I wanted the faith to have men who call to it.

I wanted the faith to have men who call to it.” “...I only wanted, by my treaty with Mu'awiyah, to spare you death.” The army of his enemy was strong, highly disciplined because of their compliance with the orders of Mu'awiyah, and the non-existence of subversion among its ranks. But in Iraq, disunity prevailed. The various contradictory slogans, views, desires, and interests tore the army of Imam Hasan (as) to shreds and weakened its ability to fight.

Imam Hasan (as) enjoyed a first-rate spiritual power - as we have seen elsewhere - as he was purified from uncleanness, which is stated by the Qur'an. He is one pillar of the blessed family of the Messenger of Allah (S), to which fact the Holy Prophet (S) himself had testified. He would nor think of deception and treachery.

This soul, attached to Allah, the Most High, and inspired by Him and His noble shar'iah, made Imam Hasan (as), wherever he was, to keep away from entering into a war in which blood would be unnecessarily shed, and men killed without result. In addition to that, the factors in Islam's view, were not in the least available, as we have witnessed by the character of his unprincipled followers.

This is quite different from Mu'awiyah who would never care how many men were killed, and how much blood was shed, as long as he remained the ruler of the Muslims, to whom the income of taxes were brought. He was the ruler who basked in mundane luxury and fleeting pleasures in the palace of alKhadara'. When Imam Hasan saw that Mu'awiyah succeeded in attracting the people towards him, he wanted to disclose the true colors of Mu'awiyah.

It could only be done if Mu'awiyah monopolized power and took the affairs of the ummah into his own hands. The ummah would see the nature of his rule, and discover the wide gulf between it and the ideal image of the rule of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (as).

Those who obeyed Mu'awiyah would bear the responsibility for that historical tragedy in which the ummah lost the leadership of Ahlul Bayt (as) and their pioneering Imamate, not only during their blessed existence, but also after their deaths. The negative impact of that continued smashing the ummah, generation after generation, till the system of Islam, which was expected to prevail and rule, was reduced to a mere historical heritage buried in the books.