The First Grandchild Who Survived

Al-Hasan ibn Ali was born in Medina in Ramadan 3 AH — the third year after the Hijra — the first son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah al-Zahra, and thus the Prophet's ﷺ first grandchild to survive into childhood. Fatimah and Ali had experienced the death of an earlier child, Muhsin or Muhassin, in infancy. Hasan's birth, and his survival, was a moment of deep joy for the Prophet ﷺ, who was already a man of middle age with daughters but no surviving sons of his own — his sons with Khadijah (al-Qasim and Abdullah) had died in infancy, and his son Ibrahim, born to Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah, was not yet born.

Hasan's birth meant the continuation of the prophetic line through the female side — through Fatimah, his beloved daughter, and Ali, his cousin and son-in-law. The Prophet ﷺ was present from the moment of birth and performed the acts that Islamic tradition would transmit to all Muslims as the Sunnah for newborns.

The Birth Practices of the Prophet

When Hasan was born, the Prophet ﷺ performed the adhan (call to prayer) in his right ear and the iqamah in his left ear. This practice — declaring the words of divine sovereignty to a child before any other sound enters their consciousness — is among the most enduring Sunnah acts associated with childbirth. The first words a Muslim child hears, in this practice, are the declaration that Allah is greater and that there is no god but Allah.

The Prophet ﷺ then performed the tahnik — chewing a small piece of date and rubbing it softly on the palate of the newborn. This practice, still recommended in Islamic tradition, connects the child's first taste of food to the Prophet's ﷺ blessing and is understood as a form of baraka transmitted to the child. The Prophet ﷺ did this personally with Hasan.

On the seventh day, the Prophet ﷺ gave the child his name: Hasan. He had initially considered naming him Harb (War), but changed the name to Hasan, a name with no prior precedent in the Arab tradition of that era. Some narrations indicate that the name was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ as a divine suggestion. On the seventh day, the aqiqah — the sacrifice of an animal to celebrate the birth of a child — was performed. The head of the child was shaved, and the equivalent weight of the hair in silver was given in charity. These practices became the model for aqiqah in the Islamic legal tradition.

"Master of the Youth of Paradise"

The Prophet ﷺ attached specific spiritual significance to Hasan and his brother Husayn, born the following year. He said: "Hasan and Husayn are the masters of the youth of Paradise" (Sayyida Shabab Ahl al-Jannah). He also said: "Hasan and Husayn are my two fragrant flowers in this world." He would hold them, carry them on his shoulders during prayer at times, and interrupt his prostrations to let them climb on his back without moving, out of love for them.

The narrations about the Prophet's ﷺ relationship with Hasan are among the most tender in the hadith literature. He would take Hasan into the mosque, onto the pulpit, into gatherings with companions. When Hasan stood up to speak after the Prophet's ﷺ death, observers noted the remarkable physical resemblance to his grandfather — the way he walked, the shape of his face and neck. Ali, when asked who of his children most resembled the Prophet ﷺ, would say: "Hasan in his appearance, Husayn in his courage."

Hasan's Life After the Prophet

Al-Hasan ibn Ali survived the Prophet ﷺ by approximately forty years, dying in approximately 50 AH. He lived through the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman — fighting in campaigns and growing into a man of great respect in the community. After Ali's assassination in 40 AH, the people of Kufa pledged allegiance to Hasan as the next caliph.

Hasan governed for approximately six months. In a decision that has been variously praised as an act of mercy and criticized as a political sacrifice, he negotiated an agreement with Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan — transferring authority to Mu'awiyah in exchange for conditions protecting the rights of Ali's supporters and the Muslim community. The Prophet ﷺ had, years before Hasan became caliph, pointed to him and said: "This son of mine is a sayyid (master/leader), and perhaps Allah will reconcile two great parties of Muslims through him." The prediction came true exactly as described: Hasan's peaceful transfer ended the first civil war of Islamic history, and the year 40-41 AH became known as Aam al-Jama'ah — the Year of Community — when the divided Muslim community came back together under a single political authority.

Why His Birth Is a Seerah Event

The birth of Hasan is recorded as a seerah event not primarily because of his later life but because of what his birth meant to the Prophet ﷺ and the practices the Prophet ﷺ observed and modeled at his birth. The adhan in the ear, the tahnik, the naming on the seventh day, the aqiqah, the shaving of the head and charity of its weight in silver — all of these became normative Sunnah practices transmitted through the seerah of this birth. Hundreds of millions of Muslims have welcomed their children into the world using these practices, tracing each one back to the day in Medina, in 3 AH, when the Prophet ﷺ bent over his first surviving grandchild and whispered the adhan. The love he showed for Hasan — carrying him, kissing him, sitting him on the pulpit, interrupting his own movements in prayer rather than disturb the child who had climbed on his back — became itself a model: that tenderness toward children is not weakness but a mark of prophetic character, and that the grandchild of a prophet may grow up to be a caliph and a reconciler of nations.

Sources: Sahih al-Bukhari (Kitab al-Aqiqah, Kitab Fada'il al-Sahaba); Sahih Muslim (Kitab Fada'il al-Sahaba); al-Tirmidhi (Kitab al-Manaqib); Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah; Abu Dawud (Kitab al-Adab)