OBJECTIONS

Aug 23, 2025 | The Lion Of Forbearance: IN Defense Of Imam Hassan (AS)

This book is organized according to the sequence of the doubts raised about Imam Ḥasan (ʿa), so that a researched and authentic refutation can be presented for each.

First Objection: Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) acknowledged the legitimacy of Muʿāwiyah’s caliphate.

Stages of the response:

  1. The distinction between the religious/spiritual caliphate and the outward/political caliphate, with a detailed explanation.

  2. Imam Ḥasan’s (ʿa) peace treaty with Muʿāwiyah was exactly like the Prophet’s ﷺ peace treaty with the Quraysh polytheists at Ḥudaybiyyah.

  3. Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) was fully aware of Muʿāwiyah’s reality and of the Prophet’s ﷺ statements regarding him.

  4. Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) consistently rejected Muʿāwiyah’s false claim to the caliphate and openly denounced it.

Second Objection: A contradiction between Imam Ḥasan’s peace and Imam Ḥusayn’s uprising.

Stages of the response:

  1. This objection is fundamentally invalid and flawed.

  2. This matter in no way falls under the category of ijtimaʿ al-naqīḍayn (the simultaneous occurrence of two mutually contradictory matters).

Third Objection: Under the terms of the peace treaty, Muʿāwiyah became the leader of Imam Ḥasan (ʿa).

Stages of the response:

  1. The linguistic and technical definitions of ṣulḥ (peace treaty).

  2. A freed slave (mufāʾ) has no right to rule over a truly freeborn (mafīʾ) person — and historically, Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān was a freed slave (mufāʾ).

  3. The logical and legal implication of the treaty’s conditions was that Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) retained authority over Muʿāwiyah, not the other way around.

Fourth Objection: The claim that Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) was born from the thigh of Lady Fāṭimah (ʿa).

Stages of the response:

  1. Identifying the primary sources where this narration appears.

  2. Analyzing the narration’s chain of transmission (isnād).

  3. Analyzing the text and content of the narration.

Fifth Objection: Clearing Muʿāwiyah of the accusation of poisoning Imam Ḥasan (ʿa).

Stages of the response:

  1. Muʿāwiyah’s historical crimes.

  2. Muʿāwiyah’s policy of poisoning his opponents.

  3. Muʿāwiyah’s motives and interests in poisoning Imam Ḥasan (ʿa).

  4. Historical evidence of Muʿāwiyah’s involvement and a refutation of Ibn Khaldūn’s claim.

Sixth Objection: Denying that Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) and Imam Ḥusayn (ʿa) were sons of the Prophet ﷺ.

Stages of the response:

  1. Explaining the meaning of “ab” (father) in the Arabic language.

  2. The reason for the revelation of the verse: “Muḥammad is not the father of any of your men…” (33:40).

  3. The verse of Mubāhalah as the strongest proof of Imam Ḥasan’s (ʿa) sonship.

  4. Refutation of the objection by al-Bukhārī and affirmation of Imam Ḥasan’s (ʿa) sonship.

Seventh Objection: The verse of Mubāhalah does not indicate the virtue of al-Ḥasan (ʿa), al-Ḥusayn (ʿa), and their parents (ʿa).

Stages of the response:

  1. The individuals who participated in the Mubāhalah.

  2. Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ’s admission in Muʿāwiyah’s assembly that this was a virtue unmatched in the past or future.

  3. The Prophet’s ﷺ instruction to al-Ḥasan (ʿa), al-Ḥusayn (ʿa), and their parents (ʿa): “When I supplicate, you say Āmīn.”

  4. The statement of the Christians: “We see such faces that, if they were to pray to Allah to remove a mountain, it would indeed be removed.”

  5. The fact that the Mubāhalah did not occur — while being in Allah’s prior knowledge — indicates that the verse was revealed to declare their virtue.

Eighth Objection: Imam al-Ḥasan al-Mujtaba (ʿa) was initially named “Ḥarb.”

Stages of the response:

  1. Statement of the objection.

  2. The sources relied upon by ʿAqqād and the status of their chains of transmission.

  3. The meaning of the name “Ḥarb” and the Prophetic ḥadīths prohibiting it.

  4. Imam ʿAlī’s (ʿa) will to name the newborn before birth.

Ninth Objection: Denial that the verse of Mawaddah is Madinan and that it refers specifically to Imam Ḥasan (ʿa), Imam Ḥusayn (ʿa), and their parents (ʿa).

Stages of the response:

  1. Clarifying the importance of knowing the cause of revelation (sabab al-nuzūl).

  2. Explaining the basic methodology for determining Makkan and Madinan sūrahs.

  3. Critical discussion of Ibn Taymiyyah’s claim.

  4. Statements of Sunni scholars affirming the verse’s Madinan origin.

Tenth Objection: The absence of Imam Ḥasan’s (ʿa) name explicitly in the Qurʾān implies denial of his Imamate.

Stages of the response:

  1. Explaining the interrelationship between the Sunnah and the Qurʾān.

  2. The Prophet’s ﷺ explicit mention of Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) and other Ahl al-Bayt (ʿa) in the verse of Taṭhīr, the verse of Mawaddah, and the verse of Mubāhalah.

  3. Presenting counterarguments.

Eleventh Objection: Denial of the infallibility of Imam Ḥasan (ʿa), Imam Ḥusayn (ʿa), and their parents (ʿa) prior to the revelation of the verse of Taṭhīr.

Stages of the response:

  1. Explaining the meaning of “irādah” (will) in Allah’s statement: “Indeed Allah only intends to remove all impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you completely.” (33:33)

  2. Clarifying Allah’s statement: “To remove from you…”

Twelfth Objection: Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ leading the funeral prayer over Imam Ḥasan (ʿa).

Stages of the response:

  1. Critical examination of the narration’s chain of transmission.

  2. Analytical study of the text of the narration.

Thirteenth Objection: The claim in Shīʿa Imāmī narrations that Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) married and divorced frequently.

Stages of the response:

  1. Introductory explanation of the principles for accepting or rejecting narrations.

  2. Review of the sources of reports about Imam Ḥasan’s (ʿa) multiple marriages and divorces.

  3. Critical analysis of these reports in terms of chain and content.

Fourteenth Objection: Lady ʿĀʾishah did not prevent Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) from being buried beside his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Stages of the response:

  1. The passing of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while resting against the chest of Imam ʿAlī (ʿa).

  2. The Prophet’s ﷺ burial in his own chamber.

  3. Geographical clarification of Lady ʿĀʾishah’s house and the Prophet’s ﷺ chamber.

  4. Analysis of the narrations regarding the prevention of Imam Ḥasan’s (ʿa) burial beside the Prophet ﷺ.

Fifteenth Objection: The Shīʿa insulting Imam Ḥasan (ʿa) by calling him Mudhillu’l-Muʾminīn (“the one who humiliated the believers”).

Stages of the response:

  1. Was Sufyān ibn Abī Laylā among Imam Ḥasan’s (ʿa) close companions?

  2. Examination of Imam al-Bāqir’s (ʿa) statement: “Then a man from the companions of al-Ḥasan came…” and its implications.

  3. Refutation of the claim that a great Companion like Ḥujr ibn ʿAdī attributed criticism to Imam Ḥasan (ʿa).

Sixteenth Objection: Inferring a denial of Imam Ḥasan’s (ʿa) knowledge from Imam ʿAlī’s (ʿa) statement, “Ask me before you lose me.”

Stages of the response:

  1. Imamate is the rank of the prophets and the inheritance of the vicegerents.

  2. Mention of the widespread narrations that indicate the source of the Imams’ (ʿa) knowledge.

  3. Cutting a narration from its context to mislead readers.