Chapter 14: Another Assassination Attempt:
Another Attempt to Assassinate Al-Hasan:
Once the negotiations between Al-Hasan ibn Ali and Mu’awiyah were successful, Al-Hasan began preparing his followers to accept the terms of the peace agreement. He stood to address the people of Kufa and explain the details of what had been agreed between him and Mu’awiyah.
People looked at one another and said: By Allah, he has decided to reconcile with Mu’awiyah, he has weakened and has lost his resolve.
While he was speaking, a group attacked and tried to kill Al-Hasan. They broke into his tent, pulled his prayer mat from beneath him and stripped him of his garment.
Abdur-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Ja’al al-Azdi assaulted Al-Hasan and pulled the cloak from his shoulders.
Al-Hasan then stood up and mounted his horse, and people began to gather around him.
Some blamed Al-Hasan, accusing him of being weak, while others joined in to fight off the attackers.
Al-Jarrah ibn Sinan, who had the same views of the Khawarij, went to Madhlam Sabat, on the west bank of the Tigris, and waited for Al-Hasan.
As Al-Hasan passed by, Al-Jarrah approached him, holding a pickaxe and said: You have associated partners with Allah, Al-Hasan, as your father did before you.
He struck Al-Hasan with the pickaxe and Al-Hasan responded by hitting Al-Jarrah in the face and they grappled on the ground.
Abdullah ibn al-Khadl at-Ta’i, got up and took the pickaxe from Al-Jarrah,
Dhabyan ibn Amarah at-Tamimi (one of the Tabi’un of Kufa) grabbed Al-Jarrah’s nose, cutting it off, and then picked up a stone and struck his face until he was killed.
Al-Hasan was then carried to Mada’in, where Sa’d ibn Mas’ud brought a physician to treat him until he recovered.
Ibn Sa’d narrated from Hilal ibn Khabbab that Al-Hasan gathered the leading figures among his companions in the palace of Mada’in.
Al-Hasan’s Reaction:
Al-Hasan ibn Ali said: O people of Iraq, if I did not give up on you except for three things, those would be sufficient for me to give up on you. They are: you killing my father, you stabbing my mule and you robbing my belongings (or he said: stealing my cloak from my shoulders). You swore allegiance to me, pledging to make peace with whomever I make peace with and to fight whomever I fight. I have sworn allegiance to Mu’awiyah, so listen to him and obey.