Martyrdom Anniversary of Imam Hasan al-Askari (p), 1448 A.H.

The 8th of Rabi al-Awwal marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hasan al-Askari (p).

What We Dislike Can Teach Us

Living among people sometimes means encountering behavior we do not appreciate. Someone speaks to us sharply. Someone brushes aside an idea we offered with care. Someone is careless with our time or our trust. These moments are real, and so is the ache they can leave behind. What every believer eventually faces is the question of what to do with that feeling once it arrives.

Imam Hasan al-Askari (p) is reported to have said, “It is enough in disciplining yourself to avoid that which you dislike in others” (Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 75, p. 77).

The Imam (p) does not ask us to pretend the behavior was acceptable or that it did not sting. He points instead to something valuable we now hold. Having been on the receiving end, we understand exactly how such a moment feels, and that understanding is a knowledge no book could have given us.

This is not a call to turn a hard eye on ourselves or to go searching our hearts for faults to hold against us. God is far more merciful with us than we are often willing to be with ourselves. The Imam (p) is asking something gentler: that our own experience be allowed to make us softer. If a harsh word once wounded us, we know the worth of a kind one. If being dismissed hurt, we understand what it means to be truly heard.

Consider his reassurance that it is enough. He hands us no lengthy program and asks us to master nothing unfamiliar. In two words he tells us the way forward is nearer and simpler than we may have imagined.

As we commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hasan al-Askari (p), may we receive his words as the encouragement they were meant to be. Every difficult moment we have lived through can become a reason someone else feels cared for.

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For more information about Imam Hasan al-Askari (p), click here.

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