Today is Saturday; 26th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 15th of the Islamic month of Zil-Hijjah 1440 lunar hijri; and August 17, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1226 lunar years ago, on this day in 214 AH, Imam Ali an-Naqi al-Hadi (AS), the 10^th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) was born in the holy city of Medina. His period of Imamate, or divinely-decreed leadership of mankind, was 34 years, until he was martyred in the Iraqi city of Samarra through poisoning by the usurper Abbasid caliph, Mo’taz. The Imam, who was forced to come to Samarra by the previous caliph, the tyrant Motawakkil, trained many prominent scholars, including his distant cousin, Hazrat Abdul-Azeem al-Hassani, whose shrine in Rayy, a southern suburb of Tehran, is visited by pilgrims throughout the year. Despite the suffocating atmosphere of Abbasid rule, the 10th Imam strengthened the system of “wikala” (representation) throughout the Islamic realm, to serve the ummah during the imamate of his son, and especially the long occultation of his grandson, the eagerly awaited, Imam Mahdi (AS), who will reappear in the end times to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice, by weeding out oppression and corruption from the earth.

1198 lunar years ago, on this day in 242 AH, the Mu’tazalite ideologue, Yahya Ibn Aktham, died in Rabadha. He was a close confidante of Mamoun, the self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, and was hopelessly outwitted in the famous debate he held in the front of the whole court with the young Imam Mohammad Taqi (AS), the 9th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) on jurisprudential issues. Some two decades later, Yahya wrote a series of complicated questions to try to test the God-given knowledge of Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS), and was astounded by the answers provided by the Prophet’s 10th Infallible Successor to which he had no clue. Yahya was appointed as Chief Judge of Basra, but Mamoun was forced to dismiss him because of his open indulgence in the cardinal sin of sodomy, after a series of complaints from the people. The poet Ahmad Ibn Abu Na’eem wrote the following quatrain that shows the judge, the governor and the regime in their true anti-Islamic colours (Tarikh al-Baghdad):

 "Our Governor takes bribe;

“Our Judge is homosexual;

“And as long as the Abbasids rule;

“I have no confidence that tyranny will subside."

302 solar years ago, on this day in 1717 AD, a year after start of the Austro-Turkish War, the month-long siege of Belgrade ended with Prince Eugene of Savoy's Austrian troops capturing the city from the Ottoman Empire. The Austrian occupation ended 22 years later in 1739 with the liberation of Belgrade by Turkish Muslims who in 1521 had built it as an Islamic city, complete with baths, public fountains, libraries, bazaars, and mosques. The city was occupied by the Serbs in 1807 and became capital of Serbia in 1841. The Christians have erased much of the Islamic features of Belgrade.  

185 solar years ago, on this day in 1834 AD, Bosnian Muslim revolutionary general, Hussain-Kapetan Gradascevic, died in Istanbul under mysterious circumstances at the young age of 32, after fighting against the policies of the Ottoman Empire and for Bosnian autonomy. He was born in the town of Gradacac and grew up surrounded by a political climate of turmoil in the western reaches of the Ottoman Empire. The young Hussain developed a reputation for wise rule and tolerance and soon became one of the most popular figures in Bosnia. When Sultan Mahmoud II attempted to forcefully mass-recruit the Bosnian populace into his new army in the year 1830, the Bosniaks led by Hussain Kapetan felt compelled to launch a massive uprising that lasted for three years. His forces dealt a heavy defeat to the imperial army during the Third Battle of Kosovo and at Novi Pazar. The uprising was subdued when Ali-Pasha Rizvan-Begovic defected to Mahmoud II, in return for rule over the Vilayet of Herzegovina. Hussein Kapetan was forced to flee to Austria from where he negotiated for his return and was ultimately allowed back but barred from ever entering Bosnia. He moved to Belgrade and then to Istanbul, where he died mysteriously. He was an able military commander and administrator and was well versed in Turkish and Arabic. He was taught by two dervishes of the Bektashi order of Iranian origin attached to the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and built the sprawling Hussainiyya Mosque in his hometown Gradacac.

173 solar years ago, on this day in 1846 AD, during the American-Mexican War, US fleet officer Robert F Stockton annexed the vast region of California 21 years after the independence of Mexico from Spain. Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the 2-year war in 1848, the Alta or Upper California became the US State of California, while Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah became US Territories, and only the lower region called the Baja Peninsula, remained in the possession of Mexico. Because of its congenial climate and rich natural resources, California was coveted by the expansionist US, ever since the Americans occupied Texas from Mexico. California was home to 300,000 Amerindians or one-third of all indigenous people throughout North and South America. The Europeans began to decimate the native population, which still numbered 100,000 when the US occupied it in 1846, while the non-native population of California was not more than 8,000. The US, as part of its hegemonic and genocidal policies has almost obliterated native Amerindians, who today account for a mere 1.7 percent of the 38 million population.

169 solar years ago, on this day in 1850 AD, Argentine general and politician Jose de San Martin, who became the 1^st President of Peru on liberating the southeastern parts of South America from Spanish colonial rule, died at the age of 72 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, where he was living in self-exile. Born in Yapeyu, Corrientes in modern Argentina, he was 7-years old when his soldier-father moved to Spain and enrolled the boy for studies in Malaga. In his teens, San Martin joined the army and took part in Spanish aggressions on the North African coastal Muslim cities of Melilla (Morocco) and Oran (Algeria). He also fought against Portugal and defended Spain in the Peninsular Wars against Napoleon Bonaparte of France. After a brief sojourn in Britain, in1808, at the age of 30, he contacted South American supporters of independence. In 1812, he set sail for Buenos Aires and offered his services to the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata in present-day Argentina. After the Battle of San Lorenzo in 1814, he laid the plan to defeat the Spanish forces that menaced the United Provinces from the north, using an alternative path to the Viceroyalty of Peru. This objective first involved the establishment of a new army, the Army of the Andes, in Cuyo Province, Argentina. From there, he led the Crossing of the Andes to Chile, and triumphed in the Battle of Chacabuco and the Battle of Maipu (1818), thus liberating Chile from Spanish rule. Then he sailed to attack the Spanish stronghold of Lima, Peru. On 12 July 1821, he was appointed Protector of Peru, and Peruvian independence was officially declared on 28 July. On 22 July 1822, after a closed-door meeting with fellow liberator Simon Bolivar at Guayaquil, Ecuador, he handed over to the latter the task of liberating the rest of the continent, resigned command of his army, and in 1824 set sail for France, where he died 26 years later. San Martin is regarded as a national hero of Argentina and Peru, and, together with Bolivar, one of the Liberators of Spanish South America. The Order of the Liberator General San Martin, created in his honour, is the highest decoration conferred by the Argentina.

153 solar years ago, on this day in 1866 AD, the 6^th ruler of the Asef-Jahi Dynasty of Deccan in south India, Mahboob Ali Khan Nizam ol-Mulk, was born in Hyderabad. In 1889, at the age of three, on the death of his father, Afzal od-Dowla, he was crowned as ruler by the able Prime Minister, Turab Ali Khan Salaar Jung. Besides his native Urdu, he was well versed in Persian, Arabic and English. He founded schools and libraries, even though he led a lavish life – his extensive wardrobe being the largest in the world along with his collection of Jewels. He was a poet in both Urdu and Persian, and maintained relations with the Qajarid Dynasty of Iran. Many Iranians, including men of letters, settled in the Deccan during his reign, which also saw establishment of the famous publication house of books on Islamic sciences – later expanded by his son and successor, Osman Ali Khan Asef Jah VII, as Dairat-ul-Ma’arif al-Osmania.

74 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, Ahmad Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed Indonesia’s independence by launching the Revolution against Dutch colonial rule. Four years later Indonesia emerged as an independent country. In 1956, total independence was achieved and Sukarno was elected the first president.

62 lunar years ago, on this day in 1378 AH, Ayatollah Sheikh Ali Borhan passed away at the age of 54. A product of the Islamic seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, he studied under Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassim Khoie. On his return to Iran he egaged in socio-religious activities, managing seminaries and building mosques. He wrote several books including an exegesis on Surah Yusuf of the holy Qur’an and a supplication manual “Hadith al-Ayyam”.

59 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, Gabon in West Africa, gained independence after four centuries of European colonial rule and the wanton plundering of its natural resources, in addition to the enslavement of its people. Gabon covers an area of 267,000 sq km. It shares borders with the Central African Republic, Congo, Cameroon, and Guinea. Islam, practiced by 20 percent of the Gabonese is the fastest growing religion.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, Mullah Saleh Khosravi, a Sunni Muslim religious leader of Iran’s ethnic Kurdish minority, was martyred by US mercenaries, along with his 18-year old son, at the Jame’ Mosque in the city of Sanandaj (Kurdistan)  before start of the evening congregational prayers. He joined the grassroots Islamic movement of the Iranian people under the leadership of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), braving imprisonment several times by the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime. On the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he defended national solidarity and Islamic unity, opposing the anti-revolutionary activities of the mercenary outfits in Kurdistan.

32 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, Rudolf Hess, the deputy of German Nazi leader Adolph Hitler, committed suicide in prison in Britain at the age of 93. Following end of World War II he was prosecuted at the war criminals tribunal in Nuremburg and sentenced to life.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, Pakistani President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, along with US Ambassador to Islamabad, Arnold Raphel, was killed in a plane crash, thirteen days after the martyrdom of prominent Shi’a Muslim scholar, Seyyed Arif Hussain al-Hussaini in Peshawar – believed to be the dirty work of the state apparatus. Born in Jullundur, Punjab, undivided India in 1924, he shifted to Pakistan on its birth and joined the military. In 1977, he led a military coup to seize power from Prime Minister Zulfeqar Ali Bhutto, who ironically had promoted him as chief of the general staff over senior generals. He later got himself elected as Pakistan’s 6^th president and was the country’s longest serving head of state for 11 years. He has earned lasting notoriety for destabilizing Pakistan, in collaboration with the US and Saudi Arabia, through uncontrolled flow of arms for creating sectarian terrorism.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, a ceasefire formally took effect as per UN Security Council Resolution 598, ending the 8-year war launched on Islamic Iran by the US through its agent, Saddam, of the tyrannical Ba'th minority regime of Iraq. The goal of the invasion was to topple the Islamic Republic but thanks to the committed and courageous Iranian forces the Ba'thist war machine failed in its efforts.

29 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, in the process of exchange of prisoners of war, the first group of Iranian POWs returned home as part of implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 598 that ended the 8-year war the US had imposed on Iran through Saddam. The POW exchange which Saddam had hindered for two years took place after his occupation of Kuwait and subsequent isolation in the region and the world. This day is marked as Day of Azadegan (Freed POWS). It is worth noting that some 7,000 Iraqi POWs sought refuge in Iran under supervision of the International Red Cross, refusing to return to their homeland because of the tyranny of the Ba’th minority regime.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Izmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.

AS/SS