Today is Thursday; 25th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 18th of the Islamic month of Safar 1441 lunar hijri; and October 17, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1403 lunar years ago, on this day in 38 AH, Owais Qarani, the devout Muslim from Yemen, attained martyrdom during the War of Siffin in defence of the cause of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the 1^st Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He was a victim of treachery of the Omayyad rebel, Mu'awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, who had incited civil war amongst Muslims. Born in Qaran, he lived a life of piety and on hearing of the message of Islam, became a Muslim and travelled to Medina to meet the Prophet who was not in town. Owais had to return to Yemen without meeting him since his mother was very sick. When the Prophet heard about this he blessed Owais and prayed for him. After the Prophet’s passing away, Owais gave his pledge of allegiance to Imam Ali (AS) and was an ardent supporter of the cause of the Ahl al-Bayt. When sedition flared, he stood firmly beside the Imam until attained martyrdom near Raqqa in Syria. His tomb was criminally demolished by Takfiri terrorists.

1153 solar years ago, on this day in 866 AD, al-Musta'in-Billah, the 12^th caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was killed in the prison of Baghdad after being deposed and replaced by his cousin, Mu’taz ibn Mutawakkel, by the Turkic guards. The executioner brought the severed head to the capital Samarra at a time when the new caliph was playing chess, and told him: “Behold your cousin's head!” The heartless Mu’taz –who two years later was to martyr through poisoning Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS), the 10th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – replied: "Lay it aside, till I have finished the game." Then having satisfied himself that it was really the head of Musta'in, he ordered 500 gold pieces be given to the assassin as reward. Musta’in, a grandson of the infamous Mu’tasem-Billah, was propelled to power as caliph in 248 AH by the Turkic guards on the mysterious death of his cousin, Muntasir – a devotee of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt who had killed his own father, the notorious Mutawakkel for showing hatred towards Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). Musta’in ruled for four years before falling out with his benefactors who chased him to Baghdad and after a skirmish following exchange of harsh words, forced him to abdicate the caliphate, and eventually killed him in prison.

753 solar years ago, on this day in 1266 AD, the Muslim missionary of the Chishti Sufi Order of the Punjab region of the Subcontinent, Baba Fareed od-Din Ganj-e Shekar, passed away at the age of 93. His forefathers had migrated from Khorasan to the Subcontinent, where he convinced many Hindus to accept the truth of Islam. Although, he was fluent in Persian, in order to carry the message of Islam to the non-Muslim masses, he composed poems and treatises in Punjabi, thus laying the foundation for development of this vernacular language. Many of his odes were incorporated into the holy book of the Sikh religion by its founder Guru Nanak a couple of centuries later. The shrine of Ganj-e Shekar, who was a devotee of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, is in Pakistan’s Punjab, and is often the target of bomb attacks by the heretical Salafi groups.

571 solar years ago, on this day in 1448 AD, the Second Battle of Kosovo, led to the decisive victory of the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Murad II over a huge 100,000 strong army of several Christian countries led by Hungarian king, John Hunyadi. The Crusaders arrived at the Kosovo Field, the same place the famous First Battle of Kosovo had occurred 60 years earlier between the Serbs and Ottomans, and resulted in Turkish domination of the Balkans. In this Second Battle of Kosovo, the 60,000-strong Muslim army completely destroyed the numerically superior Christian army, and five years later ended the existence of the tottering Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire by taking its capital Constantinople and renaming it Islambol (present day Istanbul).

202 solar years ago, on this day in 1817 AD, the Indian educator, politician, and Islamic reformer, Seyyed Ahmad Khan was born in Delhi in a family that had migrated from Iran. His father, Mir Mohammad Muttaqi and grandfather, Seyyed Hadi, were attached to the Mughal court. He was trained in Persian, Arabic, Urdu and religious subjects, as well as mathematics and astronomy, and was well versed in the mathnavi of the great Persian mystic, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi. After the 1857 rebellion against British rule that abolished the Mughal dynasty, he wrote the book "Asbab-e Baghawat-e Hind" (Causes of the Indian Revolt) in which he rejected the notion that the conspiracy was planned by Muslim elites feeling insecure at the diminishing influence of Muslim rulers. He held the British responsible for their aggressive colonial expansion and ignorance of India's rich culture. He then launched the campaign for modern education of the Muslims of India by founding the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which later developed into the famous Aligarh Muslim University. His efforts gave rise to a new generation of Muslim entrepreneurs and politicians. He also founded the All-India Muslim League, which decades later under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, resulted in the birth of Pakistan. When the British banned the study of Persian in order to cut the cultural links of Indian Muslims with Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, he took up the patronage of Urdu which led to its widespread use amongst Indian Muslims, and years later, following the Partition of India its adoption as the official language of Pakistan. Seyyed Ahmad Khan was knighted by the British as "Sir", and his views on nature were strongly criticized by the famous pan-Islamic Iranian thinker, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi. He died at the age of 81.

135 lunar years ago, on this day in 1306 AH, the prominent Indian Islamic scholar, Allamah Mir Hamed Hussain Musavi, passed away in Lucknow at the age of 60. He was the son of Mir Mohammad Quli Musavi Kintoori, the author of “Burhan al Sa`adah”, which is a refutation of the 7^th Chapter of the seditious book of Shah Abdul-Aziz Dehlavi against the beliefs of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) titled “Tuhfeye- Ithna Ashariyyah”. Well versed in theology, hadith, and other Islamic sciences, Hamed Hussain devoted his entire life to research and writing, for which he travelled around the Islamic world and browsed whole libraries. He authored several books, his magnum opus being the voluminous “Abaqaat al-Anwaar” on merits of the Ahl al-Bayt as mentioned in hadith and by God Almighty in the holy Qur’an. This valuable work which has been printed in Iran is a well-documented and rational refutation of Abdul-Aziz Dehlavi’s highly fabricated book.

132 solar years ago, on this day in 1887 AD, the German physicist and mathematician, Gustav Kirchhoff, died. Born in 1824 AD, he studied sun rays and later with the cooperation of one of his colleagues, discovered their scope. He also elaborated on the laws of diversion of electrical currents.

115 lunar years ago, on this day in 1326 AH, the prominent religious scholar of Iraq, Sheikh Baqer Kazemaini, passed away at the age of 68. Born in the holy city of Kazemain near Baghdad he completed his studies in the famous seminary of holy Najaf under prominent ulema, including Iran's Ayatollah Sheikh Morteza Dezfuli Ansari. He wrote “Mizan al-Haq” and other books.

107 solar years ago, on this day in 1912 AD, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declared war on the tottering Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War that resulted in further loss of the Turkish Muslim territories in Europe.

58 solar years ago, on this day in 1961 AD, at least 400 peaceful Algerian Muslim protesters were mercilessly massacred by the Paris police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Prefecture of Police.

46 solar years ago, on this day in 1973 AD, Arab oil exporting states imposed oil sanctions on the US, Britain, and companies selling oil to the illegal Zionist entity, because of their support for Israel's October 6 war against Syria and Egypt. The swift oil price hike was an unexpected blow for Western regimes, and its consequences showed that Islamic countries, if united, are capable of countering the West's plots against Muslims.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, Iranian Prime Minister, Mohammad Ali Rajai, delivered a keynote address at the UN General Assembly, unmasking the Western-backed atrocities of the Pahlavi regime against the Iranian people as well as the US imposition of war on Islamic Iran through Saddam. He also elaborated on the global topics of importance, such as the Zionist usurpation of Palestine and the conspiracies hatched by colonialists across the world. Following the speech, representatives of the US administration requested a meeting with him, but he rejected it because of US crimes and meddling in the affairs of Iran and other countries. Less than a year later Rajai was elected president of Iran, but was soon martyred in a bomb blast triggered by the US-backed MKO.

33 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, Iranian researcher and translator, Hussein Khadiv Jam, passed away at the age of 59. He was an authority on Persian literature, and served as lecturer at the University of Mashhad in Khorasan. He has left behind thirty books, including the translation of the book: "Kimiya-e Sa'adat" on ethics, written in Arabic by the medieval Iranian Sunni theologian and philosopher, Mohammad Ghazali.

21 solar years ago, on this day in 1998 AD, Hakeem Mohammed Saeed, Pakistani Islamic medicinal expert, scholar and philanthropist, was killed by terrorists at the age of 78. Born in Delhi to a family of herbal medical practitioners, who had established the Hamdard Waqf Laboratories, he learned Arabic, Persian, Urdu, English and studied the Holy Qur’an. In 1948, he migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi, where he set up the Hamdard Foundation, whose herbal medical products have become household names in the subcontinent. His cherished dream was to revive the golden age of the Islamic civilization, particularly in the medical fields, and he authored or compiled about 200 books in medicines, philosophy, science, health, religion, natural medicine, literary, social, and travelogues.

AS/SS