Today is Monday; 9th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 23rd of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1440 lunar hijri; and April 29, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1427 lunar years ago, on this day in 13 AH, in Harb al-Jisr or Battle of the Bridge fought in Iraq, the Sasanian forces led by Bahman Jaduyeh defeated the Arabs under the command of Abu Ubayd in the only major Persian victory over Muslims. The Arab Muslims had already taken Hira on the banks of the River Euphrates after defeating the Christian Arab allies of the Sassanids. Abu Ubaid encountered the main Iranian army near what is now Kufa. The two forces faced each other on opposing banks of the River Euphrates, connected by a bridge or “jisr” in Arabic. When Abu Ubaid crossed the river, the sight of elephants in the Iranian army frightened the Arab horses. An elephant tore Abu Ubaid from his horse with its trunk and trampled him under foot. At their inability to push back the Iranians who had formed a rigged line close to the bridge, the Arabs panicked and fled. This was, however, a temporary setback. In the subsequent battles the Sassanids were defeated, and the Iranian people accepted Islam almost en masse.

1308 solar years ago, on this day in 711 AD, the Muslim conquest of Spain formally started with the landing of a well-organized Berber-Arab army under command of Tareq ibn Ziyad on the rocky island known till this day as Gibraltar – a corruption of the Arabic “Jabal at-Tareq”. Since the 680s Muslims from North Africa had been raiding coastal towns of the Iberian Peninsula across the Mediterranean but this was the first full-fledged expedition that led to the conquest of what are now Spain and Portugal, and which became the Province of al-Andalus. Tareq was governor of Tangiers in what is now Morocco under Musa ibn Nusayr, the conqueror and overall governor of the Province of Ifriqiya (made up of present day western Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco). Tareq was made governor of Spain but was eventually called back to Damascus by the jealous Omayyad caliph, Walid I, who also relieved Musa ibn Nusayr of the overall charge of northwest Africa, Spain and the islands off the coast of France. There are three different accounts of the origins of Tareq given by Arab historians – he was a Persian from Hamedan; he was an Arab of the Sadf tribe; he was a Berber from North Africa. Musa is also said to be the son of an Iranian Christian, according to the historian Tabari; while others say he was from the Lakhmid Arab clan who were clients of the Sassanid Dynasty.

1136 lunar years ago, on this day in 304 AH, Seyyed Hassan al-Utrush, known as “Nasser li’l-Haq” (Defender of Faith) passed away at the age of 75, after an eventful life and a 3-year reign as reviver of the Alawid state of Tabaristan in what is now the Caspian Sea Provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan in northern Iran. His shrine in the city of Amol is still a site of pilgrimage. Born in Medina, he was fifth in line of descent from Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the great-grandson and 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). His mother was an Iranian lady from Khorasan. When Hasan ibn Zayd, a descendant of the Prophet’s elder grandson, Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS), was invited by the people of the Caspian coast of Iran to set up his rule over Tabaristan, Hassan al-Utrush joined him, but after falling out with his successor, Mohammad ibn Zayd, he left for the east where he allied himself with the ruler of Khorasan, Mohammad ibn Abdullah al-Khujistani, who imprisoned and scourged him, as a result of which he lost his hearing and received the sobriquet "al-Utrush" or "the Deaf". On release from prison, he returned to Tabaristan, but had to flee to Rayy when Mohammad ibn Zayd lost the battle and his life near Gorgan against the Samanids of Bukhara, who ended the Alawid state and occupied the region for fourteen years. Hassan al-Utrush now engaged in Islamic missionary activities and his efforts led to the people of Gilan and the Daylamites to become Muslims. His efforts were crowned by success, as the mountain Daylamites and the Gilites east of the Sefid Roud River hailed him as their Leader. The Samanid ruler Ahmad ibn Isma'il sent an army to oppose the revival of the Alawid state of Tabaristan, but al-Utrush inflicted a crushing defeat upon the invaders at Burdidah on the River Burroud, west of Chalous. He made Amol his capital and extended his sway till Gorgan. The famous Iranian Islamic historian Abu Ja’far Tabari, has said about him: "The people had not seen anything like the justice of al-Utrush, his good conduct, and his fulfillment of the right". Hassan al-Utrush wrote an exegesis of the holy Qur’an titled “Tafsir al-Kabir”, and his granddaughter Fatema, who was married to Seyyed Hussain ibn Musa – fifth in line of descent from the Prophet’s 7th Infallible Heir Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) – was the mother of the celebrated scholars, Seyyed Murtaza Alam al-Huda and Seyyed Razi, the compiler of “Nahj al-Balagha” – the famous collection of the sermons, letters, and maxims of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS).

948 lunar years ago, on this day in 492 AH, the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas was captured by European Crusaders from the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’a Muslim Dynasty of Egypt-Syria-Hijaz-North Africa, after a siege of over 40 days. The invaders savagely massacred men, women and children, numbering more than 70,000 people, including Iranian Muslims settled there.

928 solar years ago, on this day in 1091 AD, at the Battle of Levounion in the Balkans, the Pechenegs Turks, while invading the Byzantine Empire from their homeland north of the Black Sea, were decisively defeated by Emperor Alexius I, who was afraid that a possible alliance between these non-Muslim Turks and the Muslim Turks of the Iran-based Seljuq Empire could spell the end of the Eastern Roman Empire.

730 solar years ago, on this day in 1289 AD, the principality of Tripoli, in what is now Lebanon, was freed from180 years of European Christian occupation by Sultan Qalawun of Egypt, heralding the end of the last few remaining “pocket-states” of the Crusaders in Syria. The liberation of Tripoli was preceded by that of Margat (in 1285) and Lattakhiya (in 1287), and was followed by the liberation of Acre (in 1291). The Crusaders of Tripoli had brought upon themselves the wrath of the Muslims by their alliance with the Buddhists and active participation in Hulagu Khan’s sack of Baghdad in 1258 and the Mongol invasions of Syria in 1260. The Mamluk sultan razed Tripoli to the ground and ordered the building of a new city a few km inland.

707 lunar years ago, on this day in 733 AH, hadith scholar Sharaf od-Din Hussain ibn Abdullah Tayyebi, passed away. He wrote an exegesis of the Holy Qur'an

623 lunar years ago, on this day in 817 AH, prominent Persian poet and literary figure, Noor od-Din Abdur-Rahman Jami was born in Jam, in Khorasan, northeastern Iran. He went to Samarqand to learn Islamic sciences, literature and history, and visited several other lands, before settling in Herat. He has left behind a large number of works in prose and verse, including “Baharestan”. Jami, who passed away at the age of 81, also composed beautiful odes in praise of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA)

620 solar years ago, on this day in 1399 AD, Malik Ahmad Raja Faruqi, the founder of the Khandesh Sultanate in Central India – that lasted from 1382-to-1601 – died after a reign of 17 years as independent ruler, and was succeeded by his son, Nasser Khan. Son of Khan-e Jahan Faruqi, a minister in the court of Sultan Mohammad bin Tughlaq in Delhi, on separation of the Deccan in 1347, he cast his lot with Ala od-Din Hassan Bahman Shah (of Iranian origin), but in 1365 turned against his son, Mohammad Shah Bahmani, by joining the abortive rebellion of the governor of Daulatabad, Bahram Khan Mazandarani. As a result, he fled the Deccan and settled in Thalner, which later, along with Karanda, was conferred upon him as fiefdom by Sultan Ferouz Shah Tughlaq of Delhi. He soon defeated the Raja of Baglana and subdued the neighbouring chieftains, prompting Ferouz Shah to raise him to the rank of Sipah-Salar. Within a few years he mustered a force of twelve thousand cavalry, and by 1382 became virtually independent. His son Nasser Khan ruled for 38 years that saw fluctuating fortunes for the kingdom because of constant warfare with Gujarat and the Bahmani Kingdom. Khandesh, with its capital, Burhanpur, was annexed by the Mughal Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar in 1601. The Sultanate was a Persianate society, with its rich contribution to Persian literature, art and architecture. Islam was also promoted through peaceful means, as is evident today by the large number of Tadvi Bhils, and Raj Gonds, who are Muslims.

512 lunar years ago, on this day in 928 AD, Shah Beg Arghun, who established his rule over Sindh by defeating Jam Firuz of the Samma dynasty, died after invading Gujarat. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Shah Hussain. A Persianized Mongol, Shah Beg initially ruled Qandahar as a vassal of the Timurid rulers of Herat, but with the rise of another Timurid prince, Zaheer od-Din Babar in Kabul, he realized the futility of ruling Qandahar and decided to carve out a separate state by seizing Sindh.

165 solar years ago, on this day in 1854 AD, French mathematician and biologist, Henri Poincare, was born. He conducted extensive studies, and his analysis on light, electricity, algebra, geometry, and possibilities calculus are important till this day. He was an authority on philosophy as well. His Poincare Conjecture holds that if any loop in a given three-dimensional space can be shrunk to a point, the space is equivalent to a sphere. It remained an unsolved problem until Grigori Perelman proved a complete proof in 2003. He wrote books in different scientific fields and died in 1912.

125 lunar years ago, on this day in 1315 AH, the Arabic poet, Seyyed Ja’far al-Hilli, passed away at the age of 39. He wrote moving elegies on the tragedy of Karbala.

106 lunar years ago, on this day in 1334 AH, the jurist and pious scholar, Shaikh Baqer ibn Mullah Mohammad Qomi, passed away. He was in Samarra for a long time and then returned to holy Najaf where he used to lead the congregational prayers.

103 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, during World War I: The British Indian Army – 6^th Poona Division numbering 13,000 – under Maj-Gen Charles Townshend surrendered to Ottoman Forces at the end of the 147-day Siege of Kut in southern Iraq, during which attempts by other British battalions to break the siege ended in losses in the Battles of Shaikh Sa’d, Wadi and Hanna. It was one of the largest surrenders of British forces. The survivors of the siege were marched to imprisonment at Aleppo in Syria.

91 solar years ago, on this day in 1928 AD, at the behest of West European powers, Turkey’s dictator, Mustafa Kamal, forced the Turkish Muslim people to change their centuries-old writing of the Turkish language from the Arabic-Persian alphabet to the Latin script. The goal was to deprive Turkey and the Turks of their Islamic identity and make them culturally subordinate to Europe. Mustafa Kamal, who styled himself as Ataturk (or Father of Turks), was an avowed opponent of Islam, and in addition to forcibly replacing the traditional dress of the Turkish people with the European style of dressing, he banned the recitation of the Azan or the Call to Prayer from the mosques. Although these laic measures harmed the Turkish Muslims and for several decades made them subservient to the West, they failed to undermine their strong faith in Islam.

74 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, following a string of defeats, the almost million strong Nazi German army in Italy, surrendered to the Allied forces. This setback, along with the Soviet forces’ pounding of Berlin, completely unnerved Adolf Hitler.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, a deadly cyclone struck the Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around 155 miles or 249 km per hour, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, Iranian lecturer, researcher, and sociologist, Dr. Gholam-Hussein Seddiqi, passed away at the age of 78.  He studied at Islamic seminaries and at the Dar ul-Fonoun Academy in Tehran, before leaving for France, where he obtained PhD in Philosophy and Sociology. On returning to Iran, he started lecturing on the history of philosophy and sociology at Tehran University. He also played a pivotal role in foundation of National Works Association and The Institution for Social Studies. He was a member of UNESCO's National Commission for a while. He has left behind numerous compilations including his travel book on India.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, the first ever session of the Islamic Urban and Rural Councils was held in Iran and the day was named “Councils’ Day” following nationwide polls to elect representatives to this body, as envisaged by Article 7 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islam calls for consultation, and in line with the dynamic teachings of Islam, Iran’s constitution guarantees people’s participation at all levels of the society, ranging from the urban and rural councils to the election of parliament members and the president. Even the Leader of the Islamic Revolution is named by the Assembly of Experts which is a body of scholars and jurisprudents, elected through the people’s direct vote, as per the unique system of popular religious rule in Iran, which is more people-oriented than the so-called democracies of the West.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, Zabihollah Safa, the Iranian Persian language expert, researcher and professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at the University of Tehran, died in Lubeck, Germany, at the age of 88. Born in Shahmirzad in Mazandaran, his contribution to Iranian studies is seen in his valuable works on the history of Persian literature. His thesis, a comprehensive study of epic narratives in Iran (“Hamaseh Sarai dar Iran”) was later published as a book and illustrated his ability to synthesize a vast range of readings into a coherent manual for teaching. He focused on major literary, philosophic and scientific contributions made by Iranians to civilization at large. His talents also manifested in his journalistic activities as a young man. As early as 1933 he began contributing to the influential journal “Mehr”, and was its chief editor from 1937 to 1941. It is however, for his work as an editor of many classical texts and above all, for his monumental “History of Persian Literature” and his valuable anthology (translated into French in the UNESCO Collection as “Anthologie de la Poésie Persane”) that he is best remembered. He was also a regular contributor to Encyclopaedia Iranica.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, US occupation soldiers massacred 30 Shi’a Muslims in Baghdad's Sadr City. During its decade-long occupation of Iraq, the US directly or indirectly killed over a million and two hundred thousand Iraqi people.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, in central and southern Iraq, US-Saudi backed Takfiri terrorists triggered five car bomb blasts in predominantly Shi’ite Muslim cities and districts, martyring 36 men, women and children, and wounding scores of others.

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