Quick Answer:
In some of the sources of the Ahl al-Sunnah, it has been mentioned that Imam Husayn opposed his brother in the peace treaty that he signed with Mu‘āwīyah. In the following article, we will research this issue and critique it from the perspective of authenticity and historical accuracy. From looking at the historical sources, it appears that Ṭabarī was the first to narrate this from ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān. He has written: ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān has narrated that Hasan ibn ‘Alī wrote to Mu‘āwīyah in regards to a peace treaty and asked for safety. Hasan said to Husayn and ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far (his cousin) that: I have written Mu‘āwīyah in regards to a peace treaty. Husayn responded: I ask you by God not to confirm Mu‘āwīyah’s story and not to deny ‘Alī’s story. Hasan said to him: Be silent, for I know what to do better than you.[1] The following other historians have also mentioned this report: Ibn ‘Asākir[2] in his book Tārīkh Damishq[3], Ibn Athīr[4] in his book Kāmil Fī Tārīkh[5], Ibn Khaldūn[6] in his book Tārīkh al-‘Ibr[7] and Ḥamdullah Mastūfī[8] in his summarized history text.[9]
Detailed Answer:
In some of the sources of the Ahl al-Sunnah, it has been mentioned that Imam Husayn opposed his brother in the peace treaty that he signed with Mu‘āwīyah. In the following article, we will research this issue and critique it from the perspective of authenticity and historical accuracy. From looking at the historical sources, it appears that Ṭabarī was the first to narrate this from ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān. He has written: ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān has narrated that Hasan ibn ‘Alī wrote to Mu‘āwīyah in regards to a peace treaty and asked for safety. Hasan said to Husayn and ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far (his cousin) that: I have written Mu‘āwīyah in regards to a peace treaty. Husayn responded: I ask you by God not to confirm Mu‘āwīyah’s story and not to deny ‘Alī’s story. Hasan said to him: Be silent, for I know what to do better than you.[1] The following other historians have also mentioned this report: Ibn ‘Asākir[2] in his book Tārīkh Damishq[3], Ibn Athīr[4] in his book Kāmil Fī Tārīkh[5], Ibn Khaldūn[6] in his book Tārīkh al-‘Ibr[7] and Ḥamdullah Mastūfī[8] in his summarized history text.[9]
In response to this report, the following things need to be said: Firstly, the aforementioned report was initially mentioned by Ṭabarī in his history text and he had narrated this from one individual by the name of ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān. Ṭabarī is well known to have simply narrated the reports that he found without any analysis of their authenticity or reliability. He himself has written in this regard that: The reader of my book should know that what I have said is based on the reports of the narrators and not based on intellectual proof or reasoning. Therefore, if the reader should find certain material which he believes to be incorrect or surprising, then he should know that this is not from me; rather, I have simply taken these reports from the narrators and have mentioned them (in my text).[10] Since Ṭabarī has narrated this report from a single individual by the name of ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān and he has furthermore not mentioned who ‘Uthmān narrated it from, we can consider the report to be weak and unreliable.
The second point is that Ibn Athīr[11], Ibn Khaldūn[12], and other such historians narrated this report in their own books from Ṭabarī.[13] Since Ṭabarī’s report is so weak and unreliable, then all of these reports are of the same quality and should be considered as unreliable. The third point is that this report is at odds with Shia theology. In addition to all these, we have historical reports mentioning that after the peace treaty, Imam Husayn (‘a) came to Medina[14] with Imam Hasan (‘a) and they both lived alongside one another for a period of ten years. If there was such a disagreement, the effects of this opposition would have manifested itself during this long period of time and yet history shows that no such incidents took place.[15]
Makarem Shirazi
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