You are well aware that the Merciful God guided you to the...

You are well aware that the Merciful God guided you to the righteous path through our grandfather Hazrat Muhammad (saws) and saved you from going astray by showing you the way of light from darkness and ignorance. Moreover, He gave you respect from disgrace and increased your small numbers into a large one. Undoubtedly, Muawiya has tried hard to snatch my right from me. In such a situation, I have kept the welfare of Muslim Ummah in view.

(On the other side), you had paid allegiance to me, vowing that you will make peace with whom I make peace and you will wage war against whom I wage war. Now, I have made peace with Muawiya. My action is for your benefit and it would safeguard you." [^4] To explain the stand taken by Imam Hasan (as) about peace, his sermon is very significant and that is why the historians and biographers have repeatedly quoted it, and there is a chain of narrators which leaves no doubt about its authenticity.

Though there are so many points in this important sermon which need attention and elaboration, yet it seems appropriate to draw attention to some of the conjectures by a few historians in this regard. In the history by Tabari and some others, it is mentioned that this sermon was delivered at the instance of 'Umru bin 'Aas. This way 'Umru bin 'Aas wanted to convey to the people that Imam Hasan (as) was unable to give an appropriate talk to the people on the issue.

However, after the Imam (as)'s sermon, he felt ashamed. [^5] A group of researchers accepts this guess as correct and S.H.M. Jafri is one of them. But Dr. Taha Husayn totally disagreeing writes: "Hasan (as) had delivered sermons to the people on a number of occasions during the life time of his illustrious father as well as after him. Stammering or any other weakness was not noticed in any of his sermons earlier.

Earlier as well as later, the Imam (as) was regarded as a member of the illustrious family, anyone of whose members was never known to hesitate or falter in conversation or address. Rather this highly revered family was known for its unmatched qualities of eloquence, command over the language and ability to clearly distinguish between the truth and falsehood. No one could match them in this field.

So, Imam Hasan (as) addressed the people and nothing better could be said than what he said and no better expression of truthful ideas could be expressed than what he did."[^6] Apart from Dr. Taha Husayn, the analysis by Dr.