Today is Thursday; 28th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 19th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1441 lunar hijri; and September 19, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1385 solar years ago, on this day in 634 AD, Damascus, fell to the Arab Muslims, only seven years after the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius’ much trumpeted triumph in Syria and Upper Mesopotamia over the Sassanid Empire in the 26-year long final and most bloody round of the Roman-Persian Wars that were being fought intermittently for the past 720 years since 92 BC. Heraclius’ loss of Syria to the Muslims, who subsequently overran the Iranian capital, Ctesiphon (near Baghdad in Iraq, meant the curtain had come down on four centuries of Byzantine-Sassanid rivalry for regional supremacy, as new players took charge of the battlegrounds of Syria and Mesopotamia that would now see some of the most crucial battles in Islamic history.

1380 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, the Caravan of the Captives of Karbala, headed by Hazrat Zainab and Imam Zain al-Abedin (peace upon them) – the sister and son of Imam Husain (AS), was hastily dispatched towards Damascus in Syria to the court of the self-styled caliph, Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah, by the tyrannical governor of Iraq, Obaidullah ibn Ziyad, who feared that the presence in Kufa of the bereaved womenfolk and children of the Prophet’s Household would result in uprising against Omayyad rule. The Prophet’s granddaughter reprimanded the Kufans for their weak faith and double crossing, saying they had invited Imam Husain (AS) and then deserted him to be tragically martyred; and that many of them had participated in the shedding of his innocent blood, which will remain till the Day of Resurrection an ugly blot upon them, since they have badly hurt the Prophet’s soul. She would have continued this highly eloquent sermon if her nephew Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) had not stepped forward and requested her to have patience. When brought to the court of the tyrant Obaidullah ibn Ziyad, who mocked at the severed heads of the martyrs of Karbala, Hazrat Zainab (SA) boldly addressed him:

“We are the sisters of Husain (AS), the grand daughters of Mohammad (SAWA) whom you acknowledge as your Prophet. You and the other henchmen of Yazid have, for the sake of worldly gains, flouted all the principles of Islam, have desecrated the dead bodies of the martyrs, despite the fact that it is strictly forbidden by religion… Today you are gloating over your success and rejoicing; today you are thinking that you can insult and humiliate us to your heart’s content because there is nobody to say a word to you on our behalf, because you see us in this helpless state with no one to befriend us, none to protest against the treatment you are meting out to us. But O tyrant! Let me warn you that you will find your success ephemeral and very soon the wrath of God will descend on you and on those whose cause you espouse. Very soon the nemesis will overtake you and all the others who have ruthlessly killed my brother and other members of my family without the least compunction, simply because they stood steadfast in their belief; because they refused to surrender their principles or compromise their ideals; because they refused to accept Yazid, whose stooge you are, as the caliph of Muslims on account of his being a known profligate, who had flouted all principles of Islam, trampled all ethical concepts and reduced all human beings to an abject state.”

A stunned Ibn Ziyad, sensing dangers of uprising if the captives of Karbala remained in Kufa, sent them hastily towards his mentor Yazid in Syria, but through circuitous routes so that the people of the remote towns through which they pass would not know their identity.

1153 solar years ago, on this day in 866 AD, Byzantine Emperor, Leo VI, was born. Of doubtful paternity, since his mother was the mistress of Emperor Michael III and at the same time the wife of the future Emperor Basil the Macedonian, he succeeded to the throne on the latter's death and ruled for 26 years till his own death in 912. His reign saw the loss of more territory to the Muslims in both Sicily and in Asia Minor, as well as islands in the Aegean Sea. The greatest setback for him was in 904, when the Greek Muslim admiral, Rasheeq al-Wardami, sailing from Syria, took control of Thessalonica, the second largest city of the Byzantium Empire. After a week's stay, during which he seized some 60 ships and forced the Christians to free over 4,000 Muslim prisoners, Rasheeq sailed back to the Levant. Born as a Christian and named Leo by his parents, Rasheeq was an officer in the Byzantine navy, before discovering the truth of Islam and joining the Muslims. Also known as Ghulam Zurafa, three years later in 907, he had sailed up the Dardanelles and besieged Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, much to the horror of Emperor Leo VI. In May 912, just before the humiliated Leo VI died, Rasheeq al-Wardami and his fellow Greek Muslim admiral, Damian of Tarsus, known by his Muslim name, Ghulam Yazman, decisively defeated the Byzantine admiral, Himerios, off the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea, in retaliation for an attack by Christians on the Muslims of Cyprus.

1075 lunar years ago, on this day in 366 AH, the Buwaiyhid ruler of northern and central Iran, Hassan Ibn Buya Daylami, titled Rukn od-Dowlah, passed away. The federation of Buwaiyhid Amirs, who were Iranian Muslims and followers of the school of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt, ruled most of Iran and Iraq for over a hundred years. They rebuilt the holy shrines of the Infallible Imams in Iraq and patronized a great many scholars, in addition to building schools, hospitals, bridges and other public works. Rukn od-Dowlah was the father of the famous ruler of Iraq and Iran, Fana Khosrow Adhud od-Dowlah.

752 lunar years ago, on this day in 689 AH, Kai-Qobad, the 10^th and last sultan of the Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty of Hindustan (Northern Subcontinent), was murdered after a 3-year reign at the instigation of his prime minister, Jalal od-Din Khalji, who after enthroning and soon dethroning his 3-year orphan, Shams od-Din Kiamurs, took the title of Ferouz Shah to set up the short-lived Khalji Dynasty. Kai-Qobad had succeeded his grandfather, the powerful Sultan Ghiyas od-Din Balban, on the refusal of his own father Naseer od-Din Bughra Khan the governor of Bengal to take the crown of Delhi. Soon Kai-Qobad’s inefficiency and pleasure-loving ways made the father march against his son. The two armies met on the banks of Saryu River in North Bihar, but due to the love for his father, Kai-Qobad ran towards Bughra and embraced him, while in tears. No battle took place and a peace treaty was agreed between Bengal and Hindustan. The famous poet Amir Khosrow, who was a contemporary, has versified this unusual event in the Persian Mathnavi titled “Qiran os-Sa’dain” (Meeting of the Two Auspicious Stars). The court language of the Subcontinent during Muslim rule was Persian.

663 solar years ago, on this day in 1356 AD, the Battle of Poitiers occurred during the “Hundred Years War” in Europe when an English army under the command of Edward the Black Prince defeated a French army and captured the French king, John II.

317 lunar years ago, on this day in 1124 AH, the 7^th Mughal Emperor of the Subcontinent, Qotb od-Din Mo’azzam entitled Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I, died in Lahore at the age of 71, while making alterations to the famous Shalimar Gardens. During his brief 5-year reign he managed to keep intact the vast empire of his father, Aurangzeb – from Kabul in Afghanistan to the southern tip of peninsular India and from Baluchistan in the west to the borders of Burma in the east. As had been the sorry state of affairs, since the death of Jahangir in 1627, he had risen to the throne after defeating and killing his brothers, Azam and Kam Bakhsh. His four sons likewise disputed the succession and battles ensued in which Azim osh-Shan, Rafi osh-Shan, and Jahan Shah were killed, while the remaining Mo'iz od-Din Jahandar Shah ascended the throne, only to be overthrown eleven months later by his nephew Farrokhsiyar, with the help of the “kingmakers”, the two Seyyed Brothers, Abdullah Khan and Husain Ali Khan.

282 solar years ago, on this day in 1737 AD, a devastating cyclone in India’s Bay of Bengal destroyed some 2,000 ships and other vessels. It was estimated that more than 30,000 people died in the densely populated area called the Sundarbans in what is now Bangladesh and the Indian state of Bengal.

180 solar years ago, on this day in 1839 AD, British businessman, Quaker, social reformer and chocolate manufacturer, George Cadbury, was born in Birmingham. In 1856, at age 21, he joined his father's chocolate business, with his elder brother, Richard, who had joined in 1850. Their father retired in April 1861 due to failing health, and they took over his declining enterprise and built it into the highly prosperous Cadbury Brothers Cocoa & Chocolate Manufacturing Firm. George was perhaps more important for his improvements in working conditions and for his successful experiments with a new cocoa bean processing technique. The new pure unadulterated Cadbury's cocoa essence was heralded as a major breakthrough and it resulted in the passing of the Adulteration of Foods Acts in 1872 and 1875. George Cadbury died in 1922. This British company was bought in 2010 by the American Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods), which is facing strong criticism for "secretly" rolling out a new "cheap-tasting" Creme Egg. It has also replaced the hugely popular Cadbury's Dairy Milk shell with one made from a cocoa mix chocolate.

149 solar years ago, on this day in 1870 AD, during the Franco-Prussian War, the Siege of Paris began, resulting in the surrender of Paris and a decisive Prussian victory on January 28, 1871.

41 lunar years ago, on this day in 1400 AH, prominent Lebanese Islamic scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Jawad al-Mughniya, passed away in his homeland at the age of 76 and his body was taken to Iraq for burial in the courtyard of the holy shrine of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). A product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf, he was a leading advocate of Islamic solidarity in pursuit of which he journeyed to Egypt, met the dean of al-Azhar University, Sheikh Mahmoud Shaltout, and played a major role in establishment of the “Dar at-Taqrib” (Foundation for Proximity) between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. At the same time he was politically active against the illegal Zionist entity and considered the US as the chief enemy of Muslims including Arabs. Sheikh Jawad Mughniya was also a firm supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), stating that this grassroots movement that started from the holy city of Qom in Iran has been prophesied in hadith. He was a prolific writer and among his works are books on “The Merits of Imam Ali (AS)”, “The Martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) in the Light of the Holy Qur’an”, “The Jurisprudence of Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS)” in three volumes, “The Intellectual Basis for Reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS) the Saviour of Mankind”, “Exposure of the Heretical Wahhabi Cult”, and “Jurisprudence in Accordance with Commonalities Amongst the Five Islamic Schools” (Ja’far, Shafe’i, Hanafi, Maleki and Hanbali).

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the city of Susangerd and its surrounding areas in southwestern Iran, were liberated by Iran’s Muslim combatants from Ba’thist occupation. Some 750 Ba’thist occupation soldiers were either killed or injured, while 40 tanks and personnel carriers of the enemy were destroyed. Several tanks and personnel carriers and a large amount of ammunition and communication equipment were captured by the Iranian soldiers.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the US imposed a military pact on the Persian Gulf emirate of Kuwait, for stationing troops and equipment on the claim of preventing a repetition of Iraq's military aggression and occupation that had ended some six months ago. A year later, the former colonial power, Britain, followed by France also imposed similar pacts on Kuwait, as part of the plot to militarize the Persian Gulf. In the next few years, the US, along with Britain and France, imposed similar military pacts on Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, in order to seize billions of petro-dollars by supplying obsolete military hardware which the Arab states cannot use. These pacts have led to a rise in the unwanted military presence of foreign powers and fueled insecurity in the Persian Gulf.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, 20,000 US troops invaded and occupied Haiti in the Caribbean Sea on the pretext of reinstatement of President Jean Bertrand Aristide, three years after the coup staged by General Raoul Cedras to seize power. Aristide, who had sought refuge in the US, was reinstated in October 1994. The real intention of the US was control of Haiti, and a decade later, Washington, by openly supporting rioters, kidnapped Aristide from the presidential palace and replaced him with another president. The recurring aggressions of the US on Haiti are a clear example of violation of international rules and regulations and military interference in the affairs of other countries.

14 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, prominent Iranian geographer, Dr. Hussain Begzadeh Shokoei, passed away at the age of 72 in Tehran. Born in Tabriz, he was a member of cultural and geographical academies and made lasting contribution to Iran’s geography.  

13 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his address to the UN General Assembly for the second consecutive year, criticized the hegemonic policies of the US in Iraq and Lebanon. He said Washington was abusing its power in the UN Security Council to punish others while protecting its own interests and allies. The American press widely covered his speech, while President George Bush again shied away from accepting his Iranian counterpart’s proposal for a televised debate on major international issues.

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