Hasan al-Utrush

Hasan al-Utrush
Emir of Tabaristan, Zaydi Imam
Tomb of Hasan al-Utrush in Amol
Reign	914–917
Predecessor	Samanid occupation
Successor	Hasan ibn Qasim
Born	ca. 844 Medina
Died	January/February 917 Amul
House	Zaydid dynasty
Religion	Zaydi Shi'a Islam

Abu Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī ibn ‘Umar al-Ashraf ibn ‘Alī Zayn al-‘Ābidīn (Medina, ca. 844 – Amul, January/February 917), better known as al-Ḥasan al-Uṭrūsh ("the Deaf"), was an Alid Shia missionary of the Zaydi sect who re-established Zaydid rule over the province Tabaristan in northern Iran in 914, after fourteen years of Samanid rule. He ruled Tabaristan until his death under the regnal name of al-Nāṣir li'l-Ḥaqq ("Defender of the True Faith"), and became known as al-Nāṣir al-Kabīr ("al-Nasir the Elder") to distinguish him from his descendants who bore the same surname. He is still known and recognized as Imam among the Zaydis of Yemen.

Hasan was born in Medina around 844. Hasan's father was a descendant of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad and third Shi'a Imam, via his eldest son Zayn al-Abidin, while his mother was an unnamed Khurasani slave. When Hasan ibn Zayd, a descendant of Husayn's brother Hasan, established his rule over Tabaristan in the 860s, Hasan joined him there. However, he eventually fell out with Hasan ibn Zayd's brother and successor, Muhammad ibn Zayd, who distrusted him. Hasan left Tabaristan and tried to set up a realm of his own in the provinces further east. To this end, he allied himself with the ruler of Khurasan, Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Khujistani, who was an enemy of Muhammad ibn Zayd. Soon, however, al-Khujistani too came to distrust him and had him imprisoned and scourged, as a result of which he lost his hearing and received the sobriquet al-Utrush ("the Deaf"), by which he is known.