Today is Friday; 19th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 12th of the Islamic month of Safar 1441 lunar hijri; and October 11, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

Over three millennia ago, Prophet Aaron (Haroun), the elder brother of Prophet Moses (AS), passed away while on a visit to Mount Hor or what is now Jabal Haroun in Petra, Jordan, and was laid to rest on the same spot, where a shrine stands today. God has mentioned Aaron several times in the holy Qur’an as the trustworthy aide of Prophet Moses, who, as is evident in ayahs 29 to 36 of Surah Ta Ha, requests the Almighty Creator to appoint Aaron as his Assistant, a request that is granted, and the two proceed towards Egypt to invite the Pharaoh to monotheism. It is interesting to note that a Prophet of God can neither leave to his followers the choice of a vicegerent to him, nor can personally appoint anyone as “wasi” (testamentary legatee) or “khalifa” (caliph/successor), without divine consent. Since the Prophet is the emissary of God, his vicegerent or successor should also be appointed by God, as is proven by ayah 36 of Surah Ta Ha, and as was the divine commandment to Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) at Ghadir-Khom in 10 AH while returning from the Farewell Hajj pilgrimage to proclaim his cousin Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as vicegerent and caliph before a huge gathering of 120,000 Muslim pilgrims. That is the reason Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), as quoted by all denominations of Islam, remarked to Imam Ali (AS): “Your position to me is that of Aaron to Moses”.

1403 lunar years ago, on this day in 38 AH, arbitration was forced upon the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), during the War of Siffin against the heretical rebel, Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan, near Raqqa in Syria by a group of hypocrites, deceived at the raising of supposedly copies of the Holy Qur’an on spear-points and pleas for peace by crafty Omayyad commander, Amr ibn Aas, at a time when victory was only a matter of moments. This group of hypocrites who later became notorious as “khwarej” or renegades from Islam for their sedition in starting armed insurrection against the Imam by rejecting the result of their own imposed arbitration, were later wiped out in the Battle of Nahrawan.

1339 lunar years ago, on this day in 102 AH, Yazid Ibn Muhallab Ibn Abu Suffra Zalim ibn Suraaq al-Azdi, the powerful former governor of Khorasan, was killed in battle in Iraq with the forces of Yazid Ibn Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan, the 9^th ruler of the usurper Omayyad regime. The Omayyads chased, captured and killed all grown-up male members of the Muhallab clan. Of Omani origin, Yazid Ibn Muhallab’s father, Muhallab, despite being the son of Abu Suffra, one of the staunch followers of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) First Infallible Successor, Imam Ali (AS), had sided with the Omayyad usurper Mu’awiyya Ibn Abu Sufyan, who sent him to Khorasan, where he ravaged the lands between Kabul and Multan. After Mu’awiyya, Muhallab stayed away from the movement of the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Husain (AS), left the Omayyads to side with Abdullah Ibn Zubayr against Mukhtar Thaqafi (Avenger of the blood of the Martyrs of Karbala) and then rejoined the Omayyads when Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan’s tyrannical governor, Hajjaj Thaqafi, eliminated Ibn Zubayr. Muhallab was awarded with the governorship of Khorasan, and was succeeded by his son, Yazid Ibn Muhallab, who was later dismissed, imprisoned and tortured by Hajjaj. He escaped from prison, fled to Palestine, and after Hajjaj’s death was made governor of Iraq and subsequently of Khorasan, before being dismissed by the new caliph, Yazid Ibn Abdul-Malik, and meeting death in combat when he revolted in Basra. Such was the fate of those who desert the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt for worldly riches.

933 solar years ago, on this day in 1086 AD, Chinese historian and statesman Sima Guang, died at the age of 67. Perhaps the greatest of China’s historians, he wrote in several volumes the monumental “Zizhi Tongjian” which detailed in chronological order events in Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD. He was also a lexicographer and spent decades compiling in 1066 “Leipian” ("Classified dictionary.

881 solar years ago, on this day in 1138 AD, a devastating earthquake, the third deadliest in recorded history, struck the city of Aleppo and its environs in Syria, killing over two hundred thousand people, during the rule of the Turkish warlord, Emad od-Din Zengi. The worst hit area was Harem, where the Christian Crusaders from Europe had built a large citadel, which was destroyed along with the church. The nearby fort of Atharib, which was in the hands of Muslims, was also destroyed.

663 lunar years ago, on this day in 778 AH, the acclaimed Iranian poet, Khwajah Jamal od-Din Salman Saveji, was born in Saveh, southwest of modern Tehran. His father was a patron of literature and had an administrative job at the Mongol Ilkhanid court. He became an accomplished scholar and earned reputation as a prominent poet. He has composed poems in different styles. His poetical talents were such that the renowned Persian Poet, Hafez, has praised his poetry. A glance at Salman’s poetry makes one realize that he also had mystic tendencies. His Divan includes religious poems in praise of Almighty God and Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

447 solar years ago, on this day in 1572 AD, Sulaiman Khan Karrani, the Afghan Sultan of Bengal, or what is now the Indian province of the same name along with Bangladesh, died after a reign of six years. He had succeeded his elder brother Taj Khan Karrani and was followed by his sons Bayazid and Daud Khan who ruled the short-lived semi-independent state that acknowledged Mughal emperor Akbar Shah as the supreme ruler by reciting his name in the Friday Prayer sermons. Though northern India and parts of southern India were ruled by the Muslim rulers, they had not yet been able to conquer Orissa. So in 1568 Sulaiman Khan sent his son and the famous general Kala Pahar against the last Orissan Hindu king Mukunda Deva, who was defeated and the region annexed to the Afghan state of Bengal. The dynasty eventually ceased to exist with the Mughals conquering Bengal when Daud Khan made the fatal error of asserting full independence.

385 solar years ago, on this day in 1634 AD, the Burchardi Flood, also known as the "Second Grote Mandrenke", killed around 15,000 people in North Friesland, Denmark and Germany. It was a storm tide that struck the North Sea coast of North Frisia and Dithmarschen on the night between 11 and 12 October. Overrunning dikes, it shattered the coastline and caused catastrophic material damage. Much of the island of Strand was washed away, forming the islands Nordstrand, Pellworm and several Halligen.

382 lunar years ago, on this day in 1059 AH, Iran’s Safavid Empire retook the strategic border city of Qandahar in what is now Afghanistan from Daulat Khan the governor of the Moghal Empire of the subcontinent. Qandahar was bone of contention between the two otherwise friendly empires, and was mostly under Iranian rule.

120 solar years ago, on this day in 1899 AD, a bloody battle broke out between the British intruders and the Boers or Dutch settlers of South Africa. The Boers were defeated and South Africa became a British colony, until it gained independence in 1931.

104 solar years ago, on this day in 1915 AD, the French biologist and entomologist, Jean Henri Fabre, died at the age 92. He was the first scientist to conduct comprehensive research on the mechanism of instinctive reactions among animals, especially birds, for maintenance of their lives, gathering valuable data in this domain.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, Iranian poet and researcher, Abdul-Karim Amiri Firouzkouhi, passed away at the age of 75. Born in a village near the northern city of Firouzkouh, he started writing poetry since his youth, while acquiring Islamic sciences. His poems have a religious theme and he composed poetry in the different genres including odes and lyrics. He has left behind a 2-volume Diwan. Among his other works, is a comprehensive introduction to the Diwan of the renowned poet, Sa’eb Tabrizi.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, the exegete of Holy Qur'an, and university lecturer, Ayatollah Mirza Khalil Kamarai, passed away. He was a product of the Qom Seminary, and due to his opposition to the irreligious and despotic policies of the ruling regime, was detained and incarcerated in 1962 by the British-installed and US-backed Shah. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he started theology lectures at Tehran University. He has left behind several compilations in Persian and Arabic, including a complete exegesis of Holy Qur'an, and the book: "Onsor-e Shuja'at" (Element of Valour) on the exemplary life of Imam Husain (AS) and the Immortal Martyrs of Karbala.

29 solar years ago, on this day 1990 AD, the Assembly for Proximity among Islamic Schools of Jurisprudence was established in Tehran on the orders of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in order to focus on the commonalities between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims for promoting the solidarity of the Ummah and preventing discord and misunderstandings. Earlier, in the 1950s a similar body was set up by Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Borourjerdi who sent a delegation of scholars to Egypt’s al-Azhar for exploring common views and points, resulting in the acceptance of the Ja’fari School of Jurisprudence as one of the legal systems that Muslims could follow. Presently, the Assembly for Proximity among Islamic Schools is quite active in the fields of various Islamic sciences shared by Muslims of all denominations.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the activities of the Soviet Union's security organization, known as KGB, ended awhile before the collapse of Soviet Union. KGB was founded in 1954 to counter the operations of the CIA and other western spy agencies. Its duties included suppression of opponents of the Communist Party, as well as espionage and counterespionage operations inside and outside the Soviet Union. KGB was the most effective leverage of the communist party's strength. With the dissolution of KGB, its duties were divided between two Russian intelligence organizations.

14 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, Shan ul-Haq Haqqi, Urdu linguist and writer of the Subcontinent, passed away in Canada at the age of 88 while undergoing medical treatment. Born in Delhi to Ehtasham od-Din Haqqi, who wrote a study of the famous Iranian poet, Hafez Shirazi titled “Tarjuman ul-Ghayb”, along with an Urdu translation of “Diwan-e Hafez”, he was a product of Aligarh Muslim University. After migration to Pakistan in 1948, he became a notable Urdu poet, writer, journalist, broadcaster, translator, critic, researcher, linguist and lexicographer of Pakistan. In addition to his regular professional duties, he remained associated with the Urdu Dictionary Board for 17 years from 1958 to 1975, compiling a 24-volume dictionary. He compiled two other dictionaries – “Farhang-e Talaffuz” which is a pronouncing dictionary of Urdu, and the Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary, which is a translation of the eighth and ninth editions of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. He also translated into Urdu the Hindu Sanskrit classic “Bhagvad Gita”.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Callixte Mbarushimana, a Rwandan leader of the FDLR rebel group and a former UN employee, was arrested in Paris on charges of leading rebels who committed mass rapes and killings in Congo in 2009. The International Criminal Court charged him with 11 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including killings, rape, persecution based on gender and extensive destruction of property committed by the FDLR during most of 2009. He was extradited to the ICC on 25 January 2011, but was released on 23 December 2011 as the ICC, under political pressure, found there was insufficient evidence for prosecuting him. He is also participated in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 – a genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority. During the approximate 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994, an estimated one million Rwandans were killed, constituting as much as 70% of the Tutsi and 20% of Rwanda's total population. The genocide was planned by members of the core political elite known as the Akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government. Perpetrators came from the ranks of the Rwandan army, the National Police (gendarmerie), government-backed militias including the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, and the Hutu civilian population.

AS/SS