Today is Friday; 8th of the Iranian month of Azar 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 02nd of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Sani 1441 lunar hijri; and November 29, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1116 solar years ago, on this day in 903 AD, Hussain ibn Hamdan at-Taghlibi, as commander of the Abbasid army under Mohammad ibn Sulayman al-Kateb, played the leading role in the crushing defeat of the Qarmatians at the Battle of Hama, fought some 24 km from the city of the same name in Syria. The leadership of the Qarmatians (a deviationist cult which desecrated the holy Ka’ba and resorted to brute measures to achieve its goals like modern-day Takfiri terrorists), especially Yahya ibn Zikrwaiyh known as Saheb ash-Shama – Man with the Mole – was captured and later executed in Baghdad. This weakened the Qarmatian presence in northern Syria, which was finally eradicated after the suppression of another revolt in 906. More importantly, it paved the way for the Abbasid attack on the Tulunid dynasty and the reincorporation of its domains in southern Syria and Egypt into the Abbasid Caliphate. Hussain ibn Hamdan, who established himself and his family as the leader of the Arabs and Kurds of the Jazira (northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey), leading his troops to successful campaigns against the Qarmatians, Dulafids and Tulunids, was a staunch follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He later became governor of the Jibal area in central Iran, where from his bases in Qom and Kashan, he subdued all sedition. As uncle of the future famous Shi’a Muslim emirs of Aleppo and Mosul – Sayf od-Dowla and Nasser od-Dowla – he used his administrative and military qualities to enhance the position of the Hamdanid family at the court of the Abbasid caliphs, who later treacherously murdered him. The Hamdanid Dynasty, which ruled for 115 years, patronizing ulema and scientists, such as al-Farabi, and promoting the culture of the Ahl al-Bayt, were a bulwark against the Byzantine bid to infiltrate the Muslim world.

1145 lunar years ago, on this day in 296 AH, Abdullah ibn Mu'taz was murdered at the age of 48 after a reign of a single day and night as caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. He was installed by a faction of the powerful Turkic slave guards following the death of al-Muktafi, the 17th self-styled Abbasid caliph, and then deposed the next day by the Vizier. He went into hiding, was found, and strangled to death by a servant of his relative, the 13-year old al-Muqtadir, who was now installed as caliph. Abdullah lived a hedonistic life, writing poetry devoted to the pleasures of the immoral life he led – as is evident by his work “Kitab al-Badi”. He was a son of Mu'taz, the 13th self-styled caliph, who during his brief 3-year reign – before being deposed, brutally beaten and murdered by the Turkic guards – martyred Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS), the 10th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Like the rest of the clan, Abdullah ibn Mu'taz was also notorious for his enmity towards the Prophet's blessed Ahl al-Bayt. He wrote an ode in praise of what he viewed as merits of the tyrannical and immoral Abbasids over the rest of the Bani Hashem. These superficial verses on the forged merits of the Abbasid usurpers were given a fitting answer in a brilliant piece of versified eulogy by the poet and scholar Ali ibn Mohammad at-Tannoukhi, who points to the God-endowed merits of the Ahl al-Bayt, whose virtues are praised in the holy Qur'an and Hadith.

988 solar years ago, on this day in 1031 AD, al-Qader-Billah, the 25^th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, died at the age of 87 after a reign of 40 years and was succeeded by his son al-Qa’em. Named Ahmed, he was the son of Tumna, a concubine of al-Muttaqi, who had ruled for 4 years before being deposed and blinded in 944 by the powerful Turkic guards. Recalled to Baghdad from banishment by the powerful Iranian Buwaiyhid ruler Baha od-Dowla Daylami, he was placed in the position of his deposed cousin, at-Ta’i-Lillah, but turned out to be an ingrate by scheming with Mahmoud Ghazni, the Turkic sultan of eastern Iran, and fanning sectarian flames in Iraq by favouring the Hanbali sect and denouncing the Hanafis, the Mu’tazalis, and the Ismaili rulers of Egypt. Qader-Billah also tried unsuccessfully to suppress the Shi’a Muslims and Islamic rituals.

499 solar years ago, on this day in 1520 AD, Spanish sailor, Ferdinand Magellan, in his voyages around the South American landmass passed through the strait. Known today as the Strait of Magellan, it links the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.

407 solar years ago, on this day in 612 AD, the Battle of Swally, off the coast of Suvali, a village near the city of Surat, Gujarat, India, ended in victory for four English East India Company galleons over four Portuguese naus and 26 barks. This relatively small naval battle, which went unnoticed by the powerful Moghal Empire, is historically important for the emerging European colonialists, since it marked the beginning of the end of Portugal's commercial monopoly over India, and the ascent of the English East India Company's presence in India. This battle convinced the East India Company to establish a small navy to safeguard its commercial interests from other European powers, and eventually establish British hegemony over the Subcontinent a century and a half later.

206 solar years ago, on this day in 1813 AD, the discovery of Iodine – a new substance – was announced at the French Institute by Nicolas Clement. In 1811, Bernard Courtois had observed violet crystals with a metallic lustre that condensed from the vapour rising from the mother liquor of seaweed ash being leeched in sulfuric acid at his family's saltpetre business in Dijon. Although he made a preliminary investigation of this substance, he lacked the resources to fully research it. For this he turned to C.B. Desormes and Nicolas Clement. They suspected the substance was similar to chlorine, but confirmation of its nature as an element was made independently by Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac.

155 solar years ago, on this day in 1864 AD, US forces led by Colonel John Chivington of the Colorado militia attacked and destroyed a peaceful village of Cheyenne and Arapaho Amerindians, massacring and mutilating at least 163 defenceless people, about two-thirds of whom were women and children. This was part of the genocide of the original inhabitants by the European Anglo-Saxon occupiers of North America.

147 solar years ago, on this day in 1872 AD, as part of the US-Amerindian Wars, the Modoc War began with the Battle of Lost River. The skirmish, which was fought near the Lost River along the California-Oregon border, was the result of an attempt by the US 1^st Cavalry Regiment to force a band of the Modoc tribe to relocate to the Klamath Reservation. In the subsequent war, Amerindian Captain Jack of the Modoc and 53 warriors bravely held off over 1000 white US soldiers for 7 months.

134 solar years ago, on this day in 1885 AD, the Third Anglo-Burmese War ended with the end of the Burmese monarchy after battles lasting 22 days, although sporadic resistance and insurgency continued till 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19^th century between the Burmese and the British colonialists. The war saw the loss of sovereignty of an independent Burma under the Konbaung Dynasty, whose rule had already been reduced to the territory known as Upper Burma – the region of Lower Burma having been annexed by the British in 1853, as a result of the Second Anglo-Burmese War. Following the war, Burma came under the rule of the British Raj as a province of India. From 1937 the British governed Burma as a separate colony. After World War II Burma achieved independence as a republic in 1948.

114 lunar years ago, on this day in 1327 AH, the combatant scholar, Ayatollah Ali Fomani Rashti, attained martyrdom at the age of 59. Born in Rasht, Gilan Province, at the age of 20 he left for Iraq for higher religious studies at the seminaries of the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, where he attained the status of Ijtehad. On his return to Iran, he settled in his hometown where in addition to his holding of classes he was actively involved in the Constitutional Movement.

88 lunar years ago, on this day in 1353 AH, the prominent scholar, Ayatollah Seyyed Musa Zarabadi Qazvini, passed away at the age of 59. Born in Qazvin, after higher religious studies in Tehran, he returned to his hometown where he led the people’s movement against despotism and strongly criticized the deviation of the Constitutional Movement from its goals. He authored several books including “Risala-e E’teqaadaat”.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1947 AD, during the First Indochina War, French colonialist forces, as part of their bid to re-establish control over Vietnam, carried out a cowardly massacre of civilians at My Trach village in Quang Bình Province. The French burnt down 326 houses, raped many women before killing them, and murdered over 300 civilian residents, of which 170 were women and 157 children. The victims were lined up and killed with machine gun fire. Every year, 29 November is mourned in Vietnam as “Hatred Date” of the residents in this village.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1947 AD, the UN General Assembly, in an unjust move, voted with a narrow majority on division of Palestine into two separate states: Arab and Jewish. This unfair and illogical decision was adopted under pressure of Western regimes. The Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas was declared an international enclave. Palestinians refused to accept the division of their homeland, but Britain, which had occupied Palestine, worked in tandem with the illegal Zionist settlers from Europe, and on May 15, 1948, while leaving Palestine, handed power to the Zionists, who resorted to terrorism to set up the illegal state called Israel.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Ali Araki, passed away at the age of 103. Born in Arak, he learned Islamic sciences under prominent ulema, such as Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri, and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Taqi Khwansari. For several decades he taught at the Qom Seminary, presenting the most complicated topics in simple form. He was a supporter of the Islamic Revolution and greatly respected Imam Khomeini (RA).

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1996 AD, a UN court sentenced Bosnian Serb army soldier Drazen Erdemovic to 10 years in prison for his role in the massacre of 1,200 Muslims. The Serbs massacred tens of thousands of Muslims during the civil war in the Balkans as Europe chose to ignore the genocide of its native Muslim population.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, Iran built a submarine equipped with sonar-evading technology, and launched it in the Persian Gulf waters as part of its drive to strengthen the defences of the country against any would-be aggressor.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Iran’s nuclear physicists, Dr. Majid Shahriari, and Dr. Fereydoun Abbasi, were targets of two separate terrorist attacks in which the former attained martyrdom while the latter was wounded. Martyr Shahriari was born in Zanjan in 1966 and completed his PhD in nuclear engineering at Tehran’s Amir Kabir University. On establishment of the Nuclear Engineering Faculty at Martyr Beheshti University in 2006, he joined its academic board. One of his most important designs was related to development of a new generation of nuclear reactors, which was widely reflected throughout the world’s scientific centers. The US and Zionist agents are the evil brains behind such cowardly acts of terrorism, in a bid to sabotage Iran’s peaceful nuclear plans.

AS/SS