Hasan al-Askari
Hasan Al-Askari was born in Medina in 844 and brought with his father to the garrison town of Samarra in 848, where the Abbasid caliphs held them under close surveillance until their deaths, even though neither were politically active.
He died in Samarra in 873–874 at the age of about twenty-eight and was buried in the family home next to his father, which later developed into al-Askari shrine, a major center for Shia pilgrimage.
Though in occultation, the Imam still remains responsible in Twelver belief for the spiritual guidance of humankind and the Shia accounts of his occasional encounters with the pious are numerous and popular.
[5][6] Most Shia sources state that Hasan ibn Ali was born in Rabi' al-Awwal 230 AH (November 844),[5] though other given dates range from 845 to 847.
[9] His father was the tenth Shia Imam, Ali al-Hadi, and his mother was a freed slave (umm walad), whose name is variously given as Hudayth, Susan, or Salil in different sources.
[5] At the age of about two,[2] Hasan was brought to Samarra with his father in 233 or 234 AH (847–849),[5][10] where the latter was held under close surveillance by the Abbasid caliphs until his death in 254 (868), some twenty years later.
[13] A significant part of al-Askari's life, both during his own imamate and his father's, was spent in a situation where the Abbasid Caliphate had become a tool for rival emirs who played an effective role in the government system.
In 254 AH, when al-Hadi died and al-al-Askari succeeded his father, al-Askari enjoyed relative freedom and lived in his own home, despite the restrictions imposed on his activities.
[18] It is believed that most of al-Askari's prison experiences happened during the caliphate of al-Mu'tamid, who is represented in Shia sources as his main oppressor.
Although after a month the caliph was forced to release them, probably for the sake of state interests, but he did not allow him to return to his home in Samarra, instead sent him to "Dar al-Hasan ibn Sahl" to keep a close eye on him.
[20] In his lifetime, a main source of assistance for the poor in his clan, the Banu Hashim, was the income of agricultural lands in Fadak.
[2] During the week of his illness, many notable Alid and Abbasid figures visited him on his deathbed and the caliph also sent his doctors and servants to attend the Imam.
[5] However, considering that al-Askari did not have an obvious heir,[25][18] Tabatabai maintains that the caliph intended to closely monitor the Imam and later continued to search for his offspring after his death.
[34] Madelung adds that some had expected another son of al-Hadi, Abu Ja'far Moḥammad, to be the next Imam but he predeceased his father in Samarra.
[7][36] Tabatabai also suggests that these restrictions were placed on al-Askari because the caliphate had come to know about the traditions, circulating among the Shia elite, which predicted that the eleventh Imam would father the eschatological Mahdi.
[5] The representatives were responsible for administering Shia affairs and collecting religious funds, although agents such as Ibrahim ibn Hilal Abartai had deviated from the Imam's command, and for this reason, al-Askari had written a letter, disowning him, and cursing him.
Other than Uthman ibn Saeed, Aqid, a special servant of the Imam that raised him from childhood, was the bearer of many of his letters to the Shias.
Upon entering the period of the Minor Occultation, Uthman ibn Saeed, played the role of the first representative, and special deputy of the tewlve Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi.
[15][44] This is said to have happened in the family home in Samarra, where currently a mosque stands, under which there is a cellar (sardab) that hides a well (Bi'r al-Ghayba, lit.
After about seventy years, this period of Minor Occultation (al-ghaybat al-sughra) ended with the death of the fourth representative, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri, who is said to have received a letter from al-Mahdi in 329 (941).
[52] It has been noted that the number of these agents was not limited to four in early Shia sources,[50][53] and Momen suggests that the former network of the representatives (wukala) likely continued to operate during the Lesser Occultation.
During the Major Occultation, which started in 329 (941) and continues to this day, there is no direct communication,[57][54][58] though the Imam still remains responsible in Shia belief for the spiritual guidance of humankind,[59] as the sun behind a cloud still gives light and warmth.
[17] The issue of the opposition between reason(Aql) and ignorance(Jahl) and their armies, which was previously raised by Ja'far al-Sadiq and Musa al-Kazim, has found a new dimension in the teachings of al-Askari.
On this basis, when it came to jurisprudential issues, the evolutionary and not legislative reasons for the rulings were sought; such as that God made fasting obligatory so that the rich could taste hunger and show kindness to the needy, or that God made obligatory the prayers not because of need but as a mercy to His servants, to separate the impure from the pure, to test the breasts and purify the hearts, and to create competition in attaining divine mercy and competing to occupy higher positions in Paradise.
Along with piety, other terms such as asceticism (Zuhd) and servitude (Ta'abbud) were also mentioned in al-Askari's words, brief definitions of each of them are given; for example, it is stated that the most pious of people is the one who abandons the forbidden; and the most devout person is the one who fulfills his obligations.
In al-Askari's hadiths, Sufism is also discussed on occasions, and in a mild and at the same time critical tone, a "fake Sufi" is condemned.
In Askari's words, greeting anyone who passes by and sitting in a gathering without paying attention to the honor of one's position are examples of humility.
The hadith states that, "It is obligatory for the populace to follow the jurist who refrains from committing wrong, mentions his faith, opposes carnal desire, and obeys Allah’s command.
"[65] Haider quotes a hadith, attributed to al-Askari, about the specific characteristics that distinguish a Shia from the wider mass of Muslims: "There are five signs of a believer: fifty-one cycles of prayer [every day], the pilgrimage to Husayn's tomb forty days after the anniversary of his death, the wearing of a ring on the right hand, the placing of the forehead on the earth in prostration, and the audible recitation of the basmala (lit.
"[66] In the context of intercession (shafa'a), al-Askari is reported to have said that only a small fraction of God's mercy (rahma) has been dispersed among His creation in this world.
