He was the strong arm of his father; he moved along the battlefield like a diver who comes on water and dives back in, moving forward. He cut through the continuous lines of the enemy’s army and made the armies retreat. Imam Hassan (PBUH) fought so bravely in the battle of “Jamal”, bringing the battle to an end with his strong strike on the Camel of Aysha, and overthrowing the flag of hypocrisy.
Having inherited bravery and courage from his father, he rushed towards the army of the enemy in the battle of “Siffin” so courageously that his father, the unique hero of Arab, got worried.
Indeed, he had no fear from facing the enemies, to a level that years after the martyrdom of his father and during his peace treaty with Mu'awyiah, Imam Hassan (PBUH) strongly addressed the son of Abu Sufyan and Hind by saying,” (O) Muawiyah…! If I had (enough) supporters, I would have spent all days and nights fighting against you” (1).
However, he had to calm down his companions as well. Therefore, he says to those who furiously wanted to fight Mu'awiyah, ”You have not realized the purpose of my action, and that is why you are angry at me. If I had not done this (peace treaty with Mu'awiyah), not a single Shia person would have left on the surface of the earth, and all would have been killed” (2).
“O Junadah! Prepare for your journey to the Hereafter and collect your provisions before your death. Know that you are after this world, and death is after you…” (4).
”Know that you shall be held accountable for the permissible things of this world, and you shall be punished for its unlawful things, and you shall be blamed for its questionable things. Therefore, consider this world as a dead corpse and take of it as much as you need…” (5).
On the other hand, in addition to all his asceticism and piety towards his Lord, he was extremely humble and polite in front of people. He would never like to see people standing out of respect for him while he was sitting. In fact, he would not allow people to get up out of respect for him.
He used to sit with the poor, eat with them, and help them financially. His servants would lay a carpet at the entrance of his house and he would sit on it and fulfill the needs of the poor even before they would lose their honor by asking. He used whatever he had in order to attain the satisfaction of his Lord and take care of the needy people; he gave his properties to the poor several times. Generosity and bounteousness was so manifested in him that he was given the title of “the generous one of the Ahl al-Bait”.
Nevertheless, on the other hand, the enemies of the Ahl al-Bait (PBUT) never kept quiet, rather they did everything to harm Imam Hassan (PBUH). But he would remain patient against all those hardships. Finally, the enemies, who could not tolerate such a precious character, decided to kill him. So they deceitfully poisoned Imam Hassan (PBUH) and martyred him.
In fact, oppression of the enemies against Imam Hassan (PBUH) did not end with his martyrdom. When, based on his own will, his body was taken to be buried beside the grave of his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP), instead of honoring his body, they not only avoided his body to be buried there, they offended him even further. Instead of throwing flowers at the body of the grandson of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP), they threw arrows at his coffin and caused another tragedy for the Ahl al-Bait (PBUT). The hypocrites compensated the preaching of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP) in such way, just like before, and made the honorable family of the Ahl al-Bait (PBUT) mourning(6).
3. Shaikh Saduq, Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Hussain ibn Babwayh Qummi (deceased 381 AH) has authored a book named “Asceticism of Hassan” about this issue.