Al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Askari (alaihimus-salam)

Al Hasan ibn Ali is known by the titles al-Samit ('the silent), al-Hadi ('the guide'), and al-Zaki ('the pure'), though his most common title is al-Askari (of 'military area') on the account of his almost life-long detention in Samarra, a garrison town not far from Baghdad. As a great-grandson of Imam Ali al-Rida, Hasan was also known by his contemporaries as Ibn al-Rida ('son of al-Rida').

 Hasan ibn Ali was born on 8th or 10th of Rabee al Thani in 230 AH (November 844) in Medina. 

His father was the tenth Imam, Ali al-Hadi, and his mother was a freed slave (um walad), whose name is variously given as Hudaith, Sawsan, or Salil in different sources. At the age of about two, Hasan was brought to Samarra with his father in 233 or 234 AH where the latter was held under close surveillance by the Abbasid caliphs until his death in 254 (868), some twenty years later.

When Hasan was about twenty-two, an agent of his father is said to have providentially bought a Byzantine concubine, named Narjis (Narcissus), who was given to Hasan in marriage, and later bore him his only son, Muhammad. Other sources give her name variously as Saqil, Sawsan, and Rayhana.

Some accounts describe lady Narjis as a captured granddaughter of the Byzantine emperor and a pious woman who was told in a dream about her future union with Hasan. Some other accounts describe Narjis as Nubian.

Designation as the Imam

After the death of al-Hadi in 868, the majority of his followers acknowledged his son, Hasan al-Askari, as their next Imam. Shia sources report that al-Hadi designated Hasan as the next Imam a few months before his death.

The imamate of al-Askari began in 868 and lasted only about six years, overlapping with the caliphates of the Abbasid al-Mu'taz, al-Muhtadi, and al-Mu'tamid. During these years, though not politically active, Hasan al-Askari mostly lived under house arrest in Samarra, subject to constant surveillance. He therefore communicated with his followers mostly through a network of representatives, notably Uthman ibn Saeed. 

After the death of his father in 868, al-Askari was imprisoned by al-Mu'taz in Baghdad, and was kept in prison through the short reign of al-Muhtadi, the next caliph.

The persecution of the Ahlul-Bayt supporters (Shiat Ahlul-Bayt) continued under al-Mu'tamid, a son of al-Mutawakkil. It is believed that most of al-Askari's prison experiences happened during the caliphate of al-Mu'tamid, who is represented in Shia sources as his main oppressor. Al-Askari is said to have criticized the caliph for restricting the administration of Khums (the 'one-fifth' of Ahlul-Bayt financial allowances), the Islamic alms distributed among the descendants of the Prophet. 

At the age of about twenty-eight, al-Askari died on 1 or 8 Rabi' al-Awwal 260 AH (25 December 873 or 1 January 874) after a week-long illness, some sources commonly attribute his death to poisoning at the instigation of al-Mu'tamid. During the week of his illness, many notable Alawid and Abbasid figures visited him on his deathbed and the caliph also sent his doctors and servants to attend the Imam. However, considering that al-Askari did not have an obvious heir, Tabatabai maintains that the caliph intended to closely monitor the Imam and later continued to search for his offspring after his death. 

Al-Askari was buried in the family home, next to his father, Ali al-Hadi. The house was later expanded to a major shrine by various Shia and Sunni patrons. More recently, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ordered to rebuild the complex in 1868-9 and the golden dome was added in 1905. The shrine also houses the tomb of his aunt, Hakima Khatun. As an important destination for Shia visiting, the shrine was bombed in February 2006 and was badly damaged. Another attack was executed on 13 June 2007, which led to the destruction of the two minarets of the shrine. Authorities in Iraq hold al-Qaeda responsible for this attack.