Today is Friday; 17th of the Iranian month of Esfand 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 01st of the Islamic month of Rajab 1440 lunar hijri; and March 8, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

Today starts sacred Rajab, the month that opens the gates of Divine Mercy for the seekers of good and virtue, and the month in which fasting, along with certain other wonderful acts of worship, has been recommended. Rajab, in addition to the next two months of Sha’ban and Ramadhan, is a period of self-reform, self-consciousness, and self-development for progress on the path towards perfection for attaining the proximity of the Almighty Creator. It is the month of special acceptance of repentance in the Divine Court. In Rajab certain very significant events took place in the history of mankind, such as the day of the formal entrustment by God of the universal mission of Islam to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and the auspicious birth in the holy Ka’ba of the Prophet's First Infallible Successor, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).

1858 solar years ago, on this day in 161 AD, Marcus Aurelius was declared Roman Emperor and commenced his 19-year rule that saw his generals emerge as victors of the 5-year long war (161-65) against the Parthian Empire of Iran in Armenia and Mesopotamia (Iraq), following initial Iranian victories in Syria and Anatolia (present day Turkey). The Roman success, however, was short-lived, and despite the sacking of the Iranian-controlled Greek city of Seleucia on the western banks of the Tigris and plunder of the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, on the eastern banks of the same river, the Iranians soon remobilized and reclaimed lost ground, although Armenia was briefly lost. The Parthian Empire was at that time under the long 44-year rule of Balaash, known to the Romans as Vologases IV. Marcus Aurelius was the last of the 5 good emperors in Roman history. 

1383 lunar years ago, on this day in 57 AH, was born in the holy city of Medina, Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), the 5^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He is acknowledged as “Baqer al-Uloum” or the “Splitter and Spreader of Sciences”, and during his fruitful life of 57 years, of which 19 years were as the divinely-decreed leader of mankind, he spared no efforts to enlighten minds and souls in those days of Omayyad tyranny, before bequeathing the legacy of his ancestor, the Prophet, to his son and successor, Imam Ja'far Sadeq (AS).

1077 lunar years ago, on this day in 363 AH, Nu’maan ibn Mohammad at-Tamimi, known as Qazi Nu’maan, the Ismaili jurist and official historian of the Fatemid Shi’a Muslim caliphate of Egypt-North Africa-Syria, passed away in Cairo. Born in what is now Tunis, he began his career in Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia, western Libya and eastern Algeria) under Mahdi Billah, the Founder of the Fatemid Dynasty, quickly rising to become the most prominent judge. In his fifty years of service, he wrote a vast number of books on history, biography, jurisprudence and exegesis of the holy Qur’an. After the Fatemid conquest of Egypt and Syria, he came to and settled in the newly founded city of Qahera (Cairo), the new capital of the empire. Nu’maan's most prominent work, the “Da’em al-Islam” (دعائم الاسلام) or 'The Pillars of Islam', which took nearly thirty years to complete, was the official code of the Fatemid state, and serves to this day as the primary source of shar’ia  law for some Musta’ali Ismaili communities, especially the Tayyibis, in Yemen and India. Another of his famous books is “Sharh al-Akhbar” in which he has reproduced in details the statements and sermons of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Ahl al-Bayt till Imam Reza (AS), the 8^th Infallible Leader – although the Fatemids had parted ways with the mainstream Shi’ite Muslims after Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS), the 6^th Infallible Leader.

1009 solar years ago, on this day in 1010 AD, Iranian poet, Abu’l-Qassem Mansour ibn Hassan, famous by his penname “Ferdowsi”, completed his masterpiece “Shahnameh” (Book of Kings) that records in verse, Iran’s history, and till this day is considered a world famous epic.

977 lunar years ago, on this day in 463 AH, the Spanish Muslim poet Abul-Waleed Ahmad bin Abdullah, Ibn Zaidoun, died. Born in Qortoba (present day Cordova) into the Arab tribe of al-Makhzoum, he brought into Spanish Arabic poetry the rhetorical command, the passionate power, and grandeur of style that marked contemporary poetry in the Islamic east. He was also involved in politics and was opposed to the ruling Omayyad regime.

944 solar years ago, on this day in 1075 AD, Iranian Sunni Muslim exegete of the holy Qur'an, narrator of hadith, and linguist, Abu'l-Qasim Mohammad Ibn Omar Zamakhshari, was born in Zamakhshar, in the historical Iranian land of Khwarezm – divided today between the Central Asian republics of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. He studied in Samarqand and Bukhara, and later lived in Baghdad for some years. He followed the rationalistic Mu'tazali doctrine and was known as “Jarallah” (Neighbour of God), since he stayed for several years in the city of Mecca, spending his time at the holy Ka'ba, the symbolic House of God Almighty. In his works, he acknowledged the merits and peerless position of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt. He wrote both in Persian and Arabic, and is best known for “al-Kashshaaf”, a commentary on the holy Qur'an, which is famous for its deep linguistic analysis of the ayahs. Another of his famous books is “Rabi al-Abraar”, a voluminous reference work.

801 lunar years ago, on this day in 639 AH, the Muslim botanist and physician, Rashid od-Din Souri, died. As his surname Souri suggests, he was from the region of Sour or Tyre in what is now Lebanon, and is considered the founder of modern botany. His most important compilation is an illustrated encyclopedic book on herbs and plants.

616 solar years ago, on this day in 1403 AD, the 4th Ottoman sultan, Bayezid I, died in captivity in Samarqand at the age of 43, some eight months after his defeat and capture in the Battle of Ankara by the Central Asian Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur, after a reign of 14 years during which he conquered most of southwestern Europe – Greece including Thrace (except the Byzantine capital Constantinople), Macedonia, Bulgaria, and parts of Serbia. An impetuous warrior, who succeeded to the Ottoman Throne at the Battle of Kosovo in the Balkans in1389 on assassination of his victorious father, Murad I, by strangling to death his brother Yaqoub, he acquired the title “Yildrim” (lightning) during his campaign against fellow Turks and Muslims, the Karamanids, in the east. Bayezid’s forcible expansion into Muslim territories in Anatolia endangered Ottoman relationship with the ghazis, who were an important source of warriors for his dynasty on the European frontier, so he began the practice to secure fatwas (legal rulings) from court mullahs to justify wars against fellow Muslim states. At the same time, he laid siege to Constantinople in 1394, making the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus appeal for a crusade against Muslims by King Sigismund of Hungary (the future Holy Roman Emperor), whom he defeated in the Battle of Nicopolis. In 1402, Bayezid was forced to lift the siege of Constantinople, when Timur appeared in the east and succeeded in rousing the Anatolian Turkic principalities to join him against the Ottomans. The Battle of Ankara that followed – the only instance when an Ottoman sultan has been captured in person – was culmination of years of insulting letters exchanged between the two powerful rulers. Although the victorious Timur appointed his captive’s third son, Mohammad as sultan, civil war raged for eleven years among Bayezid’s five sons – Eisa, Suleyman, Mohammad, Musa and Mustafa, each claiming the throne for himself – until the Battle of Jamurlu on 5 July 1413, when Mohammad emerged as victor and crowned himself sultan.

591 lunar years ago, on this day in 849 AH, the famous Egyptian hadith scholar, lexicographer, and exegete of the holy Qur'an, Abdur-Rahman Jalal od-Din Suyuti, was born in Asyut in a family of Persian origin that had migrated from Iran during the Mamluk period and settled in Upper Egypt from where it derived the family name as-Suyuti. A follower of the Shafe’i School, he was an expert in hadith, history, jurisprudence, exegesis of the Holy Qur'an, and Arabic grammar and literature. His learning and knowledge earned him the title “Ibn al-Kutub” (Son of Books). His books are still taught today in Islamic seminaries. In his exegesis titled "ad-Dur al-Manthour" (Scattered Pearls), he has pointed to the ayahs revealed by God Almighty on the outstanding merits of the Ahl al-Bayt or Blessed Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), i.e. Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), Imam Ali (AS), Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS). He also wrote a separate book on the Merits of the Ahl al-Bayt. Suyuti traveled to Syria, Hijaz, Yemen, India and Morocco, and settled down towards the end of his life in his homeland Egypt. Among his works are “al-Itqaan fi Uloum al-Qur’an” which means The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Qur’an, the two books on hadith titled “al-Jaame' al-Kabeer” and “al-Jaame' as-Sagheer” and the “Tarikh al-Khulafa” (History of the Caliphs), in which he has exposed the true nature of many of the tyrannical caliphs of the Omayyad and Abbasid regimes.

342 lunar years ago, on this day in 1098 AH, prominent Iranian Islamic scholar of the Safavid era, Hussain ibn Mohammad, popularly known as “Mohaqqiq Khwansari” passed away. He was an expert in jurisprudence, theology, and other Islamic sciences. He groomed numerous students. Among his valuable works, mention could be made of a translation of the Holy Qur'an into Persian along with annotations. In the field of jurisprudence, he wrote "Mashareq ash-Shomous", which is in fact a splendid elucidation of the book titled “Durou" written by the First Martyr.

302 solar years ago, on this day in 1717 AD, Abraham Darby who played an important role in the Industrial Revolution, died in Britain. He developed a method of smelting ore with coke in a blast furnace, instead of using charcoal. This was a major step forward in the production of iron as a raw material for the Industrial Revolution.

297 solar years ago, on this day in 1722 AD, after two centuries and two decades of glorious rule, which bestowed Iran national unity, religious identity, territorial integrity, and cultural affinity, the Safavid Empire was dealt a serious blow by Hotaki Ghilzai rebels from Qandahar, in what is now Afghanistan, in the Battle of Gulnabad that led to the capture of the imperial capital Isfahan. For seven years, the occupiers, (Mahmoud and after him his cousin, Ashraf), plunged the country into anarchy, cold-bloodedly murdered the last Safavid king, Shah Sultan Hussain, and terrorized the people, until they were driven out from Iran by the general Tahmasp Quli, who soundly defeated them in the Battle of Damghan in 1729 and later usurped the throne by taking the title of Nader Shah.

283 solar years ago, on this day in 1736 AD, Safavid general, Tahmasp Quli, who rose to rescue Iran from the anarchy by driving out the Hotaki Ghilzai occupiers, crowned himself as Nader Shah – of the short-lived Afsharid dynasty. He conducted many successful campaigns, by reclaiming Iranian territories in the Caucasus, in Iraq, in Central Asia, on the southern Arab side of the Persian Gulf and in what is now Afghanistan. He also attacked the Moghal Empire of India, where the fleeing Ghilzai rebels had sought refuge, took Delhi, and returned to Iran with rich booty, including the famous Peacock Throne, the Koh-e Noor Diamond, and the Tent of Pearls.

237 solar years ago, on this day in 1782 AD, the Gnadenhütten massacre took place in the US, when 96 native Amerindians in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity were cold bloodedly killed by American revolutionaries of Pennsylvania militiamen, on the pretext of retaliation for raids carried out by other Amerindians.

218 solar years ago, on this day in 1801 AD, during the War of the Second Coalition, at the Battle of Abuqir, near Alexandria, a British force under Ralph Abercromby landed in Egypt with the aim of driving out Napoleon Bonaparte’s 21,000 French forces from Egypt and Syria. General Friant and his 2000 French troops, placing themselves in high positions took a heavy toll of the disembarking British, who then rushed in great numbers from the beach to overwhelm the defenders with fixed bayonets and secured the position. The skirmish, which was a prelude to the Battle of Alexandria, resulted in British losses of 130 killed and 600 wounded or missing. The French withdrew losing at least 300 dead.

102 solar years ago, on this day in 1917 AD, Ferdinand Adolf August Heinrich Count von Zeppelin, the German inventor, engineer and manufacturer who was the aviation pioneer that built the first rigid dirigible airships, named Zeppelins, died at the age of 78. After retiring from a military career in 1890, he devoted ten years to the designing and building of his first successful light aircraft, the LZ-1. He patented his idea on 31st August 1895 and formed a company to build airships in 1898. Many thought his invention incredible, and called him “Foolish Count.” His first airship took off on 2nd July 1900 at Lake Constance. Eventually, he produced more zeppelins, which were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG (DELAG), the world's first airline in revenue service. During World War I, he produced more than 100 Zeppelins for military uses, including the bombing of Britain. After the war, he continued to improve the design and built a fleet of airships for commercial passenger service, which included transatlantic flights. Zeppelin use ended after the 6 May 1937 Hindenburg fire disaster at Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA.

97 solar years ago, on this day in 1922 AD, Reza Khan Mirpanj, a year after his coup with British-backing to install himself as war minister and commander-in-chief of the army of the tottering Qajar dynasty of Iran, ordered closure of all widely circulated newspapers, for their criticism of his high-handed policies. The editors who refused to heed his orders were arrested by his Cossack troops and humiliated. Many sought asylum in the shrine of Seyyed Shah Abdul-Azim al-Hassani in Rayy, south of Tehran, while others went to the Russian embassy to put pressure upon him. Despite promises of freedom of press, Reza Khan did not keep his word, and continued his repressive policies against the nation, resulting in his seizure of the Peacock Throne in 1925 and declaring himself as king of the new Pahlavi dynasty with British backing.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, prominent religious scholar, Ayatollah Rabbani Shirazi, passed away at the age of 54. Born in Shiraz, he was active in struggles against the despotic Pahlavi regime as of 1963 and was detained and banished to different regions on several occasions. Following victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was elected to the parliament, and spent his life serving Islam and Muslims.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, the execution of ten religious scholars of the family of the Late Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohsin al-Hakeem by the repressive Ba’th minority regime, after years of imprisonment, shocked the world, and made the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) issue a strongly-worded statement denouncing the latest crime against humanity of Saddam. The Imam also questioned the silence of world bodies and claimants of human rights and democracy.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, a failed assassination attempt in Beirut against Lebanon’s leading religious scholar, Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Fazlollah, killed at least 45 innocent persons and injured 175 others. The US was behind this assassination attempt which was masterminded for the CIA by Robert Gates, who later served as US War Secretary.

29 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, Hussein Qawwami, one of the prominent instructors of Iran’s traditional music, passed away. Following the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, he dedicated his music for revolutionary songs. In 1988, he received a plaque of honour from Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, musician Ahmad Ebadi, who played Setar and Iran’s traditional musical instruments, passed away. He groomed numerous students to promote Iran’s traditional music.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Iranian researcher and anthropologist, Dr. Mahmoud Rooh ul-Amini, passed away at the age of 82. Born in the southern Iranian city of Kerman, after obtaining MA in Sociology, he left for France, where in 1968 he received PhD in anthropology. On returning to Iran, he lectured at Tehran University and devoted himself to development of anthropology, resulting in the opening of the Museum of Anthropology at Golestan Palace. He wrote several books.

AS/SS