Today is Saturday; 3rd of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 16th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1440 lunar hijri; and March 23, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1463 lunar years ago, on this day, 23 years before hijra, three days after the birth of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) inside the holy Ka’ba, the miracle of the parting and closing of a section of the wall of the symbolic House of God again occurred to the bewilderment of the pagan Arabs of Mecca, as the monotheist lady of the Hashemite Clan, Fatema bint Asad, emerged with the radiant infant in her arms, while her husband Abu Taleb and his nephew Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) eagerly waited outside in anticipation. As the 30-year old Prophet smilingly stepped forward to take his first cousin in his arms, the newborn opened his eyes for the first time since birth and with a smile on his tender lips saw the radiant visage of the Seal of Messengers. This occasion is celebrated all over the Muslim world with festivities.     

901 lunar years ago, on this day in 539 AH, the hadith scholar of Spanish Muslim origin, Mohammad ibn Abdul-Malik ibn Khayroun, passed away. Among his extant works is the book “al-Miftah”.

367 solar years ago, on this day in 1652 AD, British ships attacked the Dutch Navy as part of the sea battles to put an end to Holland’s superiority in the waters of the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Atlantic Ocean. The attack tipped the colonial rivalry of the two countries in favor of London.

270 solar years ago, on this day in 1749 AD, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, Pierre-Simon Laplace, was born. He conducted research on the motion of the moon, planets, meteors, and the ebb and flow of seas. In regard to physics, he discovered the primary laws of electromagnetism and studied the latent heat, resulting from elasticity in objects. He has left behind numerous compilations. He died in 1827.

218 solar years ago, on this day in 1801 AD, Tsar Paul I of Russia was struck with a sword, strangled, and trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle.

138 solar years ago, on this day in 1881 AD, German chemist and scientist, Hermann Staudinger, was born. He set the law on large molecular structures and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the year 1953. He died at the age of 84.

100 solar years ago, on this day in 1919 AD, Benito Mussolini formed the Fascist Party in Italy. Fascism, in general, refers to centralized despotic regimes which rule with an ideology based on racial discrimination and chauvinism by suppressing people and their ideas. Mussolini's hirelings, known as Blackshirts, from the colour of their clothing, unleashed a reign of terror facilitating his rise to power as prime minister in 1922. He next formed an alliance with German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, and embarked on expansionism resulting in World War II and his eventual defeat.

97 solar years ago, on this day in 1922 AD, Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi revived the ancient Islamic seminary of Qom by shifting to this holy city the seminary of Arak, thus laying the foundations for the flowering of Islamic sciences in Iran. Qom, where Hazrat Fatema al-Ma’souma (peace upon her) – daughter of the Prophet’s 7^th Infallible Heir, Imam Musa Kazem (AS) – rests in peace, has now become the centre of diffusion of the genuine teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt all over the world, attracting students from numerous world countries. Imam Khomeini (RA), as the prominent student of Ayatollah Haeri, transformed Qom into the centre of revolutionary activities against the despotic Pahlavi regime, and made it the religious capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

79 solar years ago, on this day in 1940 AD, The Lahore Resolution, known as “Qarardad-e Pakistan” was put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All India Muslim League. This was the first formal step by Muslims of the Subcontinent for setting up a separate country in the Muslim majority areas of British-ruled India. Seven years later in 1947 the birth of Pakistan took place in the western border provinces, and in East Bengal which is today called Bangladesh, but not all Muslim-majority regions of the Subcontinent could be incorporated in the new country because of geographical difficulties, since many areas such as the United Provinces lay in the heart of India and not on the borders. Moreover, the crafty British left the issue of Muslim-majority Kashmir unresolved as a bone of contention between Pakistan and India.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1950, the UN World Meteorological Organization was established. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. WMO is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and every year the 23^rd of March is marked as World Meteorological Day.

63 solar years ago, on this day in 1956 AD, Pakistan formally became a republic by adopting a new constitution, and with election of Governor-General Iskandar Mirza as president.

59 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, Sa’eed Nursi, Islamic scholar, educationist and pan-Islamic political reformer of Turkey, who was deeply influenced by the thoughts of the famous Iranian pan-Islamic activist, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Assadabadi, passed away at the age of 82. Born in Nurs village in eastern Anatolia to a Kurdish family of Shafe’i persuasion, his knowledge earned him the title “Badi oz-Zamaan” (Wonder of the Age), He wrote the “Risala-e Nour”, a voluminous Qur'anic commentary in response to the provocative newspaper statement of British Secretary for the Colonies, William Gladstone, "so long as the Muslims have the Qur'an, we shall be unable to dominate them. We must either take it from them, or make them lose their love of it.” He said in reply: "I shall prove and demonstrate to the world that the Qur'an is an undying, inextinguishable Sun!" Nursi believed that modern science and logic was the way of the future, and advocated teaching religious sciences in secular schools and modern sciences in religious schools. As a supporter of Ottoman rule, he inspired the faith movement that has played a vital role in the revival of Islam in Turkey. This brought him into conflict with Mustafa Kemal, after the end of monarchic rule and emergence of the laic Turkish Republic where Islam and Islamic culture were brutally suppressed. He was arrested many times between 1930 and 1950, but until his death continued his activities.

14 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, Iranian philosopher and thinker, Allameh Seyyed Jalal od-Din Ashtiyani, passed away after a long bout of illness at the age of 80. He was a product of the Islamic seminary of Qom, where he studied under Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi, Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Tabatabaei, and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). He later on took up residence in the holy city of Mashhad, and spent the rest of his life lecturing at this city’s seminary and university, studying and compiling books. He was highly interested in Islamic philosophy and mysticism and mainly focused on the ideas and thoughts of the famous Gnostic of Islamic Spain, Mohi od-Din Ibn Arabi, and the prominent Iranian philosopher, Mullah Sadra. He has left behind a large number of books, including “Tafsir-e Surah Hamd” or Exegesis of the Opening Chapter of the holy Qur'an.

AS/SS