Islam’s Greatest Dynasty (Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo
Press, 2005); al-Tabari, The Early Abbasid Empire. Vol.
- Translated by John A. Williams (London: Cambridge
University Press, 1989).
al-Hasan al-Basri (642–728) ascetic and
theologian of Basra who defended belief in free will
and human responsibility for good and evil acts
Al-Hasan al-Basri was born in medina, the son of
a free Persian war captive. Little is known about
his life, but some accounts say that he moved to
Basra (in southern iraq) from Medina when he
was about 15 years old. He participated in the
Muslim conquest of iran but spent most of his
life in Basra, where he became a famous preacher
known for his asceticism and profound piety. His
sermons called on people to renounce the world
and fear God’s wrath in the aFterliFe. One of his
most famous teachings was, “Be with this world
as if you had never been there, and with the oth-
erworld as if you would never leave it.” Indeed,
al-Hasan was reputed to be the most knowledge-
able man of his time in matters of religion. When
the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705)
asked him to explain his views about Free Will
(qadar) and determinism (qada), he composed a
brilliant defense of the free will position. Draw-
ing on the qUran, he argued that God had given
people the ability to perform an act or not do so. If
God had already predetermined people’s acts, the
mission of the prophets and their warnings about
JUdgment day would make no sense. This was a
controversial position to take, for it held people
responsible for what they did or did not do. Some
men of religion argued that this diminished God’s
transcendent power over creation. Rulers did not
like such views, either, because belief in free will
meant that they, too, could be held accountable
for their sins.
Al-Hasan was honored in later generations as
a founder of the mUtazili school and the ashari
school of theology. His teachings and stories were
mentioned in many works of medieval Islamic
literature. He was also embraced by the Sufi tradi-
tion. His name was listed in the spiritual genealo-
gies of most Sufi brotherhoods after that of ali ibn
abi talib (d. 661), Muhammad’s cousin. The Per-
sian poet Farid al-Din Attar (d. ca. 1230) included
several legends about him in his collection of
stories about Sufi saints, Memorial of the Friends
of God (Tadhkirat al-awliya). These depicted him
as a contemporary of rabia al-adaWiyya (d. 801),
the famous female mystic of Basra, even though
the two probably never really met. In one account,
she rejected al-Hasan’s offer of marriage by declar-
ing that she was already tied to God. Another
story tells of his throwing a rug onto the waters
of the Euphrates River and inviting her to join
him on it for prayer. Rabia countered by throwing
her rug into the air and inviting him to join her
up there instead, hidden from the sight of others.
A shrine dedicated to al-Hasan stands on the out-
skirts of Basra today.
See also Fat e; sUFism; tariqa; theology.Further reading: Michael Sells, Early Islamic Mysticism:
Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings (New
York: Paulist Press, 1996); David Waines, An Introduc-
tion to Islam. 2d ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2003).Hashimite dynasty (also known as the
Hashemites)
Descendants of the Islamic prophet mUhammad,
the Hashimites have played a crucial role in
Middle Eastern history for centuries. Muham-
mad was a member of the clan of Hashim,
whence the name Hashimite. This term became
important during the rule of the abbasid dynasty
(750–1258), as the caliphate used it to trace their
lineage to the Prophet and thus secure political
and spiritual aUthority. However, in the modern
period, the name Hashimite most often refers to
the long-standing custodians of mecca (until it
came under Saudi control in 1924) and the mod-
ern rulers of Jordan.K 294 al-Hasan al-Basri