28 Safar: The Passing of Prophet Muhammad and the Martyrdom of Imam Hasan

The Prophet’s passing and Imam Hasan’s martyrdom are separated by roughly thirty-nine years of real history and have no direct connection to one another. Yet in Shia religious practice, both are commemorated on 28 Safar. Part of this comes from each date, independently, having been recorded near the end of the month of Safar; but according to some historical accounts, the deliberate alignment of both onto the exact same day became more standardized from the Safavid era onward. As the sections below explain honestly, even the individual dates themselves are reported with some variation across sources — a detail worth stating plainly rather than glossing over.

In practice, this means 28 Safar falls at the close of a broader mourning period in many Shia communities — one that begins with Arbaeen (20 Safar, marking forty days since Imam Husayn’s martyrdom at Karbala) and continues through the end of the month.

Prophet Muhammad died in Medina in 632 CE (11 AH), at around sixty-two years old, after a period of illness. According to historical accounts, he spent his final days in the small chamber of his wife Aisha, adjoining the mosque he had built in Medina — the same room where he fell ill and later died. Sources describe a disagreement among those closest to him over where he should be buried; some suggested the Baqi cemetery, others the courtyard of the mosque. The matter was settled by recalling a saying attributed to the Prophet himself — that a prophet should be buried wherever he dies — and he was laid to rest in that same chamber, a space now enclosed within the Prophet’s Mosque in present-day Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Most historians, both Shia and Sunni, describe the Prophet’s death as the natural end of a several-day illness. But a number of classical Shia scholars — including Sheikh Mufid and Sheikh Tusi — described his death as a form of martyrdom rather than an ordinary death, linking it to a poisoning incident years earlier during the Battle of Khaybar, and holding that its lingering effects eventually contributed to his passing in Medina. This view sits alongside the more widely held natural-death account rather than fully replacing it — classical sources themselves are not unanimous on the question.

After years away from politics in Medina — following his peace agreement with Muawiya, governor of Damascus, and his withdrawal from the caliphate in Muawiya’s favor — Imam Hasan was poisoned and died in 670 CE (50 AH), at around forty-six years old. Shia sources attribute the poisoning to his wife, Ja’da bint al-Ash’ath, who is said to have been persuaded by a promise that she would marry Muawiya’s son, Yazid, in return. Sunni sources and much of the academic record treat Muawiya’s direct involvement with more caution, though the poisoning itself is broadly accepted across both traditions.

His burial, too, echoed his grandfather’s: Imam Hasan had asked to be buried beside the Prophet, but opposition from a group that included Marwan ibn al-Hakam prevented it. He was buried, like the Prophet, in Medina — this time in the Baqi cemetery.

Neither date commands full agreement among historians. For the Prophet’s passing, the well-known Shia account places it on 28 Safar, while the well-known Sunni account places it roughly three weeks later, on 12 Rabi al-Awwal; both traditions agree it fell on a Monday. Even within Shia sources, Imam Hasan’s martyrdom date is debated: Sheikh Kulayni referred more broadly to “the end of Safar,” while Sheikh Mufid, Sheikh Tusi, and Allameh Hilli explicitly named 28 Safar; a weaker report suggests the 7th of Safar instead. These discrepancies are a normal feature of early Islamic historiography, not a sign that the events themselves are in doubt.

Unlike the solar Gregorian calendar, the Islamic lunar calendar follows the moon, and its year runs about 11 days shorter. As a result, the Gregorian equivalent of 28 Safar falls roughly 11 days earlier each year than the year before. This year (1448 AH), it corresponds to Wednesday, August 12, 2026. Like the rest of Noorjoo’s calendar content, only this section is updated annually; the moon-sighting used to fix the exact date may shift it by a day or two depending on the religious authority followed.

For many Shia Muslims, 28 Safar is a day of mourning, black clothing, and memorial gatherings — often continuing the atmosphere of grief that began with Arbaeen. In many cities, sermons and gatherings recount the lives and virtues of the Prophet and Imam Hasan. For those able to travel, visiting the Prophet’s shrine in Medina and the Baqi cemetery, where Imam Hasan is buried, carries particular significance on these days.