Hasan Al-Basri

Hasan al-Basri
Abū Saʿīd b. Abi ’l-Ḥasan Yasār al-Baṣrī,

often referred to as Ḥasan of Basra
(Arabic: ‫ﺣﺴﻦ اﻟﺒﺼﺮي‬, Ḥasan al-Baṣrī; 642 -
15 October 728) for short, or reverentially
as Imam Ḥasan al-Baṣrī Sufi Sunni Islam,
was an early Muslim preacher, ascetic,
theologian, exegete, scholar, judge, and
mystic.[1] Born in Medina in 642,[2] Hasan
belonged to the second generation of
Muslims, all of whom would subsequently
be referred to as the tābiʿūn in Sunni
Islamic piety.[3] In fact, Hasan rose to
become one of "the most celebrated" of
the tābiʿūn,[4] enjoying an "acclaimed
scholarly career and an even more
remarkable posthumous legacy in Islamic
scholarship."[5]
Imam Ḥasan al-Baṣrī
Tābiʿūn;
Theologian, Ascetic, Mystic, Scholar;
Imām of Basra, Lamp of Basra, Leader of the
Ascetics
Born c. 21 AH/642 CE
Medina, Rashidun
Caliphate
Died Friday, 5th Rajab 110

AH/15 October 728
(aged 86)
Basra, Umayyad
Venerated in Sunni Islam, but
Caliphate
particularly in
traditional tariqas of
Sufism
Major shrine Tomb of Ḥasan al-

Baṣrī, Az Zubayr, Iraq
Influences Ali ibn Abi Talib
Influenced Abdul Wahid bin Zaid

& Habib al-Ajami
Hasan, revered for his austerity and

support for "renunciation" (zuhd), preached
against worldliness and materialism
during the early days of the Umayyad
Caliphate, with his passionate sermons
casting a "deep impression on his
contemporaries."[6] His close relationships
with several of the most prominent
companions of the prophet Muhammad[7]
only strengthened his standing as a
teacher and scholar of the Islamic
sciences.[8] The particular disciplines in
which he is said to have excelled included
exegesis (tafsīr) of the Quran,[9] whence
his "name is invariably encountered in"
classical and medieval commentaries on
the scripture,[10] as well as theology and
mysticism.[11][12] Regarding the last of
these, it is important to note that Hasan
became a tremendously important figure
in the development of Sufism[13] with his
name occurring "in many mystical silsilas
(chains of teachers and their disciples)
going back to Muḥammad" in the writings
of Sunni mystics from the ninth-century
onwards.[14] In the words of one scholar,
Hasan stands as the "great patriarch" of
early Sufism.[15]
As scholars have noted, very few of

Hasan's original writings survive, with his
proverbs and maxims on various subjects
having been transmitted primarily through
oral tradition by his numerous disciples.[16]
While fragments of his famed sermons do
survive in the works of later authors, the
only complete manuscripts that bear his
name are apocryphal works such as the
Risālat al-qadar ilā ʿAbd al-Malik (Epistle to
ʿAbd al-Malik against the
Predestinarians),[17] a pseudopigraphical
text from the ninth or early-tenth
century,[18] and another letter "of an
ascetic and hortatory character"
addressed to Umar II (d. 720),[19] which is
likewise deemed spurious.[20]
Traditionally, Hasan has been

commemorated as an outstanding figure
by all the Sunni schools of thought,[21] and
was frequently designated as one the well
respected of the early Islamic community
in later writings by such important Sunni
thinkers as Abu Talib al-Makki (d. 996),[22]
Abu Nuàym (d. 1038),[23] Ali Hujwiri (d.
1077),[24] Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1201),[25] and
Attar of Nishapur (d. 1221).[26][27] In his
famed Ḳūt al-ḳulūb, the most important
work of Basran Sunni mysticism, Abu Talib
al-Makki says of Hasan: "Ḥasan is our
Imām in this doctrine which we represent.
We walk in his footsteps and we follow his
ways and from his lamp we have our light"
(wa ’l-Ḥasanu raḥimahu ’llāhu imāmunā fī
̲ ’l-ʿilmi ’llad̲hī̲ natakallamu bih ,
hād̲ha
at ̲h̲arahu naḳfū wa sabīlahū natbaʿu wa min
mis̲hk̲ ātihi nastaḍīʾ).[28]
Life
Hasan was born in Medina in 642 CE.[29]
His mother, Khayra, is said to have been a
maidservant of one of the prophet
Muhammad's wives, Umm Salama (d.
683), while his father, Peroz, was a Persian
slave who originally hailed from southern
Iraq.[30][31] According to tradition, Hasan
grew up in Medina for the vast portion of
his early life, prior to his family's move to
Basra after the Battle of Siffin.[32]
According to some scholars, it is "primarily
this association with Medina and his
acquaintance there with many of the
notable Companions and wives of
Muḥammad that elevated [Hasan's]
importance as an authoritative figure in
Muslim religious and historical
genealogy."[33]
The various extant biographies relate that

Hasan was once nursed by Umm
Salama,[34] and that his mother took him
after his birth to the caliph Umar (d. 644),
who is related to have blessed him with
the prayer: "O God! Please do make him
wise in the faith and beloved to all
people."[35] As he grew, Hasan began to be
widely admired for his uncompromising
faithfulness to the example of
Muhammad.[36] The various early sources
on Hasan's life relate that he frequently
studied at the feet of Ali (d. 661) during
this period, who is said to have taught
Hasan while the latter was still "an
adolescent."[37] As there is evidence that
the metaphysical idea of the abdal – forty
major saints whose number, according to
traditional Sunni mystical belief, is
believed to remain constant till the Day of
Judgment, with each group of forty being
replaced by another upon their earthly
death – was prevalent at the time,[38] there
are traditions which relate that some of
Hasan's contemporaries did indeed
identify him as one of the abdal of that
period.[39]
As a young man, Hasan took part in the
campaigns of conquest in eastern Iran (ca.
663) and worked as a jewel-merchant,[40]
prior to forsaking the business and military
life for that of a pure ascetic and
scholar.[41] It was during this latter period
that he openly began to criticize the
policies of the governors in Iraq, even
stirring up the authorities to such a degree
that he actually had to flee for the safety of
his life under the reign of Ḥajj̲ āj,
̲ whose
anger Hasan had roused due to his
forthright condemnation of Ḥajj̲ āj's
̲
founding of Wāsiṭ in 705.[42] One of
Hasan's closest companions from this
period was his fellow ascetic and mystic
Farqad as-Sabakhi (d. 729), an Armenian
Christian convert to Islam.[43] Together
with figures like as-Sabakhi and Rabia
Basri (d. 801), Hasan began to publicly
denounce the accumulation of riches by
the wealthy; and it is said that he
personally despised wealth to such a
degree that he even "rejected a suitor for
his daughter's hand who was famous for
his wealth simply because of his
riches."[44] It was during this period,
moreover, that Hasan is said to have taken
numerous disciples in mysticism,[45] such
as Habib al-Ajami (d. ca. 8th century),
whose relationship with Hasan is
documented in various hagiographies.[46]
Hasan died in Basra in 728, being eighty-
six years old.[47] According to a tradition
quoted by the medieval traditionist
Qushayri (d. 1074), "on the night of al-
Hasan al-Basri’s death ... [a local man] saw
in a dream that the Gates of Heaven were
opened and a crier announced: 'Verily, al-
Hasan al-Basri is coming to God Most
High, Who is pleased with him.'"[48]
Views
As one scholar has explained, the essence
of Hasan's message was
"otherworldliness, abstinence, poverty, and
reverential fear of God, although he also
spoke of the knowledge and love of God,
which he contrasted with love and
knowledge of the world."[49]
Mysticism …
Although none of Hasan's own complete

writings on mysticism survive, it is
recognized that he "instructed several
generations of students in both the
religious sciences and what was soon to
become known as Sufism."[50] As such, he
has been referred to as both "the great
patriarch" of Sufism[51] and "the patriarch
of Muslim mysticism"[52] by Western
scholars. Indeed, it may very well be that
Hasan never actually wrote any complete
works on the subject, as none of his works
in other disciplines survive either; rather,
what is far more probable, as scholars
have noted, is that he passed down his
teachings orally.[53] From the fragments of
his sermons available to us in later Islamic
works, it is clear that one of the primary
aspects of Hasan's mysticism was his
strong support for asceticism and
otherworldliness.[54] This characteristic is
highlighted in some of his most famous
epigrams, such as: "Exist in this world as if
you had never set foot here, and in the next
world as if you had never left it."[55]
Another of his most ubiquitous sayings is:
"He that knoweth God loveth Him, and he
that knoweth the world abstaineth from
it,"[56] which, according to one scholar,
represents the "very quintessence of
Sufism" in Basra at the time.[57] In another
of his famous maxims, Hasan stated: "The
[visionary] onlooker thinketh that they are
sick, but no sickness hath smitten that
folk. Or, if thou wilt, they are smitten:
overwhelmingly smitten by remembrance
of the Hereafter,"[58] which, according to
one scholar, "mentions the possibility of
seeing clearly the next life whilst still in
this and describes the lasting imprint of
this foretaste."[59] As scholars have noted,
Hasan spoke of "such visionaries
objectively" despite it being clear that he
knew himself to be one of them.[60] In the
words of one scholar, Hasan's famous
mystical extortions "still echo in Persian,
Turkish, and Pashto mystical verses" many
centuries later.[61]
Hasan has been described as "an

outstanding intermediary figure" in Sufi
history,[62] for although "he grew up in the
apostolic age [the age of the ṣaḥābah],"[63]
the nature of the mystical body in early
Islam had changed "by the time of his own
death at the age of 86,"[64] by which point
"the mystics of Islam had become a
distinct class."[65] According to traditional
Sunni mystical works, Hasan learnt a great
deal of his inward knowledge from Ali,
which is why "many of the Sufi orders
trace their spiritual descent back to 'Ali,
and thus to the Prophet" through
Hasan.[66]
Prayer-beads …
Hasan is said to have advocated the use

of prayer beads (Arabic: misbaḥah; Persian
and Urdu: tasbīḥ) during the remembrance
of God.[67] It is related by al-Suyuti (d.
1505) that Hasan said, with regard to the
use of prayer beads, "Something we have
used at the beginning of the road we are
not desirous to leave at the end. I love to
remember God with my heart, my hand,
and my tongue."[68] On this, al-Suyuti
commented: "And how should it be
otherwise, when the dhikr-beads remind
one of God Most High, and a person
seldom sees dhikr-beads except he
remembers God, which is among the
greatest of its benefits."[69] As a result of
the example of early teachers like Hasan,
the use of prayer beads is very common in
mainstream Sunni and Shia Islam; the
practice is, however, often opposed by
some proponents of Salafism and
Wahhabism for being a heretical
innovation in the religion.
Hagiographic traditions
Islamic hagiography contains numerous
widespread traditions and anecdotes
relating to Hasan.[70] One of the most
famous of these is the story of his
conversion, which "relates that the great
ascetic began his adult life as a
successful jewel-merchant."[71] The
hagiographic scholar John Renard
summarizes the narrative thus: "Hasan
once visited the Byzantine Emperor's
court, and the vizier invited him to travel
with him into the desert. There Hasan saw
a lavish tent, to which came in succession
a large army, four hundred scholars, elders,
and four hundred beautiful servant maids.
The vizier explained that each year since
the Emperor's handsome young son had
died of an illness, these throngs of
Byzantine subjects had come to pay
respects to the dead prince. After all these
categories of royal subjects had entered
and departed, the Emperor and his chief
minister would go into the tent and explain
to the deceased boy, in turn, how it grieved
them that neither their might, nor learning,
nor wisdom, nor wealth and beauty, nor
authority had been sufficient to prolong his
promising life. The striking scene
persuaded Hasan of the need to be ever
mindful of his mortality, and he was
transformed from a prosperous
businessman into a veritable archetype of
the world-renouncing ascetic."[72]
Hasan's relationship with

Muhammad
…
Some hagiographic sources even indicate

that Hasan actually met the prophet
Muhammad as an infant.[73] The tradition
relates that Muhammad, who "visited
Umm Salama's house while the baby was
there," "prayed for little Hasan and again
bestowed blessings."[74] On another
occasion, the child Hasan is said to have
drunk some water from Muhammad's
water jug.[75] When Muhammad learned
that Hasan had drunk the water, he is said
to have "declared that the boy would
receive knowledge from him in proportion
to the water he had imbibed."[76]
Characteristics
According to various historical sources, it
is said that Hasan was admired by his
contemporaries for his handsome
appearance.[77] In this connection, Ibn
Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350) relates an
older tradition, which states: "A group of
women went out on the day of Eid and
went about looking at people. They were
asked: 'Who is the most handsome person
you have seen today?' They replied: 'It is a
teacher wearing a black turban.' They
meant al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī."[78] As for his
personality, it is related that Hasan was a
frequent weeper, being known by those
around him "for the abundance of tears he
shed out of compunction for his sins."[79]
One particular tradition relates that he
wept so much praying on his rooftop one
day that his abundant tears began to run
off "through the downspouts upon a
passerby, who inquired whether the water
was clean."[80] Hasan immediately called
out to the man below, telling him "it was
not, for these were sinner's tears."[81] As
such, "he advised the passerby to wash
himself forthwith."[82] In a similar vein,
Qushayri related of Hasan: "One would
never see al-Hasan al-Basri without
thinking that he had just been afflicted
with a terrible tragedy."[83] With regard to
these traditions, one scholar noted that it
is evident that Hasan "was deeply steeped
in the sadness and fear so typical of
ascetics of all religions."[84]
See also
Maruf Karkhi
Nasr Abu Zayd
Sufism
Chishti Order
Alevism
Bektashi
References
1. Frye, Richard Nelson (1975-06-26). The
Cambridge History of Iran . Cambridge
University Press. p. 449.
ISBN 9780521200936. "was born in Medina
in 21/642"
2. Mourad, Suleiman A., “al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in:
Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Edited by:
Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe,
John Nawas, Everett Rowson.
. Ritter, H., “Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in:
Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition,
Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E.
Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.
Brill Online.
7. Ritter, H., “Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in:
Brill Online.
. Ritter, H., “Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in:
Brill Online.
12. S. H. Nasr, The Garden of Truth: The Vision
and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical
Tradition (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008),
pp. 168-169
pp. 168-169
Brill Online.
p. 168
1 . Ritter, H., “Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in:
Brill Online.
1 . Mourad, Suleiman A., “al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in:
Brill Online.
22. Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, Ḳūt al-ḳulūb, Cairo 1310,
passim
23. Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ wa-
ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyāʾ (Beirut 1967–8), 2:131–
61
24. Ḥud̲jwīrī,
̲ Kas̲hf̲ al-maḥd̲jūb,
̲ tr. R. A.
Nicholson, GMS xvii, 86 f.
25. Ibn al-Jawzī, Adab al-shaykh al-Ḥasan b.
Abī l-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, ed. Sulaymān M. al-
Ḥarash, Riyadh 1993
2 . al-ʿAṭṭār, Tadhkirat al-awliyāʾ, ed. Reynold A.
Nicholson (London 1905–7), 1:24–34
Brill Online.
Brill Online.
Brill Online.
30. Frye, ed. by R.N. (1975). The Cambridge
history of Iran (Repr. ed.). London:
Cambridge U.P. p. 449. ISBN 978-0-521-
20093-6. "The founder of the Basra school
of Sufism, which is itself the source for all
later Sufi schools, is the celebrated Hasan
al-Basri, who was born in Medina in 21/642,
the son of a Persian slave, and who died
after a long and fruitful life in Basra in
110/728."
31. Donner, F.M. (1988). "BASRA" .
Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 8.
pp. 851–855. "Some of these cultural
figures were of Iranian descent, including
the early paragon of piety Ḥasan al-Baṣrī;
Sebawayh, one of the founders of the study
of Arabic grammar; the famed poets Baššār
b. Bord and Abū Nowās; the Muʿtazilite
theologian ʿAmr b. ʿObayd; the early Arabic
prose stylist Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ; and probably
some of the authors of the noted
encyclopedia of the Eḵwān al-Ṣafāʾ."
Brill Online.
Brill Online.
Brill Online.
Brill Online.
Brill Online.
37. Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din), What
is Sufism? (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 1975),
p. 104
3 . See, for example, Ahmad ibn Hanbal,
Musnad 1:112: "The people of Syria were
mentioned in front of Àli ibn Abi Talib while
he was in Iraq, and they said: "Curse them,
O Commander of the Believers." He replied:
"No, I heard the Messenger of Allah say:
The Substitutes (al-abdal) are in Syria and
they are forty men, every time one of them
dies, Allah substitutes another in his place.
By means of them Allah brings down the
rain, gives (Muslims) victory over their
enemies, and averts punishment from the
people of Syria."
39. See, for example, al-Tabarani, al-Awsat: "We
do not doubt that al-Hasan is one of them."
(narrated by Qatāda)
Brill Online.
Brill Online.
Brill Online.
43. Historical dictionary of Sufism By John
Renard, p. 87
Brill Online.
pp. 168-169
4 . Historical dictionary of Sufism By John
Renard, p. 87
Brill Online.
4 . Qushayri, Risala, trans. A. Knysh (Reading,
Garnet Publishers: 2007), p. 397
p. 169
p. 168
p. 168
52. Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions
of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1975), p. 30
pp. 168-169
pp. 168-169
p. 169
5 . Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din), What
p. 104
p. 104
5 . Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din), What
p. 104
p. 104
p. 104
p. 104
p. 104
p. 104
p. 104
. Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din), What
p. 104
7. Al-Suyuti, al-Hawi li al-Fatawa
. Al-Suyuti, al-Hawi li al-Fatawa.
9. Al-Suyuti, al-Hawi li al-Fatawa
Brill Online.
71. John Renard, Friend of God: Islamic Images
of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood
(Berkeley: University of California Press,
2008), p. 46
2008), p. 47
2008), p. 26
2008), p. 26
2008), p. 26
7 . John Renard, Friend of God: Islamic Images
2008), p. 26
77. Ibn al-Qayyim, Rawda al-Muhibbin wa
Nuzha al-Mushtaqin, p. 225
7 . Ibn al-Qayyim, Rawda al-Muhibbin wa
Nuzha al-Mushtaqin, p. 225
2008), p. 47
2008), p. 47
2008), p. 47; see source in notes, with p.
286
2008), p. 47; see source in notes, with p.
286
3. Qushayri, Risala, trans. A. Knysh (Reading,
Garnet Publishers: 2007), p. 157
Further reading
Primary …
Ibn al-Murtaḍā, Ṭabaḳāt al-Muʿtazila, ed.

Susanna Wilzer (Bibl. Isl. 21), 18 ff.
Ibn Ḳutayba, ʿUyūn al-akh̲ b
̲ ār, Cairo 1925,
index
Ibn K̲ha
̲ llikān, no. 155
̲ hrastānī, al-Milal wa ’l-nihal, ed.
S̲ha
Cureton, 32
Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, Ḳūt al-ḳulūb, Cairo
1310, Passim
Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, Cairo 1932-
8, passim
Ḥud̲jwīrī,
̲ Kas̲hf̲ al-maḥjūb,
̲ tr. R. A.
Nicholson, GMS xvii, 86 f.
Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, Tad̲hk̲ irat al-awliyāʾ, ed.
Nicholson, i, 24 ff.
Ibn al-Jawzī, Ādāb Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Cairo
1931
Akh̲ b
̲ ār Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, ms. Ẓāhiriyya,
̲ )̲ , 306 (not
Damascus, cf. Fihris (Taʾrīkh
seen)
Jāḥiẓ, al-Bayān wa ’l-tabyīn, Cairo 1949,
index
Jamharat rasāʾil al-ʿArab, ed. Aḥmad Zakī
Ṣafwat, Cairo 1937, i, 378-89.
Secondary …
L. Massignon, Essai sur les origines du

lexique technique de la mystique
musulmane, Paris 1922, 152-75
H. H. Schaeder, "Ḥasan al-Baṣrī," in Isl.,
xiv (1925), 42 ff.
H. Ritter, "Studien zur Geschichte der
islamischen Frŏmmigkeit, i, Hasan el-
Basri," in Isl., xxi (1933), 1-83
J. Obermann, Political theory in early
Islam, Publications of the American
Oriental Society, Offprint series no. 6,
1935
J. Renard, Friends of God: Islamic images
of piety, commitment, and servanthood,
Berkeley 2008, index
External links
Quotations related to Hasan al-Basri at
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Abū Saʿīd b. Abi ’l-Ḥasan Yasār al-Baṣrī,

Died Friday, 5th Rajab 110

Major shrine Tomb of Ḥasan al-

Inﬂuences Ali ibn Abi Talib

Inﬂuenced Abdul Wahid bin Zaid

Hasan, revered for his austerity and

As scholars have noted, very few of

Traditionally, Hasan has been

The various extant biographies relate that

Although none of Hasan's own complete

Hasan has been described as "an

Hasan is said to have advocated the use

Hasan's relationship with

Some hagiographic sources even indicate

Ibn al-Murtaḍā, Ṭabaḳāt al-Muʿtazila, ed.

L. Massignon, Essai sur les origines du

Last edited 1 day ago by AhmadLX

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

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