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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Fourteen Luminaries of Islam The Fourth Infallible, Hadhrat Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba, The Second Imam The Second Imam Imam al-Hasan (as) is the son of Amir al-Mu’minin ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (as) and Fatimah Zahra (as), the best of women, and daughter of the Holy Prophet (S). Imam al-Hasan (as) was born in Medina on the eve of Ramadan 15, in the year 3 A.H. He was the first son born to ‘Ali (as) and Fatimah (as).

The Holy Prophet (S) took hold of him right after his birth and recited adhan in his right ear, and iqama in the left one. Then, he sacrificed a sheep for him, cut short his hair and gave its equivalent weight in silver – a bit more than a dirham – to the poor. The Prophet (S) had his head perfumed; and since then the rituals of sacrificing a sheep ( ‘aqiqa ) and giving alms equal to the weight of the head hair of the newly born babies became a tradition.

He named this baby Hasan, a name which had been unprecedented in Jahiliyya (during pagan period). He was also given his only patronymic, Abu Muhammad.

His nicknames include: Sibt, Sayyid, Zaki, Mujtaba, the last being his most well-known one.[^1] The Holy prophet (S) was especially interested in al-Hasan (as) and his brother, al-Husayn (a.s.), frequently saying that al-Hasan and al-Husayn are my children, in respect to which ‘Ali (as) would say to his other children: “You are my children and al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the Prophet (S)'s.

Imam al-Hasan (as) lived on for some seven years close to his honorable grandfather, enjoying his warm embrace until the latter's demise followed by his mother's passing away after two or three months, when he was taken care of solely by his noble father.[^2] Upon the martyrdom of his esteemed father, and by God's ordain and his father's will, Imam al-Hasan (as) attained Imamate and took over the apparent caliphate as well, managing the Muslim's affairs for about six months.

In the meantime, Mu‘awiya who was an obstinate enemy of ‘Ali (as) and his family, and had for years fought with him (first under the pretext of revenging ‘Uthman's blood and in the end seeking explicitly for the caliphate), led an army to Iraq which was the seat of Imam al-Hasan (as)'s caliphate and started a war. Later on, we will talk more about this issue. Imam al-Hasan (as) was very similar to the Holy Prophet (S) in countenance, morality, physical figure and nobility.