Rise of Hussain : Causes behind the great battle (Part 2)
After the demise of Imam Ali, the son of Ali and grandson of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) Imam Hassan attained the caliphate. At this time the Muslim society had assumed a peculiar form. Their strength had been divided almost evenly, and if Imam Hassan had continued fighting against Mu'awiya (the other contender for the caliphate) neither of the two parties could expect victory without severe bloodshed. The result of such fighting would have been disastrous for the Muslims. Hence, Imam Hassan was faced with a situation in which he had no alternative but to come to terms with Mu'awiya and prevent senseless bloodshed. If he had persisted in fighting it would have resulted in gain to the Eastern Roman Empire on the external front and to the Khawarij within the Islamic territories. If those 400,000 or 500,000 Muslims had attacked one another on that day and fighting with Mu'awiya had been continued only God knows what calamity would have fallen on the Muslims from the side of