Today is Sunday; 21st of the Iranian month of Mehr 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 14th of the Islamic month of Safar 1441 lunar hijri; and October 13, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1403 lunar years ago, on this day in 38 AH, the governor of Egypt, Mohammad bin Abu Bakr, who was one of the loyal disciples of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), was martyred at the age of 27 by the Godless invader Amr bin Aas, sent by the rebellious Omayyad governor of Syria, Mu'awiyah bin Abu Sufyan. His grave in Cairo is a site of pilgrimage. His mother was the virtuous Asma bint Omays, the widow of the Imam’s elder brother Hazrat Ja’far at-Tayyar, whom circumstances had compelled to become the wife of Abu Bakr before the latter usurped the caliphate at the scandalous gathering of Saqifa Bani Sa’da. Mohammad, a toddler when his father died, was brought up by Imam Ali (AS), who loved him and regarded him as his own son. The place that he had in the Imam’s heart is sometimes compared to that of Abu Dharr in the heart of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). As an honest and truthful person, Mohammad bin Abu Bakr, was one of the leading critics of the conduct of Othman bin Affan, the third caliph. During the caliphate of Imam Ali (AS), he was commander of a section of the army in the battles of Jamal and Siffin. The Imam sent him to Egypt as governor, where he was opposed by the “Deserters” or those who had broken their allegiance to the Imam. He strove to restore order to Egypt, but Mu’awiyah who was in correspondence with the “Deserters” dispatched Amr bin Aas to create sedition, as a result of which he was martyred. His wife was Kayhan Bano, a daughter of the last Sassanid emperor of Iran, Yazdegerd III, which means a sister of Hazrat Shahr Bano, the wife of Imam Husain (AS) and mother of Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS). Mohammad bin Abu Bakr’s son was Qasim, a renowned jurist and scholar of Medina, whose daughter Omm Farwa was married to Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), and became the mother of Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS).

1146 lunar years ago, on this day in 295 AH, Abu Ibrahim Isma'il I, the most prominent Amir (ruler) of the Iranian Samanid Dynasty of Central Asia and Khorasan, died after a reign of 15 years and was succeeded by his son Ahmad. Isma'il added Kerman, Sistan and Kabul to his empire. A nominal vassal of the Abbasid caliph, he made his capital Bukhara into one of the most glorious cities of the Islamic world, rivaling Baghdad and attracting scholars, artists, and doctors of law into the region. The first translation of the holy Qu'ran into Persian was completed during Samanid rule, which saw the revival of Persian language and literature, along with the patronizing of Arabic. Ismail took Talas, the capital of the Qarluq Turks in what is now Kazakhstan, and propagated Islam amongst the inhabitants, with the result that as many as 30,000 tents of Turks became Muslim. His campaigns kept the heart of his state safe from the raids of the hitherto pagan Turks, and allowed Muslim missionaries to expand their activities in the region. The Samanids were descendants of the famous Sassanid general, Bahram Chobin, and had accepted Islam during Abbasid rule. They also propagated the jurisprudence of what came to be known as the Sunni school, and it was during their rule that most of the Hadith compilers, like Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi, Nasa’i, Hakem Nishapuri, and others flourished. They repressed Ismailis, because of the fear of the expanding influence of the Fatemid Dynasty of Egypt-North Africa-Syria-Hijaz, but were rather tolerant of Asna Ash'ari or Twelver Shi'ite Muslims.

809 lunar years ago, on this day in 632 AH, the judge and historian, Baha od-Din Yusuf ibn Rafi ibn Shaddad, passed away at the age of 93. Born in Mosul in Iraq, he memorized the holy Qur’an in childhood and later honed his skills in exegesis, hadith and other sciences. He taught at Baghdad’s famous Nizamiyyah Academy, founded by the Iranian statesman, Nizam ol-Molk Tousi, and later after visiting several Islamic lands, he went to Syria to serve as advisor to Salah od-Din Ayoubi, the Kurdish sultan who liberated Palestine and Bayt al-Moqaddas from Crusader occupation. He was an eyewitness to several battles against the Christian invaders from Europe, including the Siege of Acre, and wrote the historical work titled "an-Nawader as-Sultaniyyah”, which is an account of military campaigns. His other well-known book is the 4-volume "Dala'el al-Ahkaam" on jurisprudential issues.

789 solar years ago, on this day in 1240 AD, Raziyya Sultana, the only Muslim lady to sit on the throne of Delhi, was captured near Kaithal in Punjab by the local Jats and killed, along with her husband, Altuniya the Turk, after being defeated in battle near Delhi by the forces of her usurper brother, Muiz od-Din Bahram Shah. As the daughter and heir apparent of the third ruler of the Mamluk (slave) Dynasty of northern India, Shams od-Din Iltutmish, she ruled for four years, after being bypassed for six months by the Turkic nobility in favour of her brother, Rukn od-Din Feroz. Even before she became ruler, she was preoccupied with the affairs of state during her father's reign. A shrewd politician, she managed to keep the nobles in check, while enlisting the support of the army and the populace. Her greatest accomplishment on the political front was to manipulate rebel factions into opposing each other. At that point, Raziyya seemed destined to become one of the most powerful rulers of the Delhi Sultanate, but the turbulent Turkic nobles plotted and revolted against her, resulting in her downfall.

434 lunar years ago, on this day in 1007 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic Gnostic, jurisprudent, philosopher, and Hadith Authority, Mullah Mohsin Mohammad Fayz Kashani was born in Kashan in a family renowned for its learning. He began his education under his father, Shah Morteza, who possessed a rich library. At the age of twenty he went to Isfahan to pursue his studies, but after about a year moved to Shiraz to study Hadith and jurisprudence with Seyyed Majed Bahrani, on whose death he returned to Isfahan where he joined the circle of the great scholar Shaikh Baha od-Din Ameli, and attended the lectures of the famous Mir Baqer Damad on philosophy. At the age of 23, he departed for Mecca and after performing the Hajj, remained there in order to study Hadith with the Lebanese scholar, Mohammad bin Hassan bin Zayn od-Din Ameli (grandson of the Second Martyr). On his return to Iran, he studied for 8 years with the philosopher, Mullah Sadra Shirazi, whose daughter he married. He later served as Friday Prayer Leader of the Safavid Capital, Isfahan, and towards the end of his 82-year fruitful life, returned to his hometown Kashan where he passed away. Fayz Kashani was a prolific writer in both Persian and Arabic, with more than a hundred and twenty books and treatises to his credit. His widely-read works include “Mahjat-al-Bayza”, “Ayn al-Yaqin”, “Tafsir Safi” (exegesis of holy Qur’an), “Abwaab-ol-Jenan” and “al-Waafi” – which is a commentary of the famous “Osoul Kafi” of Allamah Kulayni. In addition to composing excellent Persian poetry, he wrote “Safinat-an-Nejaat” on astronomy and an exposition of the “Sahifat-as-Sajjadiyya” or collection of supplications of Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the 4^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

136 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, French author and philosopher, Joseph Arthur Gobineau, died at the age of 66. Born in Paris, he took to writing and journalism following completion of his studies. He served as the French ambassador to Iran and during this period, he learned Persian and Arabic languages as well as the ancient cuneiform scripts. He was unfortunately a racist or more properly a white supremacist, and wrote the highly flawed book: "An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races". The theory of supremacy of the so-called Aryan race was one of the pretexts of the German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, for waging World War II, and massacring millions of Europeans. Among his other works, mention can be made of "Three Years in Asia", and "A History of Iran".

135 solar years ago, on this day in 1884 AD, Greenwich near London in Britain was adopted as the universal meridian at the International Meridian Conference in Washington, attended by 41 delegates from 25 countries. The resolution fixing the Meridian at Greenwich was passed 22-1 –San Domingo voted against, while France and Brazil abstained. Greenwich lies on the River Thames, is thus the site of an imaginary line indicating 0° longitude that terminates at the North and South poles – 180 degrees on each side. Every place on Earth is measured in terms of its distance east or west from this line – just as the Equator divides the northern and southern hemispheres. The mean solar time at Greenwich is now called Universal Time and was formerly called Greenwich Mean Time. Theoretically, standard time becomes successively one hour earlier at each 15° longitude west of the Greenwich meridian and one hour later at each 15° longitude east.

96 solar years ago, on this day in 1923 AD, Ankara in central Anatolia, replaced Istanbul as the capital of Turkey. Istanbul served as capital of the Ottoman Empire for 470 years, since its capture by Sultan Mohammad Fateh in 1453.

93 solar years ago, on this day in 1926 AD, Iranian poet and literary figure, Mohammad Taqi Shourideh Shirazi passed away at the age of 69 in Shiraz and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of the famous Persian poet, Shaikh Mosleh od-Din Sa’di. At the age of 7 he lost his sight as the result of blister. After his father's death, he was brought up by his maternal uncle and due to his high intelligence, in a short time he established himself as a great poet. In Tehran, the Qajarid ruler, Nasser od-Din greatly admired him and gave him the title “Fasih ol-Molk”. Shourideh returned to Shiraz and stayed there up to the end of his life.

75 solar years ago, on this day in 1944 AD, during World War II, the capital of former Yugoslavia, Belgrade, was liberated from the yoke of Nazi German troops by the Yugoslav patriots, led by Marshal Josef Tito, and with the assistance of Soviet Union's Red Army. This city was occupied by the Germans in 1941.

55 solar years ago, on this day in 1964 AD, the Capitulation Bill was approved by the parliament of the Pahlavi regime, granting US military personnel immunity from trial in Iran's courts on committing any crime. This was an infringement of Iran's national sovereignty and an insult to the Iranian nation. Hence, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), rejected it outright and later in a historical speech revealed the sinister dimensions of aspects of this humiliating bill for the Iranian people, while castigating the British-installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for his oppression of the people and subservience to the US. This keynote speech led to the detention and exile of the Imam on November 4, 1964.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, contemporary Iranian painter, Hussein Behzad, passed away. He was known as the most important miniaturist painter of contemporary Iran, and should not be confused with Kamal od-Din Behzad the Master-Painter of the Safavid Era. He was an innovative miniaturist painter and revived in modern times this aesthetic Iranian-Islamic art. He adopted new methods in application of colors to depict joy, sorrow and other emotions. Among the valuable works of art which he has left behind, mention can be made of "Eivan-e Mada'en" or the Portal of Anushirvan's Palace in Ctesiphon, near Baghdad, and "Fath-e Babel" or The Conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great.

40 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, prominent Iranian mathematician, logician and literary figure, Dr. Gholam-Hussain Mosaheb, passed away at the age of 69. Born in Tehran to physician Mohammad Ali, his grandfather was the famous calligrapher, Mirza Ali Khoshnevis, who composed the thousand-couplet poem, entitled “Alfiyah”, describing the didactic rules of Arabic grammar, rendering these easy to memorize by Arabic students. Mosaheb who studied in Iran, France and England; and received his Ph.d from Cambridge University, was fluent in Persian, Arabic, French and English. He founded the Institute of Mathematics, Teacher Training University and was director of the Institute of Mathematics of Khwarazmi University from 1972-1974.  Earlier in 1938 Mosaheb had edited Omar Khayyam’s famous Algebraic work “al-Jabr wa’l-Moqabela Risala fi’l-Barahin ala Masa’el al-Jabr wa’l-Moqabela” and published it as “Jabr o Moqabela-ye Khayyam” with a brief Persian translation and extensive footnotes and elaborate appendixes and addenda. During the 1950s, when Persian scientific typography was flourishing, Mosaheb invented a left slanted right-to-left font style that he named the Iranic font. This term is still commonly used by typographers in Iran, often as a general term for any left slanted font. In 1955, his “Madkhal-e Manteq-e Soorat” (Introduction to Formal Logic) was the first scholarly writing in mathematical logic to be published in Iran. Mosaheb's most famous work in non-mathematical society is as the author of the 3-volume “Daerat al-Ma’aref-e Farsi” (“Persian Encyclopedia”), written in the Persian language. His methods of organizing and categorizing are still in use. On June 28, 2009 it was announced that the 100th book released by the Society for the Appreciation of Cultural works and Dignitaries had been allocated to the life, scientific and cultural works of Gholam Hussain Mosaheb, which contain many of his published works including an article entitled “The First Trigonometry Book”.

21 solar years ago, on this day in 1998 AD, Iranian researcher, Rajab-Ali Mazloumi, passed away at the age of 71. Born in Naishapur in Khorasan, he studied in holy Mashhad and was an expert in Qur’anic sciences, hadith, history, philosophy, gnosis, Islamic arts, and education. He wrote 90 books and 500 articles on various topics. His books are: “Youth and Religion”, “Ali (AS) the Criterion of Perfection”, “Understanding the Qur’an” and “Meritorious Ladies”.

18 solar years ago, on this day in 2001 AD, Arak Friday Prayer Leader, Ayatollah Shaikh Abu’l-Fazl Khwansari Najafi, passed away at the age of 85. Born in Isfahan, at the age of 20 he left for holy Najaf in Iraq. Because of ill-health he returned to Iran and in holy Qom continued his studies and obtained Ijtehad. He was a firm supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini.

13 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded won the Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering use of tiny, seemingly insignificant loans, microcredit, to lift millions out of poverty.  Born in 1940, the controversial Yunus was rated in 2008 in the list of the 'Top 100 Global Thinkers'. He is a member of the advisory board at Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology. In March 2011, the Bangladesh government fired Yunus from his position at Grameen Bank, which is connected with the US, citing legal violations and an age limit on his position. In 2012, he became Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland.

3 solar years ago, on this day in 2016 AD, Mohammad Taqi Morovvat, who initiated a new style of recitation of the holy Qur’an, passed away in Tehran at the age of 72. A student of the master reciter, Mullah Mohammad Baqer Fani, he groomed several students in the correct recitation of the heavenly scripture. He visited Egypt to seek the company of the master-reciters of the holy Qur’an.  

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