Al-Hajjaj asked him...

Al-Hajjaj asked him, “I have heard that you call Hasan and Husayn the sons of the Prophet although they were not his sons but the sons of his daughter Fatimah, and the progeny is not identified through the mothers!” Al-Shi`bi remained quiet for some moments and then recited the following verse from the Holy Qur’an: وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ كُلاًّ هَدَيْنَا وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ دَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُوسُفَ وَمُوسَى وَهَارُونَ وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَى وَعِيسَى وَإِلْيَاسَ كُلٌّ مِنْ الصَّالِحِينَ “And form the progeny of Ibrahim, Dawūd, Sulayman, Ayyūb, Yūsuf, Mūsa, and Harūn were the guided ones; thus, We reward the righteous.

And Zakariyya, Yahya, `Isa and Ilyas were Guided. They were all of Allah’s virtuous creatures. (6:84-85)” After reciting this verse, al-Shi`bi said that `Isa -Jesus- (a.s) too has been included in the Progeny of Ibrahim (a.s) definitely because he descended Ibrahim (a.s) through his mother Maryam.

When we treat `Isa (a.s) as the progeny of Ibrahim (a.s) through his mother Maryam bint `Imran, then why Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn (a.s) cannot be termed the progeny of Muhammad (a.s) through his daughter Fatimah al-Zahra’, their mother! In the case of `Isa (a.s) there was a difference of several generations between his ancestor, Ibrahim (a.s) and himself. But in the case of Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn (a.s), they were the next of kin to the Prophet (a.s)!

Hearing this al-Hajjaj kept quiet. Once `Amr ibn al-`As criticized `Ali (a.s) for calling Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn (a.s) as the sons of the Prophet (a.s). When the Imam (a.s) heard this he asked the informer to tell the enemy of Allah (`Amr) that if they are not his sons, then the Prophet (a.s) would be termed abtar (issueless) as his father al-`As ibn Wa’il used to call the Prophet (a.s). The truth is that Allah has termed the enemies of the Prophet (a.s) abtar instead of him!

Mu`awiyah’s slave Dhakwan says that once Mu`awiyah said that instead of calling Hasan and Husayn (a.s) as the sons of the Prophet (a.s) they should be called the sons of `Ali (a.s) because they are not from the backbone of the Prophet (a.s). Dhakwan says further that Mu`awiyah instructed him to prepare a list of his progeny. He prepared a roster of his sons and the grand children and presented to his master.

Mu`awiyah asked him why he did not add the names of his grand children through his daughters.

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