Today is Friday; 20th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 4th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1440 lunar hijri; and May 10, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2047 solar years ago, on this day in 28 BC, a sunspot is observed by Han Dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China.

1387 lunar years ago, in 53 AH, the bloodthirsty Omayyad governor of Iraq and Fars, Ziyad Ibn Abihi (or son of unknown father), died in Kufa at the age 53. Born in Ta’ef to a slave-girl named Sumayya, used by her Arab master as a prostitute to augment his earnings, Ziyad, known as a person of doubtful paternity, became a Muslim – though in name only. His craftiness and brutal nature in handling the affairs of Fars (Iran), made Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan, the usurper of the caliphate, to declare him half-brother on testimony of the wine-seller of Ta’ef Abu Maryam Sululi that Ziyad was the result of cohabitation of Abu Sufyan with Sumayya. As an enemy of the Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), Ziyad terrorized the followers of Imam Ali (AS), and martyred some prominent figures. On his death he was succeeded as governor by his equally bloodthirsty son, Obaidullah (also born out of wedlock), who earned lasting damnation for perpetrating the tragedy of Karbala and martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS).

1135 solar years ago, on this day in 884 AD, Ahmad ibn Tulun, founder of the short-lived Tulunid Dynasty of Egypt, died after a 17-year rule during which he killed at least eighteen thousand people. His father, Tulun, was a Turkic slave sent as part of a tribute by the Iranian governor of Bukhara to the Abbasid caliph, Ma'mun. The Abbasids used to recruit Turkic slaves to serve as military officers. Ibn Tulun received military training in Samarra, the new Abbasid capital, where he was appointed commander of special-forces of the tyrannical caliph, Mutawakkil. After serving in military campaigns against the Byzantine Empire in Tarsus, he gained the favor of Musta'in, and in the reign of the next caliph, Mu'taz, he was sent as governor to Egypt. Since, the then capital of Egypt, al-Fustat, was too small to accommodate his armies, he founded a new city nearby called “Madinat al-Qatta'i” (or the Quartered City), to serve as his capital. It was laid out in the style of the grand cities of Iran, including a large public square, a palace, and a large ceremonial mosque, which was named after Ibn Tulun. This city was razed on the fall of the Tulunid Dynasty, and only the mosque has survived. Ibn Tulun asserted his independence from the Baghdad caliphate by minting coins in his name and seizing control of large parts of Syria. He defeated an Abbasid army sent to Egypt against him. Within two decades after his death, the inefficient rule of his son and grandsons brought about the collapse of the dynasty and re-imposition of Abbasid rule on Egypt.

1017 solar years ago, on this day in 1002 AD, the historian, hadith compiler and orator, Ahmad bin Ali bin Sabet, known as Khateeb al-Baghdadi, was born near Baghdad. Son of a preacher of Darzidjan, he studied under his father and other ulema, mastering the various sciences with special interest in hadith. At the age of 20 he went to Basra to collect hadith. He travelled east to Iran and made two trips to Naishapur in Khorasan, collecting in his journey more hadith in Rayy and Isfahan. Back in Baghdad, he acquired fame as a preacher and orator, and it is said that teachers and preachers of hadith would usually submit to him what they had collected, before they used them in their lectures or sermons. Initially a follower of the Hanbali School of jurisprudence, he switched to the Shafe'i School – a change that made Hanbalis his bitter enemies and heap accusations against him. This sectarian hostility made him leave for Damascus, where he preached for 8 years, and before returning to Baghdad, spent another year in Tyre, in what is now Lebanon. Khateeb al-Baghdadi was a prolific writer and has authored several books, the most famous of which is the voluminous history "Tarikh al-Baghdad". He has quoted many of the hadith on the merits of the Ahl al-Bayt or Blessed Household of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), whose principal members are: Hazrat Fatema Zahra, Imam Ali, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace upon them).

864 lunar years ago, on this day in 576 AH, the Baghdadi grammarian, poet, and author, Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Ibn Muwaheb, famous as Ibn Khorasani, because of his origin in northeastern Iran, passed away at the age of 82. Among his works, mention could be made of a voluminous diwan of Arabic poetry.

832 lunar years ago, on this day in 608 AH, poet and scholar Abu’l-Qasim Hibatollah bin Ja'far, known as Qazi as-Sa'eed Ibn Sana ul-Mulk, famous for the treatise "Dar at-Tiraaz" which he devoted to the genre of “muwas̲h̲s̲h̲ah” poetry, passed away in Cairo at the age of 63. He belonged to a distinguished scholarly family of Fatemid Egypt, and was well versed in hadith and exegesis of the holy Qur'an, in addition to Arabic grammar. He lived in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria as well and for a time served as Qazi or judge in Damascus under the Ayyubid Dynasty of the Kurdish conqueror, Salaheddin Ayyoubi, in whose praise he composed some of his poems. His poetical compositions include an account of the Epic of Ashura (Moharram 10) and the tragic martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

453 solar years ago, on this day in 1566 AD, German physician and botanist, Leonhart Fuchs, died at the age of 65. His fame mainly rests on a large book about plants and their uses as medicines, that he authored and gave the title “Herbal Book”. It was first published in 1542 in Latin. It has about 500 accurate and detailed drawings of plants, which were printed from woodcuts. The botanical genus “Fuchsia” is named in his honour, and consequently the colour “Fuchsia”.

218 solar years ago, on this day in 1801 AD, the First Barbary War, occurred off the coast of Tripolitania in present day Libya between the North African Berber Muslim states and the intruding US fleet. The principalities of Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis, which were quasi-independent entities nominally under the Ottoman Empire, along with the semi-independent Sultanate of Morocco, defeated the US navy. The war lasted four years, and the US, as per the advice of France and Spain had to pay war indemnities in order to procure the release of its prisoners. In 1815, the US, now no longer engaged in hostilities with the British, again attacked the North African states in the Second Barbary War (also known as the Algerian War). With Ottoman naval power on the wane and the Mediterranean Sea no longer the Turkish Lake of the past three centuries; the Barbary States were forced to seek peace by paying heavy damages to the US. Within decades, European powers built more sophisticated ships which the Turks and the Barbary States could not match in numbers or technology. These iron-clad warships of the late 19th century and the early 20th century ensured European dominance of the Mediterranean. As a result Algeria and Tunis were occupied by France, although the Turks continued to hold Tripolitania (Libya) till 1911, when it fell to Fascist Italy.

148 solar years ago, on this day in 1871 AD, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed following the Franco-Prussian War that saw the German-speaking people emerge as a united entity called Germany, due to the efforts of “Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck. Germany became a major power and was no longer known as Prussia.

142 solar years ago, on this day in 1877 AD, the Ottoman provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia, along with Transylvania, which was under Austrian rule, declared themselves independent as a new country called Romania, taking advantage of the declining state of Turkish Empire, which for almost five centuries had established Muslim rule in southwestern Europe. A war followed and four years later Romania became formally independent on March 26, 1881.

115 lunar years ago, on this day in 1325 AH, the prominent scholar Ayatollah Sheikh Hassan Ali Tehrani passed away and was laid to rest in the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad. Born in Tehran to the respected scholar Sheikh Mahmoud Tabrizi, after completing preliminary studies he left for Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf. He then moved to Samarra and studied under the great scholar, Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi (famous for his fatwa against tobacco consumption that saved Iran’s economy from British exploitation). On his return to Iran, after a brief stay in Tehran, he decided to settle in holy Mashhad where for long years till his death he was considered the most prominent teacher. An intensely pious person, whose discourses at mourning ceremonies for the martyrs of Karbala, drew large crowds, he was socially active as well, reviving mosques in and around the city that had fallen in disuse.

47 solar years ago, on this day in 1972 AD, Ayatollah Kohistani Behshahri, passed away at the age of 83 in his hometown Kohistan near Behshahr, Mazandaran. A product of the holy Najaf seminary of Iraq, where he reached the status of Ijtehad after studying under such prominent ulema as Grand Ayatollah Mirza Hussain Na’eni and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani, he established the Islamic seminary in his hometown and groomed a number of students, including the revolutionary figure, Martyr Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Abdul-Karim Hashemi-Nejad, who was a member of the Assembly of Experts.  

46 solar years ago, on this day in 1973 AD, the Western Saharan Liberation Front (POLISARIO) was formed for independence of the northwestern African Muslim region from the Spanish colonial rule. Two years later, Spain was forced to leave West Sahara, but mischievously handed over the region to Morocco and Mauritania. Pressed by POLISARIO, Mauritania gave up its claims, but the Moroccans have continued to occupy Western Sahara. With UN mediation, it was decided in 1991 to hold referendum for determining the fate of this land, but Morocco has continued to stall any plebiscite ever since. Nonetheless, many countries have recognized Western Sahara as an independent country, and the POLISARIO as representative of the Western Saharan people.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1983 AD, the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Saddam, detained 90 members of the family of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohsin al-Hakeem, and martyred six of them. Two years later, 10 other family members of the Grand Ayatollah were martyred. Saddam's policy was to demoralize and terrorize Iraq's Shi'ite Arab majority, especially since the Late Grand Ayatollah's son, Seyyed Mohammad Baqer al-Hakeem had set up in exile in Tehran, the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq.  Incidentally, on this day in 2003, Baqer al-Hakeem returned triumphantly to his US-occupied homeland after two decades of exile in Iran, and a few months later was martyred by terrorists.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, Iranian author, researcher, and lecturer, Hojjat al-Islam Dr. Seyyed Javad Mostafavi, passed away. An authority on Islamic sciences, following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he served as chancellor of the University of Islamic Sciences in holy Mashhad. Among the works written by him are “al-Kashef” and “Miftah al-Wasa’el”.

27 lunar years ago, on this day in 1413 AH, Ayatollah Mirza Hashem Amoli, passed away at the age of 91. Born near Amol in Mazandaran, he studied in Tehran under Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Modarres for twelve years, before moving to holy Qom. After attaining Ijtehad, he moved to holy Najaf in Iraq and stayed there for thirty years. On his return to Qom he firmly supported the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) in the struggle against the despotic British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime. His students include Mostafa Mohaqeq Damad, Mohammad Mohammadi Gilani, Ayatollah Mohammad Mofatteh, and Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi. Ayatollah Amoli was the father of Dr. Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Iranian parliament (Majlis) and of Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, the Judiciary Head.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president, after decades of struggle against the apartheid rule of the White European minority.

16 solar years ago, on this day in 2003 AD, leader of Iraq's Supreme Islamic Assembly, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer al-Hakeem, returned triumphantly to his US-occupied homeland after two decades of exile in Iran, following the overthrow of Saddam’s repressive Ba’th minority regime. The Ayatollah was martyred a few months later after the Friday Prayer in holy Najaf while leaving the shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), by American affiliated Ba’thist-Takfiri terrorists.

12 lunar years ago, on this day in 1328 AH, the famous researcher, author and religious scholar, Allamah Seyyed Morteza Sharif Askari, passed away at the age 96 in Tehran and was laid to rest in Qom in the holy mausoleum of Hazrat Fatema Masouma (SA). Born in Samarra in a family of scholars who mostly held the title of “Shaikh al-Islam” during the Safavid era and were active in Sabzevar and Saveh, guiding masses towards the School of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, after initial studies in his hometown he came to Qom for higher studies, because the British-installed dictator Reza Khan Pahlavi had stopped transfer of money to Iranian students in Iraq. He benefited from the classes of Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri, and on his return to Samarra, studied other branches of science, such as philosophy, history, and exegesis of the holy Qur’an. In Iraq during the 1950s he found that the young generation was being attracted to secular universities, and this made him embark on an ambitious project to establish the Islamic University in Baghdad where along with modern sciences, religious courses and exegesis of the holy Qur’an were taught. This university was closed during the 1970s by the repressive Ba’th minority regime, which persecuted him, forcing him to move to Iran, where he continued his research and teaching activities till the end of his fruitful life. He wrote several books, shedding light on the facts of Islamic history and refuting the baseless accusations against Shi’a Muslims. Some of his works are: “Abdullah ibn Saba and Other Historical Legends”, and “150 So-Called Companions”. The latter work is a thorough research of primary Islamic books of hadith and history to expose as fictitious some 150 persons who never existed but were unfortunately regarded as companions of the Prophet and spurious accounts of the Prophet’s life narrated from them, in order to mislead Muslims and keep them ignorant of the divinely-decreed rights of the Ahl al-Bayt.

AS/SS