Seerah

The Light of Imamate towered over the world from the houses which Allah has permitted to be exalted and that His name may be remembered in them. A good, pure branch came out of the great tree of the prophethood and Imamate. Through this branch Allah made exalted the entity of Islam, built the edifice of faith and made peace between two great parties.

The grandson of the Prophet (a.s), the master of the youths of the Garden, came to the world of existence in the month of Ramadan when the Qur’an was revealed. It was in the second or the third year of hijra.[1]

This is a clear mistake. Perhaps, the author has meant Imam al-Husayn, peace be on him, who was born on the fifth day of the month of Sha‘ban. Some authors thought that he, peace be on him, was born in the second year A. H. In the book Mir’at al-‘Uqool, p. 390, it has been mentioned: “There is no contradiction in the dates of the birth. For each of them is based on a term in the principle of history other than the term on which the another is based. We can detail it in three terms: The first is that the beginning of the birth was in the month of Rabee‘ al-Awwal; that is because the emigration (of the Prophet) was in it. The companions (of the Prophet) depended on it until the year sixty A. H. The narration that al-Hasan was born in the second year A. H., it is based on this meaning. The second is that the beginning of the birth was in the month of Ramadan before the Month of Rabee‘ al-Awal when the emigration took place; that is because it is the beginning of the Hijri year. As for the narration that al-Hasan, peace be on him, was born in the third year A. H., it is based on this meaning. The third, which is the beginning of the birth was in the month of al-Muharram, is that which ‘Umar devised.”

As for the narration of the author of the book Mir’at al-Uqool, it removes the contradiction between the two statements. As for the report of the professor Fareed Wajjdi in his book Daa’irat al-Ma‘arif, vol. 3, p. 443, that the birth of al-Hasan, peace be on him, was six year before the emigration, it opposes the unanimous agreement of the historians. That is because Imam Ali, the Commander of the faithful, did not marry Fatima, the truthful one, before the emigration, as we have already explained. As for how Fatima, the truthful, gave birth to Imam al-Hasan, peace be on him, it has been mentioned in the book Tarikh al-Khamees, vol. 1, p. 470. That is when the hour of her giving birth came, Allah’s Apostle (a.s.) sent to her Asma‘, daughter of ‘Umays, and Umm Ayman, and they recited to her the Verse of al-Kursi and the two verses called al-Mu‘awadhatayn (chapters 113 and 114). Asma’ narrated, saying: “Fatima, peace be on him, was pregnant with al-Hasan, peace be on him, but I saw no blood of her. So I said: ‘Allah’s Apostle (a.s.) I have seen no blood of Fatima during her menstruation and her childbed.’ He (a.s.) said: ‘Did you not Allah’s Apostle (a.s) was seen through the appearance of the newborn child. The Prophet’s merits and good qualities were present in him.

When the news of that Truthful Fatima gave birth to the blessed newborn child, waves of delight and rejoicing covered the heart of the Prophet (a.s). He hurried to the house of his daughter, the dearest one to him from among his children. He congratulated her on her blessed newborn child, congratulated his cousin Imam Ali, and gave the newborn child some of his noble qualities, whose scent covered the whole world. When the, Prophet (a.s) reached Imam Ali’s house, he called out: “O Asma’, give me my (grand) son!”

Asma’ hurried and handed him the baby warped in a yellow piece of cloth, so he said to her: “Did I not tell you not to wrap the newborn child with a yellow piece of cloth!”

The Prophet (a.s) cut off the baby’s navel and pressed the baby to his bosom. Then he raised his hands towards the heaven and invoked Allah for him, saying: “O Allah, I commend him and his offspring into Your protection from the accursed Satan!”[2]

Notes:

[1] Al-Isaba, vol. 1, p. 328. Al-Isti‘ab, vol. 1, p. 368. Al-Sayuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa’, p. 73. Al-Bustani, Da’irat al-Ma‘rif, vol. 7, p. 38. In these books it has been mentioned that he was born in the middle of the month of Ramadan, in the third year A. H. In the book Shadharat al-Dhahab, vol. 1, p. 10, it has been mentioned that his birth was on the fifth day of the month of Sha‘ban.

[2] Al-Bustani, Da’irat al-Ma‘arif, vol. 7, p. 38.

Adapted from: "The Life of Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (a.s.)" by: "Ayatullah Kashif al-Ghita"