Today is Sunday; 11th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 24th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1440 lunar hijri; and March 31, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1433 lunar years ago, on this day in 7 AH, the impregnable fortress of Qamous in the vast tract of Khaybar, 150 km north of Medina on the road to Syria, was single-handedly captured by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), who after overcoming in personal combat the fearsome Israelite warlord, Marhab, pulled from its hinges the huge gateway that several Jewish strongmen used to open and close. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) had to undertake the campaign on learning of the plots and seditions of the ever-rebellious Israelites, who in violation of the accords were contemplating military measures, including raid on Medina, in addition to their funding of pagan Arab tribes to attack Muslims from time to time. The Prophet’s sudden arrival on the scene with some 1,500-odd Muslims caught the estimated 10,000 armed Israelite force off guard, and forced the leaders of various Jewish tribes to agree to pay tribute. Of the forts that resisted, the Muslims forced almost all of them to surrender after several weeks of siege. The principal Israelite fortress of Qamous, however, not just continued to hold out but its defenders drove away with losses the expeditions led by the Prophet’s companions. At last the Prophet said he would be giving the command tomorrow to the person “who loves God and the Prophet and is in turn loved by God and the Prophet; an intrepid attacker (Karrar) who never retreats (Ghayra Farrar).” On the morning the Prophet invoked the famous phrase “Nad-e Aliyyan Mazhar al-Aja’eb” (Call Ali the Manifestation of Wonders). His dear cousin and son-in-law, who because of eye inflammation was not participating in the campaign was brought before him. The Prophet applied his saliva to his eyes, which were miraculously cured. The rest is history, and the Prophet gave fair terms to the Jews after surrender, allowing them to live in peace. It is worth noting that before this campaign the Prophet had received the vast orchard of Fadak as a personal gift without the involvement of Muslims, arms, and hostilities. On God’s command he gave Fadak to his daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), who used to spend its income for the poor and needy, until it was seized from her by the first and second self-styled caliphs.

1392 solar years ago, on this day in 627 AD, the fledgling Muslim community of Medina led by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) triumphed in the Battle of Trench (Khandaq) over a joint Arab-Israelite force of 10,000 after withstanding a 27-day siege led by the archenemy of Islam, Abu Sufyan. Also known as the Battle of Ahzaab or Confederates, the decisive victory, thanks to the valour of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS) occurred on 17^th of Shawwal, 5 AH, as per the Islamic lunar hijri calendar. To defend the city against the mighty horde, the Muslims dug a ditch around the sensitive parts of Medina on the suggestion of Salman Farsi, the Prophet's Iranian disciple. When the joint Arab-Israelite force arrived, it was surprised to see the ditch and decided to besiege the city in order to break the will of the Muslims. As days passed and no moral breakdown occurred in Medina, the fearsome Arab pagan warlord, Amr ibn Abduwad, along with some of his accomplices, leapt his horse across the ditch at its narrowest point and challenged the terrified Muslims to personal combat. Except for Imam Ali (AS), none of the companions of the Prophet dared to rise up against this veritable giant who had a nasty reputation of physical strength. A duel took place, and the Imam, despite receiving a wound on his forehead, knocked out Amr to the ground. At this moment, the fallen foe, turned out to be a coward, and spat at the Imam in a bid to avoid certain death. On this insult, Imam Ali (AS) gently withdrew to allow his emotions to cool down so that personal feelings do not mix up with pure and sincere jihad in the way of God. The Arab infidel rose to his feet and renewed the life-and-death struggle, but this time the flashing sword of Imam Ali (AS), the famous double-bladed Zul-Feqar, made short work of the opponent who fell down dead to the ground. The Imam then scattered the companions of Amr, and this valorous feat sent shivers down the spine of the Arab-Israelite hordes, making them break ranks and flee. The Prophet expressed the famous hadith this day, saying: “The Stroke of Ali on the Day of Khandaq is superior to the worship of (Thaqalayn) mankind and genies.”

1339 lunar years ago, on this day in 101 AH, the Omayyad ruler, Omar bin Abdul-Aziz, died due to poisoning of his food after a reign of three years during which he renounced the oppressive and un-Islamic policies of his predecessors. One of his first acts on becoming caliph was to issue a decree to halt the blasphemous cursing of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), during Friday prayer sermons – a sacrilegious practice begun by the hardcore heathen, Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan, who through such acts intended to keep the growing neo Muslim population ignorant of the God-given right to rule of Prophet Muhammad’s (SAWA) rightful successor. Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz next returned to the Ahl al-Bayt the large tract of Fadak whose income had now swelled to 40,000 dinars, since this was the property of the Prophet’s daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) from whom the first and second self-styled caliphs had illegally seized. He is also credited with various other reforms like abolition of drinking, forbidding public nudity, and elimination of mixed bathrooms for men and women, which the Godless Omayyad caliphs had initiated. He was succeeded by the ungodly Yazid bin Abdul-Malik, who immediately reversed the policies of his predecessor and again seized Fadak.

1197 solar years ago, on this day in 822 AD, the Godless tyrant Mutawakkil, who styled himself as the 10th caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was born to a Turkic concubine from Khwarezm of Mu’tasim. Named Ja’far, he became caliph on the suspicious death of his half-brother Watheq – whose body lay in negligence with mice eating away his eyes, while Mutawakkil held festivities for several days. He immediately unleashed a reign of terror, especially on the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He persecuted the Prophet’s progeny, instructed judges to always give the verdict against them, forbade them to ride horses in Egypt, forcibly brought the Prophet’s 10th Infallible Heir, Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS), to Samarra from Medina to be placed under house arrest, and blasphemously destroyed the holy shrine of Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala, several times. He was finally murdered while drunk and asleep, by his own son, Muntasir, with the help of Turkic guards, at the age of 39 after a reign of 14 years. The reason for his murder was his usual habit of cursing the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS) that finally broke the patience of his elder son, Muntasir, who left the assembly of drunkards in rage under the taunts of his father and soon got rid of him. Imam Ali (AS) had prophesied him as "the most infidel" of Abbasid rulers.

1101 lunar years ago, on this day in 339 AH, the famous Islamic scientist and philosopher, Abu Nasr Mohammad al-Farabi, passed away at the age of 82 in Aleppo, Syria, where he was a luminary at the court of Amir Saif od-Dowla. Born in an Iranian family in Farab, beside the River Jaxartes in Central Asia, after preliminary education he set out for the then centre of the Islamic world, Baghdad, where he studied philosophy, especially Aristotle's peripatetic philosophy under the Christian scholar, Yuhanna bin Haylan. Farabi mastered Greek language and wrote commentaries on Aristotle’s works. In view of this, he was acclaimed as “Mo'allem ath-Thani” (Second Teacher), while Aristotle was “Mo'allem al-Awwal” (First Teacher). Farabi's school of philosophy breaks from Plato and Aristotle and moves from metaphysics to methodology, a move that anticipates modernity. As a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), he discovered the limits of human knowledge, compared to divinely-revealed wisdom. He says in the preface of his work “Ehsa al-Oloum” that his most important goal in writing this book is to present a list of the various branches of sciences of his era and cognize the main and secondary elements of each particular branch of knowledge. He strove to prove that there is no contradiction between rationalistic philosophy and Islam. He is thus regarded as founder of Islamic political science. Farabi’s most important views are raised in his books like “Kitab as-Siyasah” (Book of Politics), and “as-Siyasat al-Madaniyah” (Civics). He viewed religion as a symbolic rendering of the Ultimate Truth, and, like Plato, saw it as the duty of the philosopher to provide guidance to the state. He, however, differed from the Platonic view and said the “Medinat-al-Fazela” or Perfect State is the one that is ruled by the Prophet or the divinely-appointed Imam, instead of the philosopher-king envisaged by Plato. He pointed out that the “Perfectly Ideal State” was founded in Medina by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), who was in direct communion with God. In his excellent book “Mabadi Ara al-Ahl al-Madinat al-Fazelah” (Basis of Views of the People of the Perfect State), he says the ideal government strives to heal the souls of the people, establishes justice and guides them towards "true happiness". He classifies as "vicious", the societies that have fallen short of the ideal of the "Perfect State", and divides them into three categories – ignorant, wicked and errant. He uses the term “Madinat az-Zallah” (Vicious Society), saying that ignorant societies have, for whatever reason, failed to comprehend the purpose of human existence, and have supplanted the pursuit of happiness for another (inferior) goal, whether this be wealth, sensual gratification, or power. It is interesting to note that modern western democratic societies also fall into this category, as they too lack any guiding principle. According to Farabi, the second and third categories of vicious societies, that is the wicked and the errant, have understood the true human end, but they have failed to follow it; the former because it has willfully abandoned it, and the latter because its leaders have deceived and misguided them. This great Muslim philosopher was an expert in other branches of sciences like logic, sociology, mathematics, cosmology, alchemy, psychology, education, and music. He wrote around 70 books.

527 solar years ago, on this day in 1492 AD, Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon issued the Alhambra Decree, ordering 150,000 Spanish Jews to convert to Christianity within three months or face expulsion. This happened less than three months after the occupation of the Muslim emirate of Granada and the famous al-Hamra (Red Palace) by the Christians, who were notorious for their anti-Semitism, which means persecution of both Arabs and Israelites. Jews had been living for several centuries under Muslim rule in Islamic Spain as "People of the Book"' and were given special status. Some of them had rose in the social hierarchy to become scholars and ministers. But with the gradual occupation of Islamic Spain by the Christian rulers, both Muslims and Jews found themselves persecuted and such measures were prevalent throughout Europe. The punishment for any Jew who did not convert or leave by the deadline was death. The punishment for a non-Jew who sheltered or hid Jews was the confiscation of all belongings and hereditary privileges. Other Spanish Jews (estimates range between 50,000 and 70,000) chose to avoid expulsion by conversion to Christianity. However, their conversion did not protect them from the Church’s hostility after the Spanish Inquisition came into full effect. Many of these "New Christians" were eventually forced to either leave the countries or intermarry with the local populace by the dual Inquisitions of Portugal and Spain. As a result many Jews migrated to the Muslim lands of North Africa. This edict against the Jews of Spain was in force till 16 December 1968, when the Second Vatican Council cancelled it. It is also worth noting that hundreds of thousands of Spanish Muslims were forcibly converted to Christianity in Spain, while hundreds of thousands of others were massacred, and many expelled.

423 solar years ago, on this day in 1596 AD, the French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist, Rene Descartes, was born. He considered mathematics a complete science and conducted extensive research on physics, elaborating the phenomenon of light’s refraction and the laws related to the angles of radiation and refraction. His books include “Principles of Philosophy” and “Meditations”. He died in 1650 at the age of 53. His work "La Geometrie" includes his application of algebra to geometry that led to emergence of Cartesian geometry. During 1620-28, he travelled through Europe, before settling in Holland. Soon after, he began work on his first major treatise on physics. This work was near completion when news reached him that the Italian scientist Galileo was condemned to house arrest by the Christian Church because of divulging scientific facts about the earth and the planets, based on the study of works of the early Islamic scholars. Descartes decided not to publish that work during his lifetime. Later, he turned to philosophy, and his most famous quote is “I think, therefore I am.”  

334 solar years ago, on this day in 1685 AD, German musician and composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, was born. Many of his songs are religious, and he also played a pivotal role in the progress and perfection of German music. Later in his life he went blind. He has composed numerous works, including a number of carols.

292 solar years ago, on this day in 1727 AD, Isaac Newton, English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and alchemist died at the age of 84. He improved upon the works of Muslim scientists that had been translated into Latin from Arabic, and described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries. Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws.

228 lunar years ago, on this day in 1212 AH, the great Gnostic scholar, Seyyed Mohammad Mahdi Tabatabaie, famous as Bahr al-Uloum (Ocean of Knowledge), passed away at the age of 57 in holy Najaf and was laid to rest beside the tomb of the famous Founder of the Najaf Seminary, Abu Ja’far Shaikh at-Ta’efa Tusi. Born in the holy city of Karbala, in Iraq, in a family related to the celebrated Allamah Majlisi of Iran, he studied in his hometown, Karbala, under his scholarly father Seyyed Morteza ibn Mohammad Boroujerdi and later under Shaikh Yousuf Bahrani (author of the book "Hada'eq an-Nasera"). He then moved to famous Islamic Seminary of holy Najaf, where he attained Ijtihad. At the age of 31, he came to Mashhad in Khorasan where he stayed for seven years, learning different sciences, as well as philosophy from Mirza Mahdi Shaheed Khorasani. His teacher, because of his extensive knowledge, called him “Baḥr al-Uloum” His sons, grandsons, and direct descendants in Iran and Iraq have continued to use this title as family name. He returned to Najaf to teach, and on the passing away of his teacher, Waheed Behbahani, he became Marja’ (Source of Emulation). He did not confine himself to academic circles, but was also fully involved in social affairs, and strove to resolve the problems facing the people. He was fully proficient in jurisprudence, Hadith, theology, exegesis of the holy Qur’an and the science of transmitters. On his authority, in view of his contacts with the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance), the exact spots in the Grand Mosque of Kufa and the Sahla Mosque, associated with the Prophets and the Imams, were determined. He groomed a large number of students such as: Seyyed Sadr od-Din Ameli, Shaikh Ja’far Najafi, Seyyed Jawad Ameli, Shaikh Abu Ali Haeri, Mulla Ahmad Naraqi, Seyyed Muhammad Mojahed, Seyyed Abu’l-Qasem Khwansari, Seyyed Dildar Ali Lakhnavi (of India). He wrote several books, including “al-Masabih” on jurisprudence, “ad-Durrah an-Najafiyyah”, “Mishkat al-Hedayah” and “Tuhfat- al-Keraam” on history of Mecca and Masjid al-Haraam (Great Sacred Mosque), besides a Collection of poems on the merits of the Infallible Imams of the Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).  

210 solar years ago, on this day in 1809 AD, English author and poet, Edward Fitzgerald, was born in Suffolk County. He specialized in eastern languages, especially Persian, and translated into English many Iranian classical works. In 1856 he anonymously published in Miltonic verse a version of “Salamaan and Absaal” of the Iranian poet Abdur-Rahman Jami. In 1859, he translated and published the quatrains of the renowned Iranian scientist-poet, Khayyam Naishapuri as “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”, a work which he later revised and on which his fame rests till this day. He also translated from Greek into English two Oedipus tragedies, and plays from the famous Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderón. He left an unpublished manuscript version of the Iranian poet Farid od-Din Attar Naishapuri’s “Manteq-ot-Tayr”. This last abridged translation which FitzGerald called "A Bird's-Eye view of the Bird Parliament", is often called an unknown masterpiece, although he whittled the Persian original of some 4500 lines, down to 1500 lines in English. He died in 1883 at the age of 74.

210 solar years ago, on this day in 1809 AD, the Russian author, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, was born in Ukraine. He wrote the novel “Taurus Bulba” in 1832 that was inspired by the struggles of the Cossacks in 17^th century Poland.

164 solar years ago, on this day in 1855 AD, the famous English author, Charlotte Bronte, died at the age of 39. She wrote the moving novel titled “Jane Eyre” under the pen name Currer Bell.

130 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, the Eiffel Tower was formally opened in Paris, the capital of France, as the world's tallest tower. With a height of 300-meters (986-feet), it remained the world's tallest structure until surpassed by the Empire State Building in New York, 40 years later. The designer was Gustave Eiffel. The immense iron latticework design was chosen from 700 proposals submitted in an international tender. Construction lasted for over two years from 26^th January 1887 to 31^st March 1889. It was erected for the 1889 Paris Exposition, which had 1,968,287 visitors. Elevators are powered by in the basements of the eastern and western pillars.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, with the intensification of terrorism by armed illegal Zionist migrants from Europe, a train bound from the Egyptian capital Cairo to the port city of Haifa in Palestine, was blew up, resulting in the death of 40 Palestinians and injury to 60 others. Carried out by the “Stern” Zionist terrorist outfit, it occurred four days after a similar passenger train blast by Zionist terrorists in British-occupied Palestine, resulting in the martyrdom of 24 persons and wounding of 61 others. The illegal Zionist migrants from Europe conducted a campaign of organized terrorism in public places, villages, buses, and trains in Palestine, as part of the plot for the illegitimate birth of Israel in May 1948, after forcibly evicting Palestinians from their homes and hearths.

40 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, The Arab League suspended the membership of Egypt, while most Muslim countries severed ties with Cairo for signing of the treasonous Camp David Accord by Egyptian president, Anwar Sadaat with the illegal Zionist entity called Israel. However, due to US threats and pressures, coupled with the dubious policies of certain reactionary Arab regimes, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, the stage was set for the return to Egypt to The Arab League in the late 1980s. Ironically, today the Arab League has put itself at the service of the US and Zionist entity by illegally expelling Syria for its steadfast opposition to Israeli and Takfiri terrorists, and has allowed Saudi Arabia and 7 other Arab regimes to militarily attack Yemen, in a bid to quell the popular revolution that overthrew the unrepresentative regime of Mansour Hadi.

13 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, a new Fajr-3 radar-evading missile was successfully test-fired by Iran. It can hit several targets simultaneously.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Syed Qasim Ali Shah Mahmood, the famous Urdu writer, novelist, researcher, translator, publisher and foremost compiler of encyclopedias, passed away in Lahore, Pakistan at the age of 82. Born in Kharkhoda, a town in district Sonipat of what is now Uttar Pradesh in India, he claimed descent from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS) the elder grandson and 2^nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He migrated to Pakistan on its birth, and strove to promote Urdu as the national language of the newly established country. He compiled fifteen encyclopedias, one dictionary and left seven encyclopedias incomplete, produced three collections of short stories, wrote five dramas for Radio Pakistan, wrote story of the film “Baghi Sepahi” (Rebellious Soldier), translated masterpieces of international fiction, science & technology, edited nine literary and social magazines and brought forth nine scientific and literary magazines. From his publishing companies, he published 211 scientific and literary books, wrote many articles on literature, science, politics and sociology in national newspapers and magazines. His encyclopedias include “Pakistanica”, “Encyclopedia of Muslim India”, “Encyclopedia of Holy Qur’an”, “Encyclopedia of the Prophet’s Sirah”, “Encyclopedia of Human History”, etc

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, forces of the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime of Bahrain, brazenly killed 22-year old Bahraini Muslim citizen Ahmad Ismail, during a peaceful protest by freedom movement activist. Bahrain is in the grip of nationwide protests which the regime brutally suppresses through imprisonment, torture, and killing of citizens, with the help of the Saudi invasion forces and mercenaries from some Arab states and Pakistan.

AS/SS