Hassan Ibn Thabet

Hassan Ibn Thabet Ibn Hiram Ibn al Najjar was, in fact, the master and senior of all believing poets; he was supported by the Holy Spirit. His nickname was Abul Waleed. He comes from al Ansar, the Prophet’s supporters of Madinah. Hassan was the best poet of the Prophet as well as his close companion.

It may be said here: Why should the Prophet have a number of poets? What role did they play and how can we coordinate between this and the fact that the Qur’an itself condemns poets in the following verse which says: “And poets, it is those straying in evil who follow them. Don’t you see that they wander distracted in every valley? And that they say what they practise not.” (Surah Ash-Shuara’, 26, 224-226)

As a matter of fact, the Prophet kept a number of poets most prominent among whom was Hassan Ibn Thabet, not to make them organs of falsehood and lies as the afore mentioned verses describe poets. It is true before Islam poets were hypocrites, liars and arrogant braggers who did more evil than good. But Muhammad, being the Prophet of transformation and change, in fact, revolutionised the content of poetry and raised it to a high degree.

Under the Prophet, a poet became the spokesman of truth, the defender of Islam. He played the role played by mass media today. Not only this, but poets were also important in raising the morale of the Muslim armies. Enemies of Islam used opposing poets to discourage Muslims, curse them and their religion and spread false rumours against the truth of Islam. The Prophet used poets as upholders of truth and defenders of virtue. The Holy Qur’an itself made an exception of this category of poets when it said directly after the above verses: “Except those who believe, work righteousness, engage much in the remembrance of Allah, and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked. And soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take.”

Thus the institution of poetry and its role in life has been completely transformed and Hassan Ibn Thabet was the leading poet of this Prophetic school of poets. An interesting thing about Hassan, may Allah be pleased with him, is that he had a long life of 120 years divided equally between Islam and the pre-lslamic period. In other words one report says: he lived sixty years in Islam and sixty years before it. Thus he was one of the few Companions who had such a long span of life.

Once Hassan was in a circle of friends, one of them was Abu Hurairah, the famous Companion of the Prophet who transmitted the largest number of traditions. Hassan said: I ask you in the name of Allah O Abu Hurairah, have you heard the Messenger of Allah say: Answer them on my behalf? May Allah support you with the Holy Spirit? Abu Hurairah said: By Allah Almighty this is indeed the truth. Again al Bara said: The Prophet once said to Hassan: “Defame the enemies and answer their defamation in poetry and angel Gabriel will be with you.”

Saeed Ibn al Musayyab, the well-known successor of the Companions said: Umer Ibn al Khattab once passed across the mosque where he met Hassan. He found him saying poetry in the mosque of the Prophet. When Umer stared at Hassan as a sign of his dislike of what he was doing, Hassan said: I used to say poetry in this mosque in the presence of the Prophet who is better than you. The only reaction on the part of Umer was that he said: Indeed you tell the truth.

In another report transmitted by Aisha we know the following: The Prophet used to make a pulpit in the mosque for Hassan so that the latter may stand on it and defend the Messenger of Allah; and the Messenger used to encourage him and say: “The Holy Spirit will support Hassan as long as he defends Allah’s Apostle.” It has been claimed by some sources that Hassan never attended any of the Prophet’s battles. These sources attribute this to his so-called extreme cowardice.

The following report, however, is one proof against this claim. Jaber says: On the day of Ahzab, one of the major battles of Islam the Prophet asked: Who will defend Muslim women and children? Kaab Ibn Malek said: I will. Abdullah Ibn Ruwahah also said I will and the same thing was said by Hassan. Turning to Hassan the Prophet said: You defame them and the Holy Spirit will help you against them.

Another point in favour of Hassan is that he was an old man of more than sixty years when the Prophet emigrated to Madinah. So even if the accusations of his cowardice are true, he is to be excused for his old age. He was, however, respected by the Companions of the Prophet. Urwah says: Once I cursed Hassan in front of Aisha. She said: I swear that you stop it. He used to defend the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him.

Aisha, wife of the Prophet, continued to respect and honour Hassan even after his participation in the calumny propagated against her. Atta Ibn Abi Rabah said: One day Hassan entered upon Aisha after he became blind. She presented a pillow for him to sit on. When her brother Abder Rahman came in he said: How can you make him sit on a pillow, after he had said what he said? Aisha said: Suffice it that he used to reply in defense of the Messenger of Allah and to please him against his enemies; he became blind as you see, and I hope that he will not be punished in the Hereafter.

In another tradition Aisha said: When the Messenger of Allah arrived in Madinah Quraish defamed him along with al Ansar. He then said to Hassan: Defame them, but I fear that you would also defame me when you attack my relatives. This tradition shows that poetry was the main means of expressing the public opinion. It represented in those days, the press, the T.V. and the radio stations. This shows the great and decisive role played by poets like Hassan who was as we said in the beginning, master of all believing poets.

In the previous tradition, when the Prophet warned Hassan to take care in defaming Quraish lest he should attack the Prophet in the attempt, Hassan said: I shall take care not to affect you, for I have an organ that is more effective than a spear. (meaning his tongue)

Barakah, mother of Muhammad Ibn al Saib, said that she was walking with Aisha who had some women with her. They cursed Hassan, but Aisha said: Don’t curse him for Allah has punished him with what you see - blindness. But by Allah I hope that he will enter Paradise thanks to the verses he said in confronting Abu Sufyan Ibn al Harith who defamed the Messenger of Allah. His words spread like proverbs among the Arabs. That is why Abu Salamah quotes the Prophet as saying to Hassan on the authority of Aisha. He said: Defame Quraish, for it hurts them more than arrows do.

Abu Sufyan Ibn al Harith whom Hassan defamed was, in fact, the cousin of the Prophet and his brother in breast-milk; he used to like the Prophet before Islam, but once he received revelation Abu Sufyan expressed enmity towards the Prophet. He composed poetry to defame him. Thus Hassan was asked to answer back. Then Abu Sufyan embraced Islam in the year of the conquest of Makkah. He attended the Battle of Hunayn in support of the Prophet.

Hamzah Ibn Abdellah Ibn Umer heard Aisha say: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: Hassan is a barrier between believers and hypocrites. No hypocrite will like him and no believer will hate him. Again Saeed Ibn Jubayr said: Someone said to Ibn Abbas: The accursed Hassan has arrived. Ibn Abbas, however, said: He is not an accursed one, for he fought with the Messenger of Allah using his body and his tongue. The testimony of Ibn Abbas proves that Hassan participated in actual fighting with the Prophet.

Ibn al Kalbi reports that Hassan Ibn Thabet was an outstanding poet and a courageous fighter, had it not been for an evil experience, which made him coward. Al Zubayer Ibn al Awwam says: When the Messenger of Allah left behind his wives on the day of Uhud he left them in a castle with Hassan. Among them was Safiyah Bint Abdel Muttaleb, aunt of the Prophet. Hassan was their guard. Then a disbeliever came and tried to enter the castle and rush upon them. Then Safiyah said to Hassan confront the man and face him. He, however, showed his cowardice and refused to do so. So Safiyah picked up a sword and hit with it the disbeliever until she killed him. When the Prophet was told about it he was pleased and gave her a share in the spoils of war. al Farawi added that when Hassan refused to fight against the aggressor he said: If I can do this I would be with the Messenger of Allah. Safiyah then said: I’ll cut the head of the attacker and you Hassan: Rise and throw it on the Jews who are under the castle. Still Hassan refused and said: By Allah I cannot do it. Then Safiyah threw the head upon them. When the Jews saw it they said: We knew that Muhammad would not leave his family alone without somebody to guard them behind him. So the Jews were dispersed.

Another version adds that Safiyah said to Hassan: Rise and take his armour. I am but a woman while he is a man. Hassan, however, said: I am not in need of his armour O daughter of Abdel Muttaleb. Be that as it may Hassan was honoured by the Prophet and many of his Companions. He defended Islam with his excellent poetry and participated in many battles with the Prophet. It was only when he was a weak old man that he showed this frailty of cowardice which was overlooked by the Prophet and many of his companions. May Allah have mercy on Hassan Ibn Thabet. Amen.