Azam Tariq stated:
ALL THE MUSLIM CITIZENS INCLUDING THE THEN LIVING SAHABA WITH THE EXCEPTION OF HAZRAT HUSAYN AND ABDULLAH BIN ZUBAIR SWORE ALLEGIANCE TO YAZID. WHEN HAZRAT HUSAYN DECIDED TO GO FROM MAKKAH TO KUFA WHERE THE PEOPLE WERE CONSTANTLY INVITING HIM FOR BAYT (OATH OF ALLEGIANCE) HIS CLOSE ASSOCIATES AND WELL-WISHERS LIKE ABDULLAH BIN UMAR, HAZRAT ABU SAEED KHUDRI, HAZRAT ABU DARDA, HAZART ABDULLAH BIN ABBASS, HAZART MUHAMMAD BIN ABU HANIFA ETC. TRIED TO PERSUADE HIM NOT TO UNDERTAKE THIS JOURNEY AS IT WAS FULL OF RJSKS AND HAZARADS. THEY WERE HOWEVER, NOT SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR ATTEMPT AND HAZART HUSAYN PROCEEDED ON HIS MISSION OF REFORMATION CONCEIVED ON THE BASIS OF HIS OWN IJTEHAD.
Mu’awiya planned the succession of Yazeed for seven years
We read in Iqd al Fareed Volume 2 page 247 Dhikr Mu’awiya:
فلم يزل يروض الناس لبيعته سبع سنين، ويشاور، ويعطى الأقارب ويداني الأباعد، حتى استوثق له من أكثر الناس.
“Mu’awiya spent seven years seeking to galvanise the people’s minds towards giving bayya to Yazeed and he rewarded those that ascribed to his views. He [Mu'awiya] tried to get closer to those that opposed this purpose [to intimidate them]“.
Mu’awiya appointed Mugheera bin Shu’ba to carry through his objective of intimidation
As evidence we shall rely on the following texts of Ahl’ul Sunnah:
Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 870. The events of 56 Hijri
Tarrekh al Kamil Volume, 3 page 252 The events of 56 Hijri
Tareekh Ibn Khaldun, Volume 3 page 16
Tareekh al Khulafa, page 205 Dhikr Mu’awiya
Al Imama wa al Siyasa, page 152
Nasa al Kafiya, page 38
For the sake of brevity we shall cite al Bidayah:
“Mu’awiya made plans to remove Mugheera bin Shuba from his post of Governor of Kufa and replace him with Sa’eed bin Aas. When Mugheera caught wind of his intention, he arrived in Damascus and said to Yazeed bin Mu’awiya ‘Your father should appoint you as khalifah after him’. When Yazeed asked Mu’awiya if this was indeed the case, he replied ‘Who said this to you?’ He [Yazeed] said Mugheera bin Shuba. This recommendation pleased Mu’awiya immensely; he kept Mugheera in post, and ordered him to drum up support for giving bayya to Yazeed. Upon his return to Kufa, Mugheera did actions to secure the bayya for Yazeed”.
Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 870 (Nafees Academy Karachi)
Mu’awiya set the wheels in motion and wanted people to give bayya to Yazeed. It is critical to note that in doing so Mu’awiya was breaching the terms of the treaty that had been reached with Imam Hassan (as), namely that Mu’awiya would NOT appoint a successor after him and that the succession to the khilafat would return to the Imams of the Shia i.e. Al-Hassan (as) and after him his successor Al-Hussain (as). Mu’awiya is thus in breach of a solemn oath he took not to make the khilafat a monarchy by appointing his own son as Crown Prince.
As evidence we shall rely on the following texts of Ahl’ul Sunnah:
Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 870. The events of 56 Hijri
Tarrekh al Kamil Volume, 3 page 252 The events of 56 Hijri
Tareekh Ibn Khaldun, Volume 3 page 16
Tareekh al Khulafa, page 205 Dhikr Mu’awiya
Al Imama wa al Siyasa, page 152
Nasa al Kafiya, page 38
For the sake of brevity we shall cite al Bidayah:
“Mu’awiya made plans to remove Mugheera bin Shuba from his post of Governor of Kufa and replace him with Sa’eed bin Aas. When Mugheera caught wind of his intention, he arrived in Damascus and said to Yazeed bin Mu’awiya ‘Your father should appoint you as khalifah after him’. When Yazeed asked Mu’awiya if this was indeed the case, he replied ‘Who said this to you?’ He [Yazeed] said Mugheera bin Shuba. This recommendation pleased Mu’awiya immensely; he kept Mugheera in post, and ordered him to drum up support for giving bayya to Yazeed. Upon his return to Kufa, Mugheera did actions to secure the bayya for Yazeed”.
Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 870 (Nafees Academy Karachi)
Mu’awiya set the wheels in motion and wanted people to give bayya to Yazeed. It is critical to note that in doing so Mu’awiya was breaching the terms of the treaty that had been reached with Imam Hassan (as), namely that Mu’awiya would NOT appoint a successor after him and that the succession to the khilafat would return to the Imams of the Shia i.e. Al-Hassan (as) and after him his successor Al-Hussain (as). Mu’awiya is thus in breach of a solemn oath he took not to make the khilafat a monarchy by appointing his own son as Crown Prince.
Imam Hassan (as) made peace to avoid bloodshed
This issue is fundamentally tied up with the forced abdication of Al-Hassan (as) as khalifa in the face of Muawiya’s rebellion against Imam Hassan (as)’s lawful and noble khilafat. Al-Hassan (as)’s is deemed by Jalal-ud-din Suyuti in his established Sunni account of the khilafat the fifth rightly guided khalifa, and while most Sunnis have not heard this he ruled for six months and was by their scholars rightly guided.
For this section we shall focus on the following texts of Ahl’ul Sunnah:
Irshad al Sari Sharh Bukhari, Volume 1 page 198 Bab ul Fitan
Umdah thul Qari fi Sharh Bukhari, Volume 11 page 361 Kitab al Fitan
Mirqaat Sharh Mishqat, Volume 11 page 379
Al Istiab, Volume 1 page 370
For the sake of brevity we shall cite al Irshad:
“Imam Hasan did not abdicate on account of any bribe / worldly gain or weakness; rather he made peace so as to avoid fitnah and bloodshed.”
Mu’awiya had agreed that the Khilafat would return to Imam Hasan (as) when he died
This is undeniable and is testified to, amongst numerous other Sunni works, in:
Fathul Bari fi Sharh Bukhari, Volume 3 page 65 Kitab al Fitan
Mirqat Sharh Mishqat, Volume 11 page 38 Bab Manaqib Ahl’ul Bayt
Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 871 ‘The events of 56 Hijri’
Hayaat al Haywaan Volume, 1 page 53 Dhikr Khilafa
Tareekh Khamees, Volume 2 page 29 Dhikr Hasan
Al Imama wa al Siyasa, page 18 Sulh Hasan
Al Istiab, Volume 1 page 370 Dhikr Hasan
Ibn Kathir records:
وقد كان معاوية لما صالح الحسن عهد للحسن بالأمر من بعده
“When Mu’awiya made peace with Hasan, he made a promise that leadership would go to Hasan after him”
Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 871 (Nafees Academy Karachi)
Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalaini records in Fathul Bari:
اني اشترطت على معاوية لنفسي الخلافة بعده
“Hasan said:’I placed a condition on Mu’awiya that I will become leader after Mu’awiya”
The fact that Mu’awiya wanted to make Yazeed his successor was hugely embarrassing for him, since this contravened the peace treaty and hence the better option would be to remove Imam Hasan (as) (this has been discussed in our article on Mu’awiya). In the meantime Mu’awiya’s flagrant breach of the treaty continued. This is an embarrassment for the Nasibis as this treaty and its terms are not controversial and accepted by all. Thus the Nasibis might claim that this happened after Imam Hasan (as) was martyred but the fact is…
This issue is fundamentally tied up with the forced abdication of Al-Hassan (as) as khalifa in the face of Muawiya’s rebellion against Imam Hassan (as)’s lawful and noble khilafat. Al-Hassan (as)’s is deemed by Jalal-ud-din Suyuti in his established Sunni account of the khilafat the fifth rightly guided khalifa, and while most Sunnis have not heard this he ruled for six months and was by their scholars rightly guided.
For this section we shall focus on the following texts of Ahl’ul Sunnah:
Irshad al Sari Sharh Bukhari, Volume 1 page 198 Bab ul Fitan
Umdah thul Qari fi Sharh Bukhari, Volume 11 page 361 Kitab al Fitan
Mirqaat Sharh Mishqat, Volume 11 page 379
Al Istiab, Volume 1 page 370
For the sake of brevity we shall cite al Irshad:
“Imam Hasan did not abdicate on account of any bribe / worldly gain or weakness; rather he made peace so as to avoid fitnah and bloodshed.”
Mu’awiya had agreed that the Khilafat would return to Imam Hasan (as) when he died
This is undeniable and is testified to, amongst numerous other Sunni works, in:
Fathul Bari fi Sharh Bukhari, Volume 3 page 65 Kitab al Fitan
Mirqat Sharh Mishqat, Volume 11 page 38 Bab Manaqib Ahl’ul Bayt
Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 871 ‘The events of 56 Hijri’
Hayaat al Haywaan Volume, 1 page 53 Dhikr Khilafa
Tareekh Khamees, Volume 2 page 29 Dhikr Hasan
Al Imama wa al Siyasa, page 18 Sulh Hasan
Al Istiab, Volume 1 page 370 Dhikr Hasan
Ibn Kathir records:
وقد كان معاوية لما صالح الحسن عهد للحسن بالأمر من بعده
“When Mu’awiya made peace with Hasan, he made a promise that leadership would go to Hasan after him”
Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 871 (Nafees Academy Karachi)
Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalaini records in Fathul Bari:
اني اشترطت على معاوية لنفسي الخلافة بعده
“Hasan said:’I placed a condition on Mu’awiya that I will become leader after Mu’awiya”
The fact that Mu’awiya wanted to make Yazeed his successor was hugely embarrassing for him, since this contravened the peace treaty and hence the better option would be to remove Imam Hasan (as) (this has been discussed in our article on Mu’awiya). In the meantime Mu’awiya’s flagrant breach of the treaty continued. This is an embarrassment for the Nasibis as this treaty and its terms are not controversial and accepted by all. Thus the Nasibis might claim that this happened after Imam Hasan (as) was martyred but the fact is…