Today is Wednesday; 8th of the Iranian month of Aban 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 1st of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1441 lunar hijri; and October 30, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1382 solar years ago, on this day in 637 AD, Antioch in Syria surrendered to the Muslim forces after the Battle of the Iron Bridge that was fought near a nine-arch stone bridge spanning the River Orontes in what is now southeastern Turkey, but is geographically and historically part of Syria. The aftermath of the battle marked the nearly complete annexation of the large Roman province of Syria by the Muslims, one of whose victorious commanders in this battle was Malek Ashtar, who later loyally served the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS) and was made governor of Egypt with the famous epistle that is regarded till this day as the finest charter of human rights. The capture and clearance of Azaz was essential to ensure that no large Byzantine forces remained north of Aleppo, from where they could strike at the flank and rear of the Muslim army during the operation against Antioch. According to the pact, the defeated Byzantine soldiers were allowed to depart in peace. Following the surrender of Antioch, Muslim forces moved south along the Mediterranean coast and captured Latakia, Jablah and Tartus, while other columns were sent to subdue the remaining resistance in northern Syria.

1441 lunar years ago, on the eve of this day when the Arabs of Mecca plotted to assassinate Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), he was commanded by God to migrate to Yathreb, which became known as “Medinat an-Nabi” (City of the Prophet), or simply Medina, as it is known to this day. On the night of 1st Rabi al-Awwal, the Prophet asked his dear ward and cousin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), to sleep on his bed so that the assassins hovering around the abode of divine revelation would think their intended victim was still in the house, and this would enable the Prophet to leave Mecca undetected. The young Imam Ali (AS) gladly accepted the proposal at the risk of his life and limbs. At the break of dawn when the infidel Arabs burst into the house to carry out their murderous plot, to their surprise, up sprang from the bed the valiant Ali (AS), while the Prophet was nowhere to be found. The frustrated Meccans afraid to face the Imam, darted out in every direction hoping to find their victim, but the Prophet had safely taken refuge in the Cave of Thaur far away from the city. A party of infidels tracked his footprints to the said cave, but by the time they arrived there was a big cobweb on its mouth while a bird had laid eggs, presenting the spectacle of an undisturbed place. They left in despair and later when the danger had subsided the Prophet continued his trek toward Medina. As exegetes of the holy Qur'an agree, God Almighty pleased with this selfless act of Imam Ali (AS) revealed ayah 207 of Surah Baqarah in his praise, which reads:

"And among mankind is he who sells his soul seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is Most Kind to (His) servants."

Hijra or the historic migration, thus heralds the emergence of Islam from a persecuted faith to a dynamic state religion, which eventually asserted its universal nature by enlightening most of mankind. After the Prophet’s passing away, the Hijra, as per the advice of Imam Ali (AS), was fixed as the basis of the Islamic calendar, but unfortunately, the 2nd caliph chose to retain the pagan practice of Muharram I as start of the New Year instead of Rabi al-Awwal I, the actual date.

1376 lunar years ago, on this day in 65 AH, the Tawwabin or Penitents launched their heroic uprising in Iraq to avenge the innocent blood of Imam Husain (AS), who was cruelly martyred in Karbala in 61 AH (680 AD) by the bloodthirsty hordes of the Omayyad usurper, Yazid. The Tawwabin were mostly inhabitants of Kufa and its surroundings who had invited the Prophet's grandson to Iraq to free them from tyranny, but when Yazid sent the brutal Obaidullah Ibn Ziyad as governor, these people, despite numbering several thousand, lost the courage to support the Imam, and left him alone to be martyred along with 72 steadfast companions including his 6-month infant, Ali Asghar (AS). When the children and womenfolk of the Prophet's household along with the heads of the martyrs mounted on lances, were paraded in Kufa these people were shocked, and soon on the death of Yazid they rose up to drive away Ibn Ziyad. Finally on this day in 65, after visiting the grave of the martyred Imam and beseeching God for forgiveness, the penitents, clad in white shrouds and numbering about 4,000 led by the Prophet's aged 93-year companion, Sulayman bin Surad al-Khuzaie (one of the conquerors of Transoxiana or Central Asia), formally launched their uprising, swearing either to wreak vengeance upon the killers or achieve martyrdom in the process. They created awe and fear among the better armed Omayyad forces sent from Syria, and after initially routing the enemy, most of them achieved martyrdom. The remnants joined the uprising of Mokhtar Ibn Abi Obayda Thaqafi for the same purpose and succeeded in bringing to justice most of the killers of the Prophet's grandson, including Ibn Ziyad, Omar Ibn Sa'd, Shemr Ziljowshan, Harmala bin Kahel, Khouli, etc.

1261 solar years ago, on this day in 758 AD, Guangzhou in southeastern China saw an expedition mounted by a joint force of Arab and Iranian sailors who took control of this port city, following massacre of thousands of Muslim merchants and their families by the Chinese rebel leader, Huang Chao, during the days of Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty. Order was restored on the intervention of the authorities and the Muslims were allowed to carry on trade and build mosques in Guangzhou, where in 2010 China held the 16th Asian Games. According to the ancient Iranian historian, Abu Zaid Hassan of Siraf, Iranians used to call Guangzhou "Khanfu" and Arabs "Sin Kalaan". Many Iranian and Arab Muslims were settled over a thousand years ago in this city which was later called Canton by the Europeans. Today also Guangzhou has a noticeable population of Chinese Muslims. 

749 solar years ago, on this day in 1270 AD, the Eighth Crusade and siege of Tunis, mounted by invaders from Europe, ended by an accord between Sultan Mohammad I al-Mustansir of Tunis and Charles I of Sicily (brother of King Louis IX of France, who died months earlier on invading this Muslim land). The Crusader plan was to use this North African Muslim city as a base to attack Palestine, but the plan failed, because of the strength of the Mamluk army of Sultan Baibars of Egypt that had liberated most of the cities of Palestine and Syria from the Crusader occupation. Baibars had already assembled a separate army for aiding Tunis against the Christian invaders, but disbanded it on learning of the retreat of the disease-afflicted Crusaders.

737 solar years ago, on this day in 1282 AD, the famous biographer of Iranian stock, Shams od-Din Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad Ibn Mohammad Ibn Khallikan passed away in Damascus at the age of 71. He was born in Arbil in northeastern Iraq and studied in Aleppo, Damascus, and Mosul before settling in Cairo, where he served as assistant to the chief judge of Egypt. Later he became the chief judge of Damascus. His most renowned work is the biographical dictionary entitled "Wafayaat al-Ayaan wa-Anba Abna az-Zamaan" (Deaths of Eminent Men and Accounts of the Sons of the Epoch), which took eighteen years to complete. This book does not include biographies of individuals already sufficiently covered, such as the Prophet and the caliphs. It was translated into English by William McGuckin de Slane.

679 solar years ago, on this day in 1340 AD, Portuguese and Spanish Castilian forces halted the Muslims in the Battle of Río Salado, but failed to subjugate the Emirate of Granada. Two months earlier in August, Sultan Abu’l-Hasan Ali, the Marinid ruler of Morocco, who had crossed over to Spain to help Spanish Muslims against Christian marauders from the north, had inflicted a shattering defeat on the Portuguese-Castilian alliance, destroying the Christian fleet in the Strait of Gibraltar, and ensuring that the island of Gibraltar (corruption of the Arabic term “Jabal at-Tareq” or Rock of Tareq, the Muslim conqueror of Spain), remains under the suzerainty of Emir Yusuf of Granada. In 1492 with the fall of Granada, the last Spanish Muslim stronghold, to the Christian aggressors, almost 8 centuries of Muslim rule in Spain that produced scholars and scientists at a time when Europe was immersed in the dark ages, came to its end, because of Muslim disunity and the failure of the two strong Muslim regional Empires of the Mamluks of Egypt-Syria and the Ottomans of Anatolia and southwestern Europe, to respond to the pleas for help of their co-religionists in Spain. 

394 lunar years ago, on this day in 1047 AH, Iranian merchant, statesman, poet and scholar, Mir Mohammad Amin Shahristani, who held the post of Mir Jumla (prime minister/chancellor) in the Qutb Shahi kingdom of Golkandah/Hyderabad in the Deccan (southern India), died at the age of 66 in Hindustan (northern India), while in the service of Moghal Emperor Noor od-Din Jahangir. Born in a prominent Seyyed family in Isfahan, whose members, including his nephew Seyyed Razi, held senior posts at the Safavid court, he travelled to Deccan in 1013 AH (1604-05 AD) to seek fortune. The king of Golkandah, Mohammad Qoli Qotb Shah – himself of Iranian stock from Hamedan – recognized his talents and gave him an important administrative post. He finally became “vakil” (regent). After the death of the king, he was dismissed by the new monarch and moved to the neighbouring Adel-Shahi kingdom of Iranian origin of Bijapur. Unable to find a suitable post there, he returned to Iran (1614). His nephew being Sadr at that time, he was received courteously by Shah Abbas. He expected a high post, but the Shah did not offer him an important position, being only eager to cash in on the fortune Mir Mohammad had accumulated in India. After four years, he gave up his post at the Safavid court with the intent of going to Moghal India. Made aware of Mir Mohammad Amin Shahristani’s ability, Emperor Jahangir wrote him an invitation and he left Isfahan for Lahore in 1027 AH (1617-1831). Jahangir gave him command of 2,500 foot soldiers and 200 horses. Later he received important positions at court such as “Mir-Samaan” and “Mir-Bakhshi” and was promoted to the command of 5,000 foot soldiers and 2,000 horses. He died in India (1637). An ardent Shi’a Muslim, he gave, according to the book “Ẕakhirat al-Khavanin”, a great deal of money in charity for people starving as a result of a drought in the Deccan, where he had started his career in India and rose to the prime position of Mir Jumla I. At the same time, he sent two hundred thousand rupees every year to his sons and relatives in Iran to buy houses, gardens and property. He excelled in poetry, using the pen name “Rouh al-Amin”. On the model of the famous Persian poet, Nizami Ganjavi, he composed a set of “Khamsah”, totaling nearly thirty thousand couplets. His method in poetry is one that poet Kalim Kashani, has said: “he sewed the clothes of words into the meanings”. His purpose in composing the poem of “Khosrow va Shirin” was to remove the weaknesses of Khosrow and Shirin by Nizami. He had the same idea about “Laila va Majnoon” and changed the narrative style of the story. Many of the words, phrases and expressions used by Nizami have gotten new frames in Rouh al-Amin’s poetry. Mir Mohammad Amin Mir Jumla I should not be confused with his compatriot, Mir Mohammad Sa’eed Ardestani titled Mir Jumla II, who flourished in the Deccan and later at the Moghal court and Bengal, a generation later. 

393 solar years ago, on this day in 1626 AD, Dutch astronomer and mathematician, Willebrord Snellius, who falsely attributed to himself the Iranian Islamic scientist Ibn Sahl’s “Law of Refraction of Light”, died at the age of 46. Named Willebrord Snel van Royen at birth and known in the English-speaking world as Snell; in the West, his name has been attached to the law of refraction of light for several centuries, but it is now known that this law was discovered by Abu Sa’d al-Ala ibn Sahl of Baghdad in 984. Ibn Sahl (940–1000) was a mathematician, physicist and optics engineer of the Islamic Golden Age. His treatise “On Burning Mirrors and Lenses” sets out his understanding of how curved mirrors and lenses bend and focus light. Ibn Sahl is credited with first discovering the law of refraction, which until late was called “Snell’s Law” in the West. Ibn Sahl used the law of refraction to derive lens shapes that focus light with no geometric aberrations, known as anaclastic lenses. Ibn Sahl’s treatise was used by Ibn al-Haitham (965–1039), one of the greatest Islamic scholars of optics who flourished in Iraq during the rule of the Iranian Buwaihid Dynasty and later moved to Fatemid Egypt. In modern times, Egyptian scientist and historian, Roshdi Rashed, discovered Ibn Sahl’s text dispersed in manuscripts in two different libraries, one in Tehran (Iran), and the other in Damascus (Syria). He reassembled the surviving portions, translated and published them.

109 solar years ago, on this day in 1910 AD, Founder of International Committee of the Red Cross, Henri Dunant, died at the age of 82. He backed efforts to help and save the wounded in wars, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 for his humanitarian services. Since the Cross represents the crucifix and is a Christian Trinitarian emblem contrary to the belief of Muslims that Prophet Jesus was not crucified, Muslims have adopted the Red Crescent as their symbol. The Red Crescent emblem was first used by ICRC volunteers during the armed conflict between the Ottoman Muslim Empire and the Russian Christian Empire in 1877-1878. The symbol was officially adopted in 1929, and so far 33 Islamic states have recognized it. Today the abbreviation IFRC stands for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

82 solar years ago, on this day in 1937 AD, an asteroid approached the Earth, at about twice the distance of the moon. At the time, it was regarded as the closest approach of anybody other than a meteor. It traversed the night sky at 5 degrees per hour. It was first spotted two nights earlier on 28 Oct by Astronomer Karl Reinmuth of Germany who noticed a streak of light on a picture he had just taken. He named it Hermes. He was able to observe it for only five days before viewing conditions became unfavorable. It was lost until sighted again on 15 Oct 2003 by Britain’s Lowell Observatory astronomer Brian Skiff. Its elliptical orbit took 777 days, cutting across the orbits of Venus, Earth and Mars. It was found to be a binary object by Jean-Luc Margot at the Arecibo Observatory.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, the courageous Iranian boy, Seyyed Mohammad Hussein Fahmideh, who had just stepped into his teens, attained martyrdom in the port city of Khorramshahr at the age of 13 during the initial days of the 8-year war imposed on Iran by the US through Saddam. Born in holy Qom, he went to the warfronts to confront the cowardly Ba'thist enemy. In a bid to stop Iraqi columns from advancing, he tied grenades around his waist and fearlessly threw himself into the path of a tank, destroying it and attaining martyrdom in the process. Aban 8 is marked in Iran as Day of Youth and Day of Student Basijis. Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini lauded this young martyr, saying: "Our leader is that 12-year-old child, who attained martyrdom while blowing up an enemy tank."

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, under US pressure, the so-called Middle East Peace Conference was held in Madrid, Spain, between the illegal Zionist entity, and Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestine Liberation Organization. At this and subsequent dubious meetings, the usurper Israeli regime emphasized on what it called peace for peace, while the Arab states called for return of land in exchange for peace by urging the withdrawal of Zionists from only the lands occupied in 1967. Israel, with US help managed to drive a wedge among Arab negotiators, and tricked the PLO and Jordan by imposing upon them separate so-called peace treaties, whose clauses it refuses to honour. Such meetings are mere deception and nothing has come out from them, except for more retreat by the Arabs. Syria, sensing the futility of these so-called peace talks withdrew from them when Israel refused to return the Golan Heights. The regime in Jordan signed a scandalous treaty with Israel and has not gained anything concrete in return, except for more humiliation. As has become evident, Israel and its backers are not interested in peace, and as Iran has pointed out the only solution to the chronic question of Palestine is to hold a referendum involving all original inhabitants of this land, including Muslims, Christians and the original Jews, for a single country and government, with the emphasis that all those who migrated from abroad should peacefully return to their lands of origin.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, Iranian revolutionary and committed poet, Qaysar Aminpour passed away at the age of 48. Born in the vicinity of the southwestern city of Dezful, he came to Tehran after completion of his primary and high school studies, got his PhD in Persian Language and Literature from Tehran University. As of the early days after the victory of Islamic Revolution, he composed revolutionary poems and helped set up literary and art associations. His works include “Tradition and Innovation in Contemporary Poetry” and "Noon of the Tenth Day”.

AS/SS