ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Imam Hasan and Caliphate The Constituents of the Army and Its Quality In the reliable historical records no detail is available through which we could ascertain the composition of various groups that constituted the army of Imam Al-Mujtaba (as) and their quality.

Occasionally it has been mentioned that Imam Al-Mujtaba (as) had taken the regiments to fight Muawiya who were the toughest and very firm, or that the Arab leaders had completely submitted themselves to the grandson of the Holy Prophet (saws) so that he had full liberty to fight anyone or make peace. [^1] We feel that these accounts are based on exaggeration as reliable historical records show so many facts which contradict these feelings.

Basically, the army of Imam Hasan (as) was composed of the Iraqi army and their political, social and uncertain nature is reflected in the sermons of Hazrat ‘Ali (as) as quoted in ' Nahjul Balaghah ' wherein he had indicated their weak and wavering nature. Between the period of Hazrat ‘Ali (as) and the peace of Imam Hasan (as), there is a maximum intervening period of ten months. During this period there was very little scope of any major changes in their nature.

In this background we have some words spoken by Imam Al-Mujtaba (as) as well which serve as a shining guide for us. Imam Al-Mujtaba (as) has described the qualities of his army and has comprehensively compared the wars fought during the time of Hazrat ‘Ali (as) and his own. He says: "You were going towards Siffin when you were devoted to religion and the worldly benefits were insignificant for you, while today you are preferring worldly comforts over religion.

Be warned that you can be divided into two groups of the dead one the martyrs of Siffin over whom you are shedding tears or the dead of Nahrwan whose revenge you are keen to take. The others have run away from war. But those who are crying for the dead, they seem to be determined to fight." [^2] Imam Al-Mujtaba (as) has, in a very fine manner, compared the Siffin war and the one fought during his time.

In both these wars, on the one side was the rebellious Syrian group while on the other was the Iraqi army under the command of Islamic caliph. The difference was that earlier the Iraqi army was fighting with such valour and determination that Muawiya had almost lost his senses, while now they had become victims of the enemy's intrigue and were doubtful, rather afraid of the consequences of the war.