A Discourse Analysis of Imam Hasan’s Sermon During the Peace Treaty with Mu‘awiyah

The peace treaty of Imam Hasan (a) with Mu'awiya I stands a pivotal juncture in his life, a subject that has elicited diverse interpretations from historians. The sermon (khutbah) delivered by Imam Hasan (a) during this treaty serves as a key primary source for investigating the rationale behind this agreement. Within it, by articulating distinct discursive orders, he argued for his status as the legitimate leader and revealed the condition of his contemporaries. This inquiry employs the interdisciplinary discourse analysis method of Laclau and Mouffe to demonstrate that Imam Hasan’s sermon synthesizes four discursive orders: creedal-ritualistic, political, historical, and theological. Among these, the historical discursive order is foregrounded to affirm and illuminate the identity and status of Imam Hasan (a), while the other discourses are consciously positioned to serve this historical framework. Specifically, through two key discourses i.e., "enumerating the virtues of his grandfather and father" and "elucidating the status of himself and his Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the Quran and Prophetic tradition" both of which rely on transmitted sources (naql), Imam Hasan (a) substantiated his position of Imamate during the peace treaty with Mu'awiya. The integration of logical reasoning, Quranic verses, Prophetic hadith, and criticism of Mu'awiya and his supporters renders this sermon a historically influential text.