Chapter Five

Part2 Al-Basan' s caliphate and his reconciliation efforts Oath of allegiance to al-I:Iasan ibn 'Ali(~) ...... 191 5.1 The falseness of the idea that al-l:fasan was appointed to the caliphate by his father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 5.2 What the Twelver Shiites quote as evidence from the Sunni books for limiting the number of imams. . . . . . . . . . 199 5.3 Duration of the caliphate of Commander of the Faithful al-l:fasan and the view of ah! as-Sunnah concerning his caliphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 5.3.1 Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi. ......................... 203 5.3.2 Al-QaQ.i 'IyaQ.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 5.3.3 Al-l:fafidh Ibn Katheer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 5.3.4 IbnAbil-'Izz al-l:fanafi ........................ 204 5.3.5 Al-Mannawi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 5.3.6 lbn l:fajar al-Haythami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 5.4 Speeches that cannot be soundly attributed to al-l:fasan following the murder of his father. . . . . . . . . . . . 205 5.4.1 Al-I~fahani, author of al-Aghani. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Al-lf asan ibn 'Ali 5.4.2 Nahj al-Balaghah ............................ 209