Today is Saturday; 21st of the Iranian month of Dey 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 15th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1441 lunar hijri; and January 11, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1403 lunar years ago, on this day in 38 AH, according to a narration, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), was born in Medina. He was 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). His parents were the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS) and Princess Shahrbano of Iran. Another version considers the 5th Sha'ban of his birthday. During his 34-year Imamate (divinely-decreed leadership), he built from shreds the tattered fabric of the Islamic society. He was martyred through poisoning at the age of 57 by the Omayyad caliph Waleed bin Abdul-Malik. Among the immortal legacy of the 4th Imam is the prayer manual “Sahifat as-Sajjadiyya” (known as Psalms of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt) and the “Risalat al-Hoqouq” (Treatise of Rights), which is more perfect than the UN Charter of Human Rights.

1403 lunar years ago, on this day in 38 AH, 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 by the Godless Omayyad invader Amr bin Aas. His grave is in Cairo. The crafty Omayyad ruler, Mu'awiyah bin Abu Sufyan also martyred through poisoning, the new governor of Egypt, the famous Malek Ashtar while he was on his way to take up his post. The epistle of Imam Ali (AS) to Malek Ashtar is regarded till this day as the finest treatise on social justice for the masses.

1390 solar years ago, on this day in 630 AD, Mecca, the then centre of paganism, peacefully surrendered to Muslim at the approach of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) without notice with some 10,000 believers, following the breach of the Treaty of Hodaibiyyah signed two years earlier by the Arabs. The Prophet declared general amnesty to his bitter foes and even did not retaliate against the killers of his dear uncle, Hamza, that is, the Abyssinian slave Wahshi and his masters who had ordered him to commit the savagery at Ohad five years earlier – Hind and her husband Abu Sufyan. He spared them by calling them “tulaqa” or freed slaves. This display of the clemency had a profound effect and multitudes of Qoreish started embracing the truth of Islam, as borne out by “Surah Nasr” revealed by God on this day. The Prophet ordered demolishment of temples and the holy Ka’ba was cleansed of the idols the polytheists had installed at Abraham’s edifice of monotheism. The chief idol atop the Ka’ba was pulled down by Imam Ali (AS), who, the Prophet lifted on his shoulders to end idolatry in Arabia. The lunar hijri calendar date is 20^th Ramadhan 8 AH.

1345 lunar years ago, on this day in 96 AH, Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, the 6th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, died in Damascus at the age of 47 after a 10-year reign, during which Arab armies conquered the Iberian Peninsula in the West and penetrated deeper into Central Asia and India, in addition to gaining territory against the Byzantines in Anatolia (modern day Turkey). He gave free rein to the tyrant Hajjaj Thaqafi, his governor of Iraq, to terrorize the people of Khorasan, Sindh and Transoxiana. Walid discouraged the conquered people to become Muslims since this would deprive him of collecting jizya (protection tax) to fill up his coffers. Fearful of the influence of the Persian language in the east and of the Coptic language in Egypt, he forbade the use of any other language except Arabic. In violation of the letter and spirit of the holy Qur’an, he promoted obscene music, singing and dancing. Walid I has earned lasting notoriety for martyring through poison, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the great grandson and 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

1131 solar years ago, on this day in 889 AD, Abdur-Rahman III, the Omayyad Emir of Cordoba, and the first self-styled caliph of Spain, was born to a Christian concubine, while his father's mother was also a Christian concubine. He succeeded his grandfather, Abdullah, and broke all allegiance with the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad. During his 49-year rule until his death at the age of 72, his legitimacy was under serious question as a result of the bid by the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'ite Dynasty of North Africa to expand its sphere of influence in Spain, where Muslims considered the Omayyads as usurpers and the descendants of the Prophet more worthy of governance. In order to check the Fatemids, he signed a treaty with the Christian ruler of Leon, Ordono III, and backed the Maghrawa Berber rebels in Northwest Africa. Instead of confronting the European Christian rebels who were slowly encroaching upon the northern territories of Islamic Spain, he devoted his time and energy to creating inter-Muslim rivalries, as was evident by his support for the Idrisids, which was also a Shi'ite Muslim Dynasty of what is now Morocco. Abdur-Rahman's efforts were brought to naught in 958, after a decisive Fatemid victory that ended for good any Omayyad influence in North Africa.

794 lunar years ago, on this day in 647 AH, prominent scholar, Taqi od-Din Hassan ibn Ali ibn Daoud al-Hilli was born in Hillah in southern Iraq. A student of the famous Seyyed Jamal od-Din Ahmad Ibn Tawous, he was an authority on several branches of Islamic sciences. He lived a fruitful life of 93 years, grooming scholars and authoring books, the most famous of which is “ar-Rijaal” on the biographical evaluation of hadith narrators.

695 solar years ago, on this day in 1325 AD, Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, was built by one of the Aztec kings before the European invaders set foot on American soil. The Aztecs were indigenous Amerindian tribes, which settled in Mexico in the 12th century and ruled the region until early 16th century. They were an agrarian people and developed industries as well. They invented pictograph and attained significant achievements in different scientific fields. But as of the 16th century, the Spanish colonialists infiltrated their land, destroyed the Aztec civilization and almost exterminated the whole race. During this period, hundreds of thousands of Spaniards settled in Mexico, and now form the ruling class while the native Mexicans are still suppressed.

267 solar years ago, on this day in 1753 AD, Hans Sloane, British physician, naturalist and collector of books, manuscripts and curios, that formed the basis for the British Museum in London, died, leaving one of the world's largest and most varied collections of natural history specimens. His passion for the collection and his concern for its future upkeep after his death led him to write a will which clearly stated that it must "remain together and not be separated." He offered it to the British nation, requesting in return a sum of £20,000 for his heirs, which the Parliament accepted, and thus the British Museum was created and eventually its sister institution, the British Museum of Natural History.

389 lunar years ago, on this day in 1052 AH, the prominent scholar, Seyyed Sadr od-Din Ali al-Hussaini, popular as Ibn Ma’soum al-Madani and Seyyed Ali Khan Shirazi, was born in Medina in a scholarly Iranian Dashtaki family. While he was a child, his father Seyyed Ahmad Nizam od-Din – the nephew (sister’s son) of the Safavid emperor of Iran, Shah Abbas I – migrated to the court of the Qotb Shahi dynasty of Iranian origin of the Deccan (southern India), where he married the daughter of the king, Sultan Abdullah Qotb Shah, and was considered the heir-apparent. When Sadr od-din was fourteen years old, he was called to the Deccan by his father and settled in Golknadah-Haiderabad, where in addition to his father, he studied under prominent ulema such as Mohammad bin Ali ash-Shami al-Ameli and Sheikh Ja’far bin Kamal od-Din Bahrani. He soon mastered various branches of sciences, including Arabic and Persian literature. He started writing books and established his own scholarly reputation. With the death of Abdullah Qotb Shah, however, the fortunes of the family fell, when the minister, Seyyed Mozaffar Mazandarani, imprisoned Seyyed Ahmad Nizam od-Din, and placed on the throne Abu’l-Hassan Tana Shah – another son-in-law of the late king. Seyyed Sadr od-Din was also placed under house arrest, but with the death of his father in imprisonment, as well as the sudden death of his own 18-year old son, he sensed danger to his life and planned a successful escape. Immediately he moved to Burhanpur to the court of the Moghal Emperor Mohammad Aurangzeb, who welcomed him, conferred on him the title of ‘Khan’ and placed him in charge of the administration of Lahore in what is now Pakistan. Despite his administrative duties, he continued to write books, and in 1113 AH, after almost fifty years of stay in India, returned to his homeland Hijaz for performing the Hajj and pilgrimage to the shrines of the Prophet and the Infallible Imams. He then went to Iraq for pilgrimage to the holy shrines, and after travelling to Khorasan to the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad, he visited the Safavid capital Isfahan, where he was accorded a warm welcome by Shah Sultan Hussain and the leading scholars of Iran. Seyyed Sadr od-Din finally settled in the city of his ancestors, Shiraz, where he passed away in 1120 AH and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Seyyed Ahmad Shah Cheragh (AS). He trained many scholars and wrote several books, such as the 5-volume “Riyadh as-Salikin”, which is a commentary on “Sahifat-as-Sajjadiyah”, the famous collection of the supplications of the Prophet’s 4^th Infallible Heir, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS). His other works include a diwan of Arabic poetry, his travelogue titled “Rehla Ibn Ma’soum”, the prayer manual “Kalemat-at-Tayyeb”, and biography of poets “Salafat-al-Asr”.

211 lunar years ago, on this day in 1230 AH, Grand Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Hassan Shirazi, was born in Shiraz. He travelled to Iraq to study at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where he mastered various branches of Islamic sciences under such great scholars as Ayatollah Sheikh Morteza Ansari Dezfuli. In his later years he moved to the holy city of Samarra, where he established the Islamic seminary and from where he issued his historic fatwa against tobacco consumption in Iran in order to save the Iranian economy from exploitation by the British colonialists. He initially sent telegrams to Naser od-Din Shah Qajar in Tehran to cancel the contract with the British, but when the Iranian king who had personally granted a 50-year contract to Major Talbot, failed to heed the warnings, Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi had no other choice but issue a Fatwa prohibiting use of tobacco, with the words: “Any use of tobacco from now onwards would be considered war against the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS) – the 12^th and Last Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).” Immediately, the people of Iran obeyed the edict, and throughout the country refrained from buying, selling and using tobacco. The ban even spread to the royal palace, where the queen ordered the breaking of all tobacco pipes and the traditional huqqas. When Naser od-Din Shah asked her, on whose orders she had done such a thing, she promptly replied: “On the orders of the person who has legalized husband-and-wife relations between me and you.” The Shah had no other choice but to cancel the tobacco concession.

141 solar years ago, on this day in 1879 AS, the Anglo-Zulu War began, and lasted almost six months at the end of which the British annexed the Zulu kingdom to their dominion of South Africa, massacring a large number of natives and destroying their homes and hearths.

140 lunar years ago, on this day in 1301 AH, first edition of the newsletter, “al-Urwat al-Wusqa” was published in Paris, under management of Iran's pan-Islamic activist Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi and Egypt's Shaikh Mohammad Abduh. In order to foster Islamic unity, it was distributed in Europe, India, Egypt, Iran, and other places. It was banned under the political pressure of Britain and other colonial powers.

116 solar years ago, on this day in 1904 AD, British occupation troops massacred 1,000 dervishes in Somaliland, which although the northern part of the Republic of Somalia, is today a self-declared independent state which no country or organization has recognized.

63 solar years ago, on this day in 1957 AD, the prominent Iranian geographer and researcher, Professor Abu'l-Qasem Sehaab, passed away at the age of 70. Born in Tafresh, he studied theology and jurisprudence under the ulema of the city at a young age, and soon gained proficiency in Persian, Arabic, French, English, and German languages. He has left behind almost seventy books in different domains, including the book on the lives of the Infallible Imams; the translation of "History of the Holy Qur’an", and the translation of "Carpenter’s Geographical Works" in six volumes from English into Persian. He established the first Geography and Cartography Institute of Iran as a private institute in 1936. Currently the Sehaab Institute of Geography and Cartography is one of the largest geographical institutes in Iran. The library of this institute has over 16,000 books on geography; 18,000 geographical periodicals, and 20,000 maps.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, following the resounding victory of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the elections, President Shazli bin Jadid, resigned. In 1988, after wide-scale unrests, he had pledged reforms and revision of the Constitution, to permit political parties to operate. This enabled FIS to publicly announce its existence in September 1989. It managed to attract hundreds of thousands of members. In June 1990, FIS victory in the local elections ended the monopoly of the ruling Algerian National Liberation Front, which was in power for thirty years. In the wake of public strikes in May and June 1991, President Shazli bin Jadid was forced to hold legislative elections. The landslide victory of FIS in the parliamentary polls of December 1991 deeply worried France – the former colonial power – which ordered Algerian generals to annul the results and force the resignation of Bin Jadid.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a senior official of Iran’s Natanz nuclear site was martyred in Tehran by agents of the US and the illegal Zionist entity at the relatively young age of 33 years. A post-graduate in chemical engineering, he was studying for PhD, and had to his credit several excellent scientific articles published in Persian and English. He was targeted along with Reza Qashqai – who survived – while leaving his house. The Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in a message of condolences on the martyrdom of this brilliant young scientist, referred to Iran's astounding scientific progress, and emphasized: "This is a historical movement, which has its roots in the indomitable resolve of the Iranian nation. We will strongly and resolutely continue this path."

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2014 AD, notorious Zionist terrorist, Ariel Sharon, known as the “Butcher of Beirut”, plunged into the bowels of hell after languishing in coma for eight years as a result of divine wrath that struck him on January 5, 2006, for his crimes against humanity. A Lithuanian Jew having no connections to Palestine, he was the son of illegal migrants to this Muslim land and was named Ariel Sheinerman. During British mandate over Palestine, he was active since his early teens in the Gadna and Haganah terrorist outfits. He has shamelessly admitted in his biography, how he and his Zionist-comrades-in crime would terrorize Palestinian villages, attack bridges and bases, and ambush traffic between Arab villages. With the illegal birth of Israel in 1948, he joined the army, changed his surname to Sharon, and rose rapidly in ranks because of his cold-blooded killings of Palestinian people – both Muslims and Christians. As war minister in 1982, he was physically present in south Lebanon and ordered the Phalangist Christian militia to massacre over 5,000 Palestinian women, children and elderly men in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps. On 28th September 2000 he desecrated the sanctity of the al-Aqsa Mosque by entering it with boots. The next year he became prime minster of a coalition cabinet. An avowed enemy of Islam, he was the first Zionist premier to visit India in 2005, and proposed a tripartite alliance with the BJP government and the US for terrorizing Muslims worldwide.

AS/SS