“Train your children to learn three things: The love of your Prophet, the love of his progeny (Ahlul Bayt) and recitation of the Qur’an.”
“The likeness of my Ahlul Bayt amongst my Ummah is similar to Noah’s Ark. Those who embraced it were rescued and those who neglected it perished.”
Both of the quotes above are, and I am sure you will agree with me, beautiful. They were said by no other than the Holy Prophet and emphasise strongly on the importance of and level of respect we should have for the Ahlul Bayt. They were some of, if not the, most purified souls. This article is on one of the youngest members of the Ahlul Bayt: Imam Hassan.
As the son of Imam Ali and Bibi Fatima, it isn’t a huge surprise that this man was one of the best ever to have walked on this earth. He had beautiful manners and immeasurable respect towards his elders: something we should all learn from.
It is said that whenever Imam Hassan heard a majlis recited by the Prophet, he would come home and relate whatever he heard to his mother. One day, Imam Ali sat in a room in such a position that he could hear Imam Hassan, but Imam Hassan could not see him. As usual, when Imam Hassan came home, he went to his mother and began to relate the majlis to her. However, when he spoke, he was stammering and when Bibi Fatima asked him why, he said, “May be the one who is senior to me is listening to my words.” This story shows just how much respect Imam Hassan showed towards his elders.
His brother, Imam Hussain showed an equal amount of respect towards his elders. Their parents loved them both equally. When Bibi Fatima was asked, “Which one of your two sons do you love more, she broke her necklace and said, “Whichever one of my sons collects the most amount of beads is the one that I like more.” Both Imam’s collected 5 beads and there was one bead left. It is narrated that Angel Gabriel came down from the heavens and chopped the last bead in half, leaving half a bead for each brother, meaning that Bibi Fatima loved them both equally.
Just as their parents loved them both equally, they were both also very clever. Once Imam Hassan (a.s.) was asked, "What are the 10 strong things that are stronger than one another?" Imam Hassan (a.s.) replied:
“Among the strong things is Stone;
Even stronger is the Iron which is used to break Stone;
Even stronger is the Fire which melts Iron;
Even stronger is the Water which extinguishes Fire;
Even stronger are Clouds that carry Water with them;
Even stronger is the Air which floats the Clouds with it;
Even stronger is the Angel who moves the Air;
Even stronger is the Angel who will give Death to the Angel who moves the Air;
Even stronger is the Death which will come upon the Angel of Death; and
Even stronger is the order of Allah (swt) which governs the Death.”
This response tells us that there is nothing stronger or more important than the order of Allah (swt).
Reference points:
1) A bundle of flowers. By Ayatullah Sayyid Kamal Faghih Imani.
2) http://www.ezsoftech.com/stories/imamhassan1.asp
By Sumayya Hemraj