Chapter 23: Did Mu’awiyah Poison Al-Hasan
Did Mu’awiyah Poison Al-Hasan?
Some reports suggest that Al-Hasan ibn Ali died from poisoning and his wife, Ja’dah bint al-Ash’ath ibn Qays, is accused in these narrations of poisoning him and causing his illness.
Some also attempt to link Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah (son of Mu’awiyah) to Al-Hasan’s death, as they claim that Yazid sent a message to Ja’dah saying: if you poison Al-Hasan, I will marry you.
According to this report, she did so and poisoned Al-Hasan.
When Al-Hasan died and Ja’dah sent word to Yazid requesting that he fulfil his promise, Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah supposedly replied: By Allah, we did not like you as a wife for him, so why would we like you as a wife for us?
However, the narrators of these reports have been described as liars and these stories are mentioned in the books of ahl as-Sunnah, but their chains of narration are weak.
As for Imami Shi’i sources, they contain many additional reports accusing Mu’awiyah of poisoning Al-Hasan, but none of these are authentic.
The same Imami Shiites who spread such reports also generated many false accusations against the companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Scholars’ Views on the Accusation that Mu’awiyah Poisoned Al-Hasan:
Ibn al-‘Arabi said that the claim that Al-Hasan ibn Ali was poisoned in this way is impossible for two reasons: there was no cause for concern about Al-Hasan after he relinquished authority to Mu’awiyah, and this could only be known by Allah SWT.
Ibn al-‘Arabi argued that it is baseless to attribute this act to anyone without clear evidence, no trustworthy narrator has reported it, and that in such a time of turmoil only authentic reports should be accepted.
Ibn Taymiyah said: As for Mu’awiyah poisoning Al-Hasan, this is something that was mentioned by some people but it is not proven with any Sharia-compliant evidence or reliable reports. This is something that cannot be known, so speaking about it is speaking without knowledge.
Ad-Dhahabi said: I say this is not sound. How could anyone find out (about this secret deal)?
Ibn Kathir said that in his view, this accusation is invalid and highly unlikely to be reliably attributed to Mu’awiyah.
Ibn Khaldoon stated that such reports, that Mu’awiyah poisoned Al-Hasan through Ja’dah bint al-Ash’ath, come from Shi’i narrations, and that Mu’awiyah was above committing such an act.
From all this, it is clear that there is no solid proof to support the claim that Mu’awiyah or his son Yazid poisoned Al-Hasan.