Then he called together the remaining followers of the...

Then he called together the remaining followers of the Prophet (those who were still alive and who had been present on the day of Ghadir when the Prophet had appointed 'Ali as hiskhalifah), so that they could bear witness to his appointment to the khilafah. He never withheld his opinion about what was helpful or in the interests of Islam and the Muslims, and he often said: I was afraid lest I should not help Islam and the Muslims, and that they would fail.

He said and did nothing against the position, power and authority of thekhulafa', but kept himself to his house and remained silent, despite the fact that he saw what they were doing. He acted thus for the sake of Islamic interests, up to the point where he was famous for his admirable qualities.

The secondkhalifah, 'Umar ibn Khattab, said many times: "I would never encounter a difficulty without Abu 'l-Hasan being there to contribute to its solution." And "If it were not for 'Ali, 'Umar (himself) would have perished." History cannot forget the way Imam Hasan (A.S.) dealt with Mu'awiyah.

He made peace with him, because he realised that if he continued to fight, the light of the Qur'an and just government would be extinguished, and moreover the name of Islam would vanish for all time, the Divineshari'ah would be lost and the Imams that were to come would be obliterated. So he chose to protect the edifice of Islam and its name. For this reason, he made peace with Mu'awivah, who was a resolute hated Imam Hasan and enemy of the religion and of Muslims, and who his followers.

He knew that Mu'awiyah would deal unjustly with him and his companions, and. although he could have counted on his family and followers to fight for their rights and defend themselves, he believed that the highest interests of Islam were above all these things and more important then them.

It was for the same reason that the third Imam, Husayn, the Holy Martyr, rose up against the Banu Ummayah; for he realised that if they continued in their vicious ways without anyone taking arms against them and proclaiming their wicked intentions, they would eradicate Islam and its glory. Thus he wished to point out their oppression and iniquity for posterity, so as to expose their evil plans against the Prophet's religion. Naturally, events turned out as had been predicted.

If it had not been for his holy campaign, Islam would have been recorded as a religion of the past, and it would have been thought a false religion.