page_title: Hasan ibn Ali
section_title: Birth and early life
hierarchical_section_title: Hasan ibn Ali / Birth and early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Name of Hasan in Arabic in Hagia Sophia, April 2013
context_page_description: Al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, sometimes spelled Hasan or Hassan, was the eldest son of Ali and Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, and was the older brother of Husayn, as well as the fifth of Rashidun, or "Rightly Guided Caliphs". Muslims respect him as a grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Among Shia Muslims, Hasan is revered as the second Imam. Hasan was elected for the caliphate after his father's death, but abdicated after six or seven months to Muawiyah I, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty to end the First Fitna. After Hasan's abdication, the caliphate turned into kingship. al-Hasan was known for donating to the poor, his kindness to the poor and bond men, and for his knowledge, tolerance and bravery. For the rest of his life, Hasan lived in Medina, until he died at the age of 45 and was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi cemetery in Medina. His wife, Ja'da bint al-Ash'at, is commonly accused of having poisoned him.
context_section_description: When Al-Hasan was born in the year 624 CE, Muhammad slaughtered a ram for the poor on the occasion of his birth, and chose the name "Al-Hasan" for him. Fatimah shaved his head and gave the weight of his hair in silver as alms. According to Shi'ite belief, theirs was the only house that archangel Gabriel allowed to have a door to the courtyard of al-Masjid an-Nabawi. Both Shia and Sunni Muslims consider Al-Hasan to belong to the Ahl al-Bayt of Muhammad as one of the Ahl al-Kisa ("People of the Cloak") and participants of the Event of Mubahalah.
  There are many narrations showing the respect of Muhammad toward his grandsons, including the statements that his two grandsons would be "sayyedā šabāb (masters of youth) of Paradise", and that they were Imams "whether they stand up or sit down". He also reportedly predicted that Hasan would make peace between two factions of Muslims.
caption: Calligraphic representation of Ḥasan ibn Ali in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
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