41 AH — making him the 5th Rightly-Guided Caliph, though he ruled only six months. (The Prophet ﷺ notably called both parties “Muslims.”)
- Leaders of the youth of Jannah. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Hasan and Husayn are the leaders of the young men of Jannah, and their father is better than them.”
Character & lessons
His self-sacrifice of power to preserve the unity and blood of the ummah fulfilled his grandfather’s prophecy — a model of leadership that values reconciliation over rule.
Death
Died after his abdication; exact date not specified in this source. (Juwayriyya (rha) is noted to have died ~50 AH, “the same year as Hasan.”)
Cross-references
- Muhammad ﷺ — his grandfather
- Ali ibn Abi Talib — his father
- Juwayriyya bint al-Harith — died the same year
- Timeline — b. 4/5 AH; abdication 41 AH
Sources
- S008 — Yasir Qadhi, Seerah lecture series EP 051–060 (EP 054).
- Classical: the naming and adhan in Abu Dawud; the sayyid/reconciliation hadith and the sajdah/khutbah reports in Sahih Bukhari; the name-changing Sunnah in Bukhari’s al-Adab al-Mufrad; the “30 years of khilafa” hadith in Musnad Ahmad.