Today is Wednesday, 7th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 20th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1440 lunar hijri; and March 27, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1427 lunar years ago, on this day in 13 AH, the Battle of Yarmouk broke out between the Arab army and the forces of Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire, ending six days later in a decisive victory for Muslims. The battle consisted of a series of seesaw engagements near Yarmouk River, along what is today the border between Syria and Jordan, south-east of the Sea of Galilee, 65 km from the Golan Heights. It is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, and it marked the first great wave of Muslim conquests, ending the long sway of the then superpowers – the Romans and the Persians. In order to check the Muslim advance, Emperor Heraclius had entered into an alliance with Emperor Yazdegird III of Sassanid Iran, and sent a massive army made up of Slavs, Greeks, Franks, Georgians, Armenians and Christian Arabs. The Muslim tactic by sending a separate force to Iraq to confront the Sassanids, thwarted this alliance against Islam from taking practical shape. Thus the total defeat of the numerically superior Roman army by the lightly armed Muslims saw the fall of Damascus as well, and a year later led to the liberation of Bayt al-Moqaddas without bloodshed by the Muslims, who also rapidly took over Egypt and Libya. The emergence of Muslims on the world scene came only six years after Heraclius had succeeded in reclaiming Egypt and the Levant from the Persians, in a series of see-saw battles fought for over two decades throughout West Asia, North Africa and Eastern Europe, including Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, Anatolia, and even before the walls of Constantinople itself. The advent of Islam completely changed the world map with the entire Sassanid Empire and more than half of the whole Roman Empire disappearing forever. An important point to note is that the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), who led the Muslims to victory in almost all the battles imposed upon Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) by the Arab and Israelite unbelievers, did not participate in the Roman and Persian campaigns, which were led by the neo Muslim and hitherto pagan Arabs, like Khalid bin Waleed, who were subdued by his flashing scimitar, the “Dhu’l-Feqar”. Two decades later when these same arrogant victors of the wars against the Romans and the Persians, like Zubayr ibn Awam, Amr ibn Aas, Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan and others, tried to stir up sedition amongst Muslims in Iraq and Syria (the former Sassanid and Byzantine heartlands), Imam Ali (AS) personally assumed command and once again unsheathed the “Dhu’l-Feqar” to decisively defeat them. For instance, Amr ibn Aas, who used to boast of conquering Egypt, ignominiously denuded himself in Siffeen while fleeing, in order to escape certain death at the hands of the Prophet’s righteous heir.

1390 lunar years ago, on this day around 50 AH, Hazrat Sakina (SA), the second daughter of Imam Husain (AS) – the younger grandson and 3^rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – was born in Medina. Her mother was Rabab, the daughter of Imru al-Qays, who was the chief of the clan of Bakr bin Wa’el. She was present in Karbala during the tragedy that befell the Prophet's Household, resulting in the martyrdom of her father, her brothers, cousins, and her uncles, including the valiant standard-bearer, Hazrat Abbas (AS), to whom she was deeply attached. She was betrothed to her cousin, a son of Imam Hasan (AS) and Hazrat Qasem's (AS) elder brother, who was martyred in Karbala. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Sakina (SA), along with other members of the Ahl al-Bayt, including her two sisters – Hazrat Fatema (SA) and the 4-year-old Hazrat Ruqayya (SA) who attained martyrdom in Damascus – had to suffer imprisonment for a while. Upon return to Medina, she devoted her life to prayer, fasting and worship of God, refusing to marry anyone, saying that no one was worthy of her hand. She was an authority on hadith and the holy Qur’an. She passed away in 117 AH during the imamate of Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS) and was laid to rest in the Baqie Cemetery.

784 lunar years ago, on this day in 656 AH, the renowned Mu’tazalite Sunni scholar, Izz od-Din Abdul-Hamid ibn Hibbatollah, known as Ibn Abi’l-Hadeed, passed away at the age of 70. Captured by the Mongols during the offensive on Baghdad, he was released upon the mediation by prominent figures. His most important book is a voluminous commentary on the “Nahj al-Balaghah”, the collection of the eloquent sermons, letters and maxims of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the First Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). His famous remarks on the Commander of the Faithful read: “The world cannot quote an example other than that of (Imam) Ali of a first class warrior and a marshal who is also a philosopher, a moralist and a great teacher of religious principles and theology. A study of his life shows that his sword was the only help that Islam received during its early days of struggle in its wars of self-defence. For Islam he was the first and the last line of defence… The other facet of his character is reflected in his sermons, orders, letters and sayings. What high values of morality they teach, what ethics they preach, what intricate problems of Unitarianism they elucidate, how rich they are in philosophy; how they imbibe the spirit of righteousness and teach rulers to become kind, good, benevolent and God-fearing rulers, and subjects to be faithful, sincere and law abiding, how they persuade men to be warriors who can fight only for God, truth and justice, and not mercenaries murdering and plundering for wealth and riches; and how they instruct teachers to teach nothing injurious and harmful to mankind. These are but indisputable proofs of his greatness and spiritual superiority. Has history ever produced a more splendid personality incorporating such variegated characteristics of mind and heart?”

355 solar years ago, on this day in 1662 AD, Garhgaon, the capital of Assam, was captured by the Iranian general of the Moghal Empire, Mir Mohammad Sa’eed entitled “Mir Jomla”. Born is Isfahan to a merchant, he set out for the Deccan or southern India on a business trip under a diamond merchant to the Qotb-Shahi Sultanate of Iranian origin of Golkandah-Haiderabad, where he started his own business and rose to become the prime minister of Sultan Abdullah Qotb Shah. He conquered the southernmost part of India for the king, but soon friction with the court made him seek service with the Moghal Empire of the northern subcontinent, where Emperor Shah-Jahan appointed him governor of Bengal. Mir Jomla started his conquest of the remote northeast and brought under control Assam and other regions, before death overtook him.

203 solar years ago, on this day in 1814 AD, US expansionist forces led by General Andrew Jackson routed the lightly-armed Amerindians of the Creek Nation in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, as part of the white man’s genocide of America’s native population. Andrew Jackson, who later became the 7^th president of the US, forced the Creek Nation to cede 23 million acres (93,000 square km) of land in what are now the states of Alabama and Georgia.

172 solar years ago, on this day in 1845 AD, the acclaimed German physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, was born. In 1895 he discovered the X-Ray, and in 1901 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his important discovery. X-Ray goes through human tissues and is the best means for taking photographs of limbs, thereby diagnosing damages and fractures to limbs.

171 solar years ago, on this day in 1846 AD, US forces besieged Fort Texas with the start of the fresh round of American aggression on Mexico. The war lasted two years during which the expansionist US annexed Texas and quickly occupied New Mexico and California. It then invaded parts of Northeastern Mexico and Northwest Mexico. When Mexico refused to agree to US expansionist demands, American army captured Mexico City, and the war ended in victory of the US, with Mexico forced to give up vast areas of its northern parts, which are now the southern states of the US.

119 solar years ago, on this day in 1898 AD, the Indian educator, politician, and Islamic reformer, Seyyed Ahmad Khan passed away in Delhi. He was born in a family that had migrated from Iran. His father, Mir Mohammad Muttaqi and grandfather, Seyyed Hadi, were attached to the Mughal court. He was trained in Persian, Arabic, Urdu and religious subjects, as well as mathematics and astronomy, and was well versed in the Mathnavi of the great Persian mystic, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi. After the 1857 rebellion against British rule that abolished the Mughal dynasty, he wrote the book "Asbab-e Baghawat-e Hind" (Causes of the Indian Revolt) in which he rejected the notion that the conspiracy was planned by Muslim elites feeling insecure at the diminishing influence of Muslim rulers. He held the British responsible for their aggressive colonial expansion and ignorance of India's rich culture. He then launched the campaign for modern education of the Muslims of India by founding the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which later developed into the famous Aligarh Muslim University. His efforts gave rise to a new generation of Muslim entrepreneurs and politicians. He also founded the All-India Muslim League, which decades later under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, resulted in the birth of Pakistan. When the British banned the study of Persian in order to cut the cultural links of Indian Muslims with Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, he took up the patronage of Urdu which led to its widespread use amongst Indian Muslims, and years later, following the Partition of India its adoption as the official language of Pakistan. Seyyed Ahmad Khan was knighted by the British as "Sir", and his views on nature were strongly criticized by the famous pan-Islamic Iranian thinker, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi. He died at the age of 81.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, France set up the French Union made up of its colonies in Asia, Africa and Latin America as replacement for the French Overseas Empire. This was replaced in 1958 by the French Community on the model of the British Commonwealth, although many former French colonies like Algeria refused to join it. In 1995 the French Community was abolished. The only body linking France with its former colonies today is the Francophone Countries’ Organization that was set up in 1970, and includes 56 member states and mainly pursues cultural activities.

49 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, Russian Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who became the first recorded human being to travel into outer space, died in an air accident at the age of 34. In 1961 he had performed the first manned orbital flight in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1).

40 solar years ago, on this day in in 1977 AD, the worst aviation accident in history occurred in Tenerife in the Canary Islands killing 583 passengers, when two Boeing 747 airliners collided on a foggy runway. All 248 on board Holland’s KLM flight died, while 335 passengers of the US Pan Am flight lost their life. There were, however, 61 survivors among the Pan Am passengers.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, Renowned Muslim architect, Fazl ur-Rahman Khan, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers and is considered the "father of tubular designs for high-rises”, passed away at the age of 53. Born in British India in Dhaka in what is now the capital of Bangladesh, he was a pioneer in computer-aided design (CAD). He designed the 108-storey Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower of Chicago), the second-tallest building in the United States and tallest in the world for many years. He also designed Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center. He had come to the US in the 1950s on scholarship from what was then the government of East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh) and became an American citizen in 1967. Khan helped usher in a renaissance in skyscraper construction during the second half of the 20^th century. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat named their lifetime achievement medal after him. He was also responsible for designing notable buildings in Bangladesh, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, in the market of the northern Iraqi town of Tal-Afar, Takfiri terrorists, backed by Saudi Arabia, detonated through remote control two nearly simultaneous truck bombs, resulting in the death of 152 men, women, and children, in addition to injury to several hundred other innocent persons.

AS/SS