The Prophet concluded...

The Prophet concluded: ‘O God, you know that Hasan and Husayn shall be in Paradise, their uncles and aunt shall be in Paradise, and those who love them shall be in Paradise, while those who hate them shall be in the Fire'” (1). Abu Hurayra, the famous hadith transmitter, related that often when they prayed behind the Messenger of God Hassan and Hussain would jump on his back while he was prostrate in prayer. When he lifted his head, he would move them gently and place them beside him.

One evening, after prayers, Abu Hurayra offered to take the two youths home, but the Prophet wished them to stay. Soon, however, a flash of lightning illuminated the sky, and they thus walked in its light until they entered their home (2). The friends (awliya’) of God, like the prophets, are favoured with miracles. These are not miracles proper (mu’jizat), but rather karamat (divine favours).

The lightning incident was one such divine favour by means of which the Prophet wished to inform the community of the special status with which God had favoured the two Imams. There is a unity between the Prophet and the , a unity not simply of blood, but also of the spirit. It is a unity symbolized by the Kisa’ event. It is, therefore, a unity of love, as the following statement of the Prophet clearly indicates.

He said, as related on the authority of Salman the Persian: ‘Whoever loves Hasan and Husayn, I love him, and whomsoever I love, God also loves, and whomsoever God loves, He shall cause him to enter into the gardens of bliss.’ Likewise, he who hates Hasan and Husayn shall be consigned to the Fire, because both God and his Messenger will hate him, ‘and a terrible punishment awaits him’ (3).

Muslim hagiographical piety extended this unity and intimacy between the Prophet and his two grandchildren to include the angels of heaven. Thus Hudhayfa, a well-known companion and traditionist, reported that the Prophet said: ‘An angel is here who never came down to earth before this night.

He sought permission from his Lord to come down and greet me, and to bring me the glad tidings that Fatima is the mistress of the women of Paradise, and that Hasan and Husayn are the masters of the youths of Paradise’ (4). There is no doubt that the special status of Imam Husain in Muslim piety and devotion has in large measure been due to the Imam’s great sacrifice of family, wealth, and life itself in the way of God.