His Birth and Upbringing
Al-Hasan ibn Abī al-Hasan Yasar, Abū Saʿīd, the client of Zayd ibn Thābit al-Ansārī. It was said he was the client of Abū al-Yasar Kaʿb ibn ʿAmr al-Sulamī, as mentioned by ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Muṭahhar from Ghādirah ibn Qarhad al-ʿAwfī. He added that the mother of al-Hasan was a bondwoman of Umm Salamah, the Mother of the Believers. It was also said that he was the client of Jamīl ibn Quṭbah. His father, Yasar, was from the captives of Maysān. He resided in Madinah, was freed there, married, and his son al-Hasan was born during the caliphate of ʿUmar, two years before its end. His mother’s name was Khayrah.
Al-Hasan grew up in Wādī al-Qurā. He attended the Friday prayer while ʿUthmān was giving a sermon and witnessed the events of the Day of the House when he was fourteen years old. It was said that the mother of al-Hasan had been taken captive from Maysān while pregnant with him, and that he was born in Madinah.
His Early Learning and Dua of the Sahabah
Suwayd ibn Saʿīd narrated from Abū Karb that al-Hasan and Ibn Sīrīn were clients of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah and came to Basrah with Anas ibn Mālik. However, these reports are weak.
Muhammad ibn Salām narrated from Abū ʿAmr al-Shaʿbānī with his chain that Umm Salamah would send the mother of al-Hasan on errands while he was a child, and she would soothe him by breastfeeding him. She would bring him to the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who would supplicate for him. She brought him to ʿUmar who supplicated for him saying: “O Allah, grant him understanding in the religion and endear him to the people.” (This report is mursal.)
Yūnus narrated from al-Hasan, from his mother, that she breastfed him for Umm Salamah.
Al-Madāʾinī narrated that al-Hasan said: “My father and mother were both owned by a man from Banū al-Najjār. He married a woman from Banū Salamah and included my father and mother as part of her dowry. The woman then freed them.”
Yūnus narrated that al-Hasan said: “The duration of my life is from the sixth year of ʿUmar’s caliphate.”
His Virtue and Knowledge
He was the master of the people of his time in knowledge and action. Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān narrated from his father that he said: “Al-Hasan was the shaykh of the people of Basrah.”
It is reported that al-Hasan drank from the breast of Umm Salamah more than once.
He saw ʿUthmān, Ṭalḥah, and many of the senior companions.
He narrated from ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Samurah, Samurah ibn Jundub, Abū Bakrah al-Thaqafī, al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, Jundub al-Bajalī, Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAmr ibn Taghlib, Maʿqil ibn Yasār, al-Aswad ibn Sarīʿ, Anas ibn Mālik, and a large number of companions.
He learned the Quran from Ḥiṭṭān ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Raqāshī and narrated from many of the Tābiʿīn as well.
Among those who narrated from him were Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī (d. 131 AH), Shaybān al-Naḥwī (d. 130 AH), Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd (d. 139 AH), Ibn ʿAwn (d. 150 AH), Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl (d. 142 AH), Thābit al-Bunānī (d. 127 AH), Mālik ibn Dīnār (d. 131 AH), Hishām ibn Ḥassān (d. 148 AH), Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim (d. 170 AH), al-Rabīʿ ibn Ṣubayḥ (d. 160 AH), Yazīd ibn Ibrāhīm al-Tustarī (d. 152 AH), Mubārak ibn Faḍālah (d. 170 AH), Abān ibn Yazīd al-ʿAṭṭār (d. 138 AH), Qurrāh ibn Khālid (d. 155 AH), and others.
He transmitted reports as mursal from several companions such as ʿAlī, Umm Salamah, Abū Mūsā, and others, but did not meet them. (This was mentioned by Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn.)
Al-Bukhārī said: “There is no known hearing of al-Hasan from Daghfal.”
It was also said that he did not hear from Sahlah bint Suhayl, al-ʿAbbās, or Abū Hurayrah according to Yūnus and ʿAlī ibn Judʿān, though some weak narrations attributed that to him.
His Character and Worship
He was characterised by complete sadness, abundant fear of Allah, beautiful speech, and high aspiration.
When he narrated the story of the tree trunk that cried for the Prophet ﷺ, he would weep and say: “O worshippers of Allah, a tree longed for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. You are more deserving to long for his meeting.”
He was described by al-Ṣāliḥ al-Marī as one who said: “O son of Adam, you are merely days. Whenever a day passes, part of you has gone.”
Mubārak ibn Faḍālah narrated that he said: “Death has exposed this world, so that nothing remains for a person of intellect to be joyous about.”
He was known for his intense sadness and remembrance of death. It was said: “I have never seen anyone longer in sadness than al-Hasan.”
ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus narrated from al-Ḥasan that he said: “I witnessed the Day of the House (the killing of ʿUthmān) when I was fourteen years old, and I had already memorised the Quran.”
His Opinions and Judgments
Al-Hasan was among the major scholars of legal judgments.
He held that recitation over the deceased at the grave was permitted. When questioned, he replied: “It is an act of goodness, and nothing prevents it.”
He was knowledgeable about matters of inheritance, law, and ethics. He was also courageous and brave. Hishām ibn Ḥassān said: “Al-Hasan was the most courageous man of his time.”
He was among those who openly criticised rulers and wrongdoers with wisdom and knowledge.
It was narrated that he once said: “O son of Adam, leaving a sin is lighter upon you than seeking repentance.”
He would pray at night, fast regularly, and his clothing was described as simple yet elegant.
His Prior Issues With Qadar (Divine Decree)
There were reports that al-Hasan initially spoke with hesitation about qadar but later affirmed belief in it properly. It was narrated from several of his students that he returned to affirming qadar correctly.
Al-Ḥammādān narrated from Yūnus who said: “Nothing shook al-Hasan like the issue of qadar.”
It was also reported from Hamād ibn Salamah from Ḥamīd that al-Hasan said: “Allah created good and evil.”
Thus he was free from any innovation, and he affirmed qadar clearly.
His Death
Al-Ḍumrah narrated that al-Hasan died in the year 110 AH, having lived a full life of knowledge, worship, and piety. He left behind no wealth but books, most of which were burned by his own instruction before his death, except for a single document containing some hadiths and exhortations.
He passed away in Basrah, after a lifetime of service to Islam, and was mourned by the scholars and the pious.
Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’ By Ad Dhahabi (4/564-588)
