them, and their wishes and hopes for seizing the reins of government and authority would be lost. Anyhow, it is necessary for us to talk briefly about the stages of that great tragedy, for there is a close relationship between it and the life of Imam al-Hasan (a.s), because turning the authority away from Ahlul Bayt had bad complications and dangerous results. The most important of them was that al-Tulaqa’,[1] their sons, who were the opponents of Islam and enemies of Allah, craved after the Islamic caliphate, and warred against the Household of Prophethood. Al-Hasan, the grandson of the Prophet (a.s), was forced to make peace with Mu‘awiya and to hand the authority over to him. We will explain that to readers as follows:
Al-Saqifa[2]
The people left the Prophet (a.s) lying in the bed of death. They paid no attention to any of his affairs. The Ansar hurried to the Saqifa (shed) of the Banu Sa‘ida[3] . They discussed the affairs of the succession and authority. The chief of al-Khazraj Sa‘d bin Ubada, who was critically ill, delivered an oration among the people. He could not make the people hear his speech; rather he spoke, and some of his relatives conveyed his speech to others. The central idea of his speech was that gain was according to damages and hardships that the Ansar suffered heavy casualities during the successive battles and the movement of jihad carried out by Allah’s Apostle (a.s). Therefore, they were worthier of authority than the others and more appropriate for it. This is the text of his oration: “O Community of the Ansar, you have precedence in religion and excellence in Islam that no one of the Arab tribe is like you. Most surely, Muhammad (a.s) remained among his
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[1] Al-Tulaqa’ are those who converted to Islam at the time of the conquest of Mecca.
[2] Al-Saqifa is a shelter. It was the place where the Ansar held their meetings and seminars.
[3] Sa’d bin Ubada was the master of the Khazrajite and leader of the Ansar. His people admitted his leadership over them. He, his father, his grandfather, and his son Qays were famous for generosity. It was said that no house from al-Aws and al-Khazrajj had four successive, generous people except that of Sa‘d. He was one of the heads. He was present with Allah’s Apostle (a.s.) at al-‘Aqaba and (the Battle of Badr. He did not pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr. He angrily went out of Medina. Khalid bin al-Waleed and a companion of his followed him by night. They stabbed him and threw him into a well. Khalid deceived some foolish people that it was the jinn who killed him. They composed two poetry lines on behalf on the jinn, saying:
We have killed the master of al-Khazrajj, Sa‘d bin Ubada,
And we threw two arrows at him and did not fail to hit his heart.
He died at Hawran, (part) of the land of Sham (Syria) in the year fifteen A. H. It was said (that he died) in the year fourteen A. H. His biography has been mentioned in the books al-Isaba, al-Isti‘ab, Usd al-Ghaba, and the like.