Today is Thursday; 12th of the Iranian month of Dey 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 06th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1441 lunar hijri; and January 2, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1433 lunar years ago, on this day in 8 AH, Ja’far ibn Abu Taleb, the cousin of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was martyred in the Battle of Mutah in what is now Jordan, against the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire, led by Theodore and made up of Arab tribes including pagans and Christians. The expedition was occasioned by the treacherous killing of the Prophet’s emissary to the governor of Bosra ash-Shaam in Syria, Hareth bin Umair, by Sharjil bin Amr Ghassani, the local Arab tribal leader. The Prophet was distressed and on God’s commandment mobilized an army under command of Ja’far, the elder brother of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS). When the battle ensued, Ja’far, who had recently returned to Arabia from long years of exile in Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia), mounted a red horse, raised the banner of Islam, and fought till his wounds forced him to dismount. Having hamstrung his horse, he fought on foot, receiving some fifty wounds, mostly in the face, till he achieved martyrdom after losing both of his hands. Zayd bin Haretha then took command and fought bravely till he also achieved martyrdom. Abdullah bin Rawaha now took charge and achieved martyrdom as well. At this crucial juncture, when the Muslims, though outnumbered by the Byzantines, were holding their ground, Khaled bin Waleed, who had recently claimed to have accepted Islam after two decades of openly bitter opposition to the Prophet, seized the banner and instead of confronting the Byzantines, ordered retreat, all the way back to Medina. When this defeated force reached Medina, the Prophet was dismayed at Khaled’s cowardice. The retreating Muslims found the doors of their houses shut in their faces by their families, who jeered at them, saying: What prevented you from being martyred like Ja’far and the others. It is interesting to note that while the battle was in progress in faraway Mutah, God enabled the Prophet to see what was transpiring on the battlefield. The Prophet then went to the house of Ja’far, seated his elder son Abdullah on his lap and stroked his head. The mother, Asma bint Umais, observed the Prophet’s manner and wept bitterly since she understood her children were now orphans. The Prophet, with tears in his eyes, declared that Ja’far who like the rest of the monotheist Hashemite Clan had since childhood neither bowed before idols nor indulged in any sin, was granted two wings with which to fly wherever he pleases among the angels of Paradise. That is the reason he became famous as Ja’far at-Tayyar, or Ja’far the Flyer.

1027 lunar years ago, on this day in 414 AH, the Iranian-Islamic mathematician and astronomer, Abu Sa’eed Ahmad ibn Mohammad ibn Abdul-Jalil as-Sijzi, passed away at the age of 77. He was from Sistan which was also called Sijistan, hence his epithet as-Sijzi. He had a deep knowledge of literature and dedicated his astronomical work to Azod od-Dowla the ruler of the Buwaiyhid Empire of Iran-Iraq. He dedicated one of his works to the ruler of Balkh in Greater Khorasan. While in Shiraz he conducted astronomical observations and did a lot of geometry work. According to the famous polymath Abu Rayhan Birouni, Sijzi believed in a heliocentric system in which the Earth was moving and that he invented an astrolabe called the "Zuraqi” based on this idea. Sijzi made a special study of the intersections of conic sections and circles. He replaced the old kinematical trisection of an angle by a purely geometric solution (intersection of a circle and an equilateral hyperbola).

747 lunar years ago, on this day in 694 AH, Gaykhatu, the 5^th ruler of the Iran-based Ilkhanid Dynasty was strangled to death by bowstring after a 4-year reign and was succeeded by Baydu – a grandson of the founder Hulaku Khan. Gaykhatu, who had been governor of Anatolia, was placed on the throne on the murder of his brother, Arghun, and was a noted dissolute, addicted to wine, women, and sodomy. Shortly after his ascension, Princess Kokotchin arrived in Iran from the court of Khaqan Kublai Khan of China, escorted by Marco Polo, as bride for Arghun, who was now dead, Gaykhatu decreed that she be married to his nephew and future Ilkhan, Ghazan. Gaykhatu is known to have drained the public treasury in an extravagant way. Among his beneficiaries were Nestorian Christians, who praise him abundantly for his gifts to the Church. A year after his taking power, he had sent a message to Mamluk Egypt’s Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil, threatening to conquer the whole of the Levant if Aleppo was not ceded to him. Al-Ashraf replied: "It seems the Khan has the same idea as me. I too hope to bring back Baghdad to the fold of Islam as previously. We will see which of us will be quicker". A year before his death, Gaykhatu wanted to replenish his emptied treasury. His vizier Ahmad al-Khalidi proposed the introduction of a recent Chinese invention called Chao or paper money. Gaykhatu called on Kublai Khan's ambassador Bolad in Tabriz to show how the system worked. He then printed paper money imitating the Chinese currency so closely that it even had Chinese words. The Islamic testimony of faith was printed on the paper currency as well. The plan was to get Iranians to use only paper money, and allow Gaykhatu to control the treasury. The experiment was a complete failure, as the people and merchants refused to accept paper money. Soon, bazaar riots broke out and economic activities came to a standstill. Gaykhatu had no choice but to withdraw the use of paper money.

528 solar years ago, on this day in 1492 AD, Mohammad XII, the 22nd ruler of the emirate of Granada, was tricked into surrendering the last Muslim region in Spain to the Christian invaders made up of mercenaries from Spain, Italy, Switzerland and other states, thereby ending almost eight centuries of glorious Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula. The people strongly defended their Spanish Muslim homeland during the 10-year war waged by Ferdinand and Isabel, who then resorted to bribes and deceit to gain control of the Nasrid Kingdom that was founded in 1238 on the collapse of the powerful al-Muwahhid Dynasty. The pleas to the Muslim world for help fell on deaf ears, because of the seditious diplomacy of certain European powers to involve into fratricidal wars the Ottomans (who were almost on the borders of Italy) and the Mamluk rulers of Egypt-Syria that prevented the army assembled by the Mamluk Sultan from being dispatched to the aid of the Spanish Muslims. About 200,000 Spanish Muslims migrated to North Africa after the fall of Granada including Mohammad XII, who died in Morocco 41 years later in 1533. The ruler's energetic uncle, who had briefly ruled as Mohammad XIII (az-Zaghall) during his nephew's imprisonment by the Christians of Castile, went across the Strait of Gibraltar to gather an army for liberation of Granada, but was prevented and imprisoned by the short-sighted ruler of Fez. Those of the Spanish Muslims who remained in their occupied homeland were promised rights to their property, laws, customs, and religion, all of which the Christians brutally violated, and by 1609 after systematic Christianization of the population, expelled to North Africa thousands of Muslims who refused to convert. However, Islamic culture, which led to the development of science and civilization at a time when Christian Europe was immersed in the dark ages, persisted and was incorporated in local cultures, thus leading to the Renaissance in Europe. Among the architectural wonders built by Spanish Muslims in Granada is the famous Alhambra Fortress complex, which is among the testimonies to the glories of Islam in Spain. It is said that while leaving his Spanish homeland for exile, when the defeated Muslim ruler reached a rocky prominence which gave a last view of his lost dominions, he reined in his horse and, surveying for the last time the Alhambra and the green valley that spread below, burst into tears. His mother, Fatema, who was active during the defence and had advised him against surrendering the emirate, reproached him saying: "You weep like a woman for what you couldn't defend as a man."

504 lunar years ago, on this day in 937 AH, Emperor Zaheer od-Din Babar, the founder of the Moghal Empire of Hindustan or northern Subcontinent, died in his capital Kabul, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Naseer od-din Humayun, to the throne of Delhi. Born in Andijan in the Ferghana Valley in what is now Uzbekistan, he was the son of the local ruler, Omar Sheikh – a son of Abu Sa’eed Mirza the great-grandson of the fearsome Central Asian conqueror, Amir Timur and the last effective Timurid emperor of a domain covering present day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and parts of Iran. On his mother’s side, Babar was grandson of Yunus Khan, the ruler of Moghulistan, and thus a descendent of the fearsome Genghis Khan. Like the rest of the Timurids, he embraced Persian language and culture, though his mother tongue was Chaghatai Turkic. In his obsession to take control of Samarqand he lost Ferghana as well to Obaidullah Khan Shaibani, the ruler of the Uzbeks, who were newcomers to the region and were fast displacing the local Tajiks or Persian speakers. Babar accepted Shah Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid Dynasty of Iran, as suzerain, after rejecting demands from the Ottoman Sultan to acknowledge him as overlord. This alliance enabled him to chalk out an independent kingdom in Kabul, which he used as a base to recapture Samarqand with Safavid help, but soon lost it for the third time. Later with his combined Tajik and Turkic military, he conquered the northern parts of the Subcontinent by defeating the Afghan king, Ibrahim Lodhi of Delhi, at the Battle of Panipat in 1526 AD, and the next year routed the huge Rajput-Afghan joint army of Rana Sanga. He was a poet in both Persian and his Turkic, and was a devotee of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

493 lunar years ago, on this day in 948 AH, Iranian mathematician, Ghiyas od-Din Mansour, passed away and was laid to rest in the city of Shiraz. He learned rational and traditional sciences under his father and other Ulema. Upon the order of the Safavid Emperor, Shah Ismail, he repaired the Maragheh Observatory. He later served as prime minister to the next Safavid emperor, Shah Tahmasb. He resigned from this post and spent the rest of his life grooming students, and compiling books. His most important works include "Hojjat al-Kalaam” and "al-Haqa’eq”.

406 solar years ago, on this day in 1613 AD, the Persian poetess and highly cultured lady of the Moghal court of Hindustan (northern subcontinent), Salima Sultan Begum, who was a senior consort of Emperor Jalal od-Din Mohammad Akbar Shah, passed away in Agra at the age of 60. Her mother Gulrukh Begum was a daughter of Emperor Zaheer od-Din Babar, the founder of the Moghal Empire, which means she was the niece of Emperor Humayun and maternal cousin of Emperor Akbar. In her teens she was married to the famous general Bairam Khan Baharlou, who was forty years her senior, and on his assassination three years after the childless marriage, she married Akbar, who greatly respected her and considered her second only to his principal wife, Ruqaiyya Sultan Begum –daughter of his uncle Hindal Mirza. Though issueless, Salima Sultan Begum, along with Ruqaiyya and their mother-in-law the highly accomplished Iranian lady Hamida Bano Begum, wielded major influence over Akbar and his son Jahangir – her stepson and next emperor – to the extent that it were these ladies who succeeded in reconciling father and son after the latter’s abortive revolt. Salima personally went to Allahabad to inform Jahangir of his father’s forgiveness and brought him to the court. Earlier in 1575 Salima left Agra for Mecca along with her famous aunt, Gulbadan Begum, and other Timurid ladies, via the Arabian Sea, and after performing the Hajj pilgrimage four times during the stay in Arabia, it was March 1582 by the time they returned to Agra. A renowned Persian poet of her age, Salima used the penname “Makhfi” (Hidden One), and as a gifted writer and avid reader of books, she maintained a great library and kept account of state affairs. Jahangir in his memoirs “Tuzuk-e Jahangiri” praises his stepmother Salima both for her natural qualities and her acquirements, saying: “She was adorned with all good qualities... in women this degree of skill and capacity is seldom found.”

378 solar years ago, on this day in 1642 AD, Mohammad IV, the 19th Ottoman sultan and the 10th self-styled Turkish caliph, was born in Istanbul to Sultan Ibrahim’s Rutherian (Ukrainian) concubine. Soon after his birth, Ibrahim was so enraged that he tore the infant from his mother's arms and flung him into a cistern. Fortunately, he was rescued by the harem servants, but this left him with a lifelong scar on his head. On Ibrahim’s execution, he was placed on the throne at the age of 6 and ruled for almost 40 years till his ouster in 1687. He died in 1693 during imprisonment. His reign changed the nature of the Sultan's position forever by giving up most of his executive power to his Grand Vizier. His reign is notable for the peace with the Safavid Empire of Iran which enabled him to stage a brief revival of Ottoman fortunes in Europe led by Grand Vizier Mohammad Koprulu Pasha and his son Fazel Ahmad Pasha. The Turks regained the Aegean islands from Venice, and Crete, during the Cretan War (lasting from 1645 to 1669). They also fought successful campaigns against Transylvania (in 1660) and Poland (during 1670 to 1674). At one point, when Mohammad IV allied himself with Petro Doroshenko, Ottoman rule was close to extending into Podolia deep inside Ukraine. Supporting the 1683 Hungarian uprising against Austrian rule, a large Ottoman army besieged Vienna, but suffered a defeat on the Kahlenberg Heights, by Polish forces led by King John III Sobieski and his allies, resulting in reversal of fortune for the Turks, who would have lost Iraq and Anatolia as well, if Shah Suleiman Safavi of Iran had chosen to exploit the weakness of the Ottoman Empire, after the Ottomans suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The Iranians refrained from inter-Muslim sedition by refusing the proposals from the European states to form a coalition against the Ottoman Empire. In 1687, after the crushing Ottoman defeat in the Second Battle of Mohacs, Mohammad IV was deposed.

288 years ago on this day in 1732 AD, the renowned scholar and philanthropist, Haji Muhammad Mohsin was born in the Hooghly district of Bengal in eastern India in a virtuous family of Iranian origin from Isfahan. His parents were Haji Faizollah and Zainab Khanum, who owned vast lands and property in many districts. After mastering the Persian and Arabic languages, and gaining excellent knowledge of the holy Qur’an, the Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, he set out in the prime of his youth to travel around Muslim countries. He spent 27 years abroad, performing the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, visiting the Prophet’s holy shrine in Medina, and then travelling to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq. He then proceeded to Iran, where in Isfahan he was warmly welcomed by his grandfather’s family members. Later he visited Turkey and Egypt, and returned to his native Bengal via Khorasan, Afghanistan, Punjab and Awadh. In Hooghly, his childless elder step-sister, Maryam Khanum (Munnujan), who had inherited a large fortune from her husband, placed him in charge of all family properties, which he sincerely managed by feeding the poor and establishing educational, religious, and charitable institutes. Some of these are the Hooghly Mohsin College and the Hooghly Imambara. In 1803 his sister died, and in 1806, Haji Mohsin who lived a simple ascetic life, created a Waqf or trust for education, religious programmes, and pensions to the elderly and disabled. He also gave 40 acres of land (out of 42 acres) for establishing the college in Khulna, (which is the 10th top college of Bangladesh today). He passed away on 29 November 1812 at 80 years of age in his hometown Hooghly.

Due to his contributions in the field of education, Haji Mohsin is greatly respected to this day, with several educational institutions in India and Bangladesh named in his honour, such as the Government Haji Mohammad Mohsin College, Chittagong, Haji Mohsin Government College, Panchbibi, and the Haji Mohammad Mohsin Hall at the University of Dhaka. A Bangladesh Navy base located in Dhaka is also named after him. In India, the Haji Mohsin Trust runs the Hooghly Imambara Medical College, as well as a well-stacked library, a madrasah (religious school), and an academy of traditional Islamic medicine.

177 solar years ago, on this day in 1843 AD, postal service was modernized and the first post box was installed in the Austrian Capital, Vienna. In those days, postal letters and packages were transported by horses, camels, and special boats. But, later on, new methods were implemented and the postal service gradually developed to its current form.

154 solar years ago, on this day in 1866 AD, the Australian poet and researcher, Gilbert Murray, was born. He went to England at the age of 11, where after completing his studies he taught ancient Greek literature and culture at Oxford University. His research on ancient Greece led him to conclude that although the Greeks had several deities but in principle the spirit of monotheism governed their customs and traditions. He wrote several books including the “History of Ancient Greek Literature” and “Faith, War and Politics”.

100 solar years ago, on this day in 1920 AD, the American author and chemist of Russian origin, Isaac Asimov, was born in Russia in a village near what is now Belarus. His family migrated to the US when he was three years old. After obtaining PhD in chemistry he studied several other branches of science, and decided to simplify the study of scientific texts for youngsters. He wrote 270 books on science, science-fiction, mathematics, and humanities, including the novel "I, Robot". He coined the term “robotics”. Asimov died in 1992.

82 solar years ago, on this day in 1938 AD, Yusuf E’tesami, titled E’tesam ol-Molk, the Iranian journalist, official, publisher, translator, and writer, passed away at the age of 64. His father Ibrahim was from Ashtian and the head of finance of the Iranian province of Azarbaijan. He was the elder brother of the architect and painter Abu’l-Hassan E’tesami, and the father of the famous poetess Parvin E’tesami. In the 1890s, Yusuf E’tesami established the first typographical printing house in Tabriz. He was member of the Majlis or Iranian Parliament for three years from 1909 to 1912, and founded the “Bahar” journal in 1910. At various junctures he served in the Ministry of Education and headed the Court and Majlis Libraries. Proficient in several languages including Arabic, French and German, Yusuf E’tesami produced about forty volumes of translations, in particular some Persian translations of the Egyptian writer Qasim Amin's “Tahrir al-Mara”, Frenchman Victor Hugo's “Les “Miserables”, and the German Friedrich Schiller's “Kabale und Liebe”. He also wrote a commentary in Arabic of the Central Asian Persian Mu’tazalite scholar Abu’l-Qasim az-Zamakhshari's “Atwaq adh-Dhahab”, and compiled a three-volume catalogue of manuscripts in the Majlis Library.

78 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD, the jurisprudent Ayatollah Fayyaz Zanjani passed away in his hometown Zanjan, where for three decades he was source of emulation for the local people. Son of the renowned mujtahed Akhound Mullah Mohammad, he completed his religious studies in Tehran, before returning to Zanjan. He was a prominent teacher who groomed several scholars and strove to promote the teachings of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt in society. 

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, the historic epistle of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), was delivered to the last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, inviting him to return to God and spiritual values. The epistle also invited him to study the divine religion of Islam, and predicted the end of communism. Part of the epistle read: One should turn to facts. The main problem of the Soviet Union is not the right of ownership, economy and freedom. Your main problem is your disbelief in God; the same problem which has, and will push the West toward the dead end. Your main problem is a long and pointless fight against God; the Source of the universe and creation.” The epistle added: It is perfectly clear to everyone that hereafter communism would be seen in the world’s political history museums because Marxism does not meet any of the actual needs of mankind… I want you to seriously study Islam, because of the ethereal and global values of this dynamic religion, which can salvage nations and solve the major problems of mankind. Two years later, Imam Khomeini’s prophecy about the end of Marxism materialized and the Soviet Union disintegrated.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, Iran test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile named Qader as part of the Islamic Republic’s drive toward self-sufficiency in defence.

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, the Iranian media reported that the Islamic Republic has captured 2 US RQ11 Raven surveillance drones over the last 17 months and that much of their data has been de-coded. Iranian engineers have successfully manufactured this advanced drones and modified them as per Iranian strategies.

4 solar years ago, on this day in 2016 AD, Sheikh Nimr Baqer an-Nimr, the prominent religious leader of the eastern part of the British created entity called Saudi Arabia, was martyred by the Wahhabi regime at the age of 57 despite the appeals of several countries and human rights organizations. Born in Awamiyya, he completed his higher religious studies in Iran and Syria. As Friday Prayer Leader of his hometown, he strove for materialization of the deprived birthrights of the native Shi’a Muslim majority of the oil-rich Eastern Province. His popularity, especially among the youth and his bold criticism of the dictatorial policies of the regime in Riyadh, coupled with calls for free elections, led to his imprisonment and torture in 2006. He warned that if the rights of Shi’a Muslims are not materialized, the oil-rich East, which was occupied the Aal-e Saud during World War 1, had the right to reassert its independence. The Wahhabi regime arrested him and 35 other activists. During the 2011–12 protests, Sheikh Nimr called for protestors to resist police bullets using "the roar of the word" rather than violence, and predicted the collapse of the Saudi regime if repression continued. On 8 July 2012 Saudi police shot him in the leg and kidnapped him by opening fire into a crowd of thousands of protestors and killing several people. Sheikh Nimr was tortured in prison and started a hunger strike, as a result of which his health deteriorated before his cruel execution, which angered Muslims worldwide and brought condemnations for the US-backed Saudi regime.

AS/SS