Hasan al-Basri (642, Medina – 728, Basra) reminds us that the power of a voice does not have to come from a throne or a sword. He was born shortly after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and his childhood was tied to Medina – a city where the companions of the Messenger of God were still alive. Hasan knew some of them personally, and this marked him deeply. He was not merely a scholar reading books and passing on legal rulings. He was a bridge between the generation of the Companions and the later Muslims, between fresh memory and new reality.
Basra – A City of Luxury and Confusion
His home, Basra, was a city of contrasts. Trade, power, armies, palaces – everything was mingled there. It was the gateway of Islam to the East, and at the same time, a place where ambitions and passions grew quickly. In such an environment, Hasan al-Basri preached asceticism (zuhd). Not to make people reject the world, but so they would not lose themselves in it. His voice sounded like water quenching thirst in the desert of luxury.
He said:
“The world is nothing but a shadow. It runs after you as long as you turn away from it. If you turn toward it, it leaves you.”
The Power of Fearless Words
Hasan did not fear speaking openly. He criticized the injustice of rulers, while refusing power or honors himself. His sermons echoed with a simple question: “What remains for you when you are wrapped in a plain shroud?” That question pierced the hearts not only of ordinary people, but also of those who sat on thrones.
That is why even the caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, known for his justice, looked up to him. He listened to Hasan’s advice because he knew this man had no agenda except the pure truth. At a time when most scholars simply nodded along with rulers, Hasan had the courage to say:
“Whoever fears people has not known God. And whoever has known God will no longer fear people.”
Hasan and the Spiritual Path
Hasan al-Basri was not only a moralist. He was also a pioneer of the spiritual dimension of Islam. He emphasized that outward observance of the law was not enough if the heart did not change. For him, faith was not only “the act of the hand and tongue,” but above all “the act of the heart.”
In his teaching, the theme of love for God as the driving force of faith appears clearly for the first time. He said that true devotion was not fear of Hell or desire for Paradise, but pure love for the Lord. This emphasis on inner transformation made Hasan a figure to whom later mystics referred as their spiritual grandfather.
A Legacy That Does Not Fade
Hasan died in 728 in Basra. When his body left the city, the whole community was immersed in grief. They knew that a man was departing who had taught them not so much knowledge as the very awareness of eternity.
His words are still quoted in sermons and books today:
- “A human being is nothing but days that diminish. When a day passes, a part of his life has passed.”
- “Whoever has known God has loved solitude. And whoever has known the world has grown weary of its noise.”
Hasan al-Basri was neither a ruler nor a general, yet his name outlived entire dynasties. That is his strength – he showed what power lies in the voice of a man unafraid to remind of eternity in the midst of the fleeting.
