Today is Tuesday; 1st of the Iranian month of Bahman 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 25th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1441 lunar hijri; and January 21, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1600 solar years ago, on this day in 420 AD, Yazdegerd I, the 16th Sassanid Emperor of Iran, whose empire included Iraq, the Caucasus, and parts of Afghanistan and Central Asia, was killed by his own nobles after a reign of 21 years. Son of Shapur II, he was installed on the throne on the assassination of his elder brother, Bahram IV. Of peaceful disposition, he maintained cordial relations with both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. Early during his reign, Yazdegerd I was entrusted the care of the Roman prince Theodosius by his father Arcadius on the latter's death in 408, and faithfully defended the life, power and possessions of the Roman prince. At the beginning of his reign, Yazdegerd I promoted Christianity and later opposed it. His alternate persecution of Zoroastrians and later Christians earned him the Arabic epithet of “al-Khasha” (the Harsh). The Persians gave him the epithet of “Ramashtras” (the Most Quiet). The later part of his reign was spent in his attempts to convert Armenia to Zoroastrianism, while his last days were rocked by a civil war among his sons.

1377 lunar years ago, on this day in 64 AH, Mu’awiyyah, the son of the tyrant Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah, died under suspicious circumstances in Damascus, Syria, at the age 19, a month after abdicating the caliphate. He was installed as ruler of the usurper Omayyad regime following the death by divine wrath of his accursed father – the perpetrator of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala – and immediately distanced himself from Yazid’s crimes against Islam, especially the slaying of Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). After only a month and eleven days in power, he relinquished the caliphate by delivering a sermon that exposed as sinners and usurpers, both his father and grandfather Mu’awiyyah ibn Abu Sufyan, who had seized the caliphate from the Prophet’s elder grandson Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS) in 41 AH to establish the illegal Omayyad regime. The young Mu’awiyyah, who unlike his blasphemous father and grandfather, was an upright person, went on the pulpit of the main mosque of Damascus, and with eyes full of tears, recounted the evil and sacrilegious deeds of his father, Yazid, in martyring Imam Husain (AS), in imprisoning the Prophet’s household; in desecrating the Prophet’s Mosque and Shrine in Medina following the massacre of Muslims at Harrah, and in profaning the sanctity of the holy Ka’ba. He also recounted the evil deeds of his grandfather Mu’awiyyah ibn Sufyan, the accursed founder of the Omayyad dynasty, in revolting against the rule of justice of Imam Ali (AS), in seizing the caliphate from the Prophet’s elder grandson Imam Hasan al-Mojtaba (AS), and in shedding the blood of Muslims. According to historical accounts, he said: The caliphate is from Allah. My grandfather fought the person who was more entitled to it, i.e. Imam Ali. He [Mu'awiyyah ibn Abu Sufyan] committed acts that you are all aware of, and for which he is suffering in his grave. Then my father Yazid assumed the caliphate even though he was not deserving of it. He fought the Prophet’s grandson and is suffering in the grave on account of his sins. It is a terrible thing that we are fully aware of Yazid's bad deeds: he slaughtered the Prophet’s family, he deemed alcohol permissible, and set fire to the holy Ka'ba. I don't need this rule.

1257 solar years ago, on this day in 763 AD, Ibrahim Ibn Abdullah al-Mahaz was martyred near Kufa in the Battle of Bakhamra by the forces of Mansour Dawaniqi, the 2nd self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. He was a great-grandson of Imam Hasan Mujtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He had launched the uprising in Basra in coordination with the uprising of his elder brother, Mohammad Nafs Zakiyya, who had liberated the Hijaz including the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Within two months, Ibrahim liberated the whole of southern Iraq and Iran, thereby cornering Mansour in his capital Hirah in central Iraq (Baghdad was not yet built). While Ibrahim advanced towards Kufa, and Mansour was on the verge of defeat, Nafs Zakiyya was deserted by most of his army and martyred in combat. This emboldened the Abbasids and in the battle near Kufa, an arrow pierced Ibrahim’s neck. He was unhorsed and decapitated by Hamid Ibn Qahtaba, who sent the head of this venerable descendent of the Prophet to Mansour. Years earlier during the rule of the Godless Omayyad regime, the persecuted Abbasid brothers, Abu'l-Abbas Saffah and Mansour Dawaniqi, had sworn allegiance to Nafs Zakiyya at the famous gathering of the Hashemite clan at Abwa. However, on the fall of the Omayyads, the Abbasids, deserted him, broke their promise to return rule of the Islamic state to the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt, and instead established their own dubious rule.

733 solar years ago, on this day in 1287 AD, Sa’eed ibn Hakam al-Qurashi, the last Muslim ruler of the Minorca or Manurqa group of islands off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea, seeing himself outnumbered by the invading Christian army of King Alfons III of Aragon, who had defeated him on 17 January, signed his surrender with the treaty of San Agayz, at the fortress near Madina al-Jazira – nowadays known as the fortress of Santa Àgueda. This ended over five centuries of glorious Muslim rule in Minorca, and the forced conversion to Christianity of the local Muslims. Sa’eed ibn Hakam was apparently allowed to leave the island towards North Africa, with two hundred of his followers, the remains of his father, and his library. The ship manned by a Genoese, encountered a storm off the North African coast and was destroyed. There were no survivors.

503 lunar years ago, on this day 938 AH, the great Islamic scholar of what is now Lebanon, Shaikh Ali bin Abdul-Aali al-Maysi al-Ameli, passed away. Known as “Muhaqqiq” (Researcher) for his outstanding abilities, he was a teacher of the famous scholar Shaikh Zayn od-Din al-Juba’i, known as “Shaheed Thani” (Second Martyr) for his tragic martyrdom in Syria. Shaikh Ali al-Maysi’s son, Shaikh Lotfallah al-Maysi migrated to Safavid Iran and settled in the holy city of Mashhad in Khorasan, where he became a famous scholar. During those days, because of the persecution by the Ottoman Turkish rulers, many Shi’ite Arab scholars of Lebanon migrated to Iran.

283 solar years ago, on this day in 1737 AD, a devastating cyclone in the Bay of Bengal hit the eastern coasts of India, killing at least 300,000 people. The Bay of Bengal is one of the major storm-prone regions, and frequently causes devastations in eastern India and Bangladesh.

227 solar years ago, on this day in 1793 AD, French King Louis XVI was beheaded by the guillotine four years after the victory of the French Revolution. He was crowned in 1774 and was under the influence of his wife, Marie Antoinette. Due to dire economic and social conditions, the people of France staged an uprising against him and three years later the monarchic system was officially annulled. But, since the French King had appealed to foreign powers to save him, he was prosecuted and executed on charge of treason. Several members of the royal family, including Marie Antoinette were beheaded by the guillotine.

96 solar years ago, on this day in 1924 AD, the leader of Russia's communist party, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, died at the age of 54. He started his struggles against the monarchic system while at university. Before fleeing Russia in 1900, he was incarcerated several times. He compiled books overseas, and taking advantage of the popular uprising against the Czar, he returned to Russia in April 1917. Lenin and his party manipulated the chaotic events and by October succeeded in hijacking the revolution to establish the repressive and Godless Soviet Union. In 1924, Lenin succumbed to injuries he had sustained during a botched assassination attempt against him, six years earlier. Lenin’s ideas influenced Marxism and were officially promoted as the Marxist-Leninist ideology. His books include: “Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism”, “The State and Revolution”, and “The Development of Capitalism in Russia”.

71 lunar years ago, on this day in 1370 AH, prominent jurisprudent and Marja’ or Source of Emulation, Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Faiz Qomi, passed away in his hometown Qom. After completing his studies in Qom, he left for Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where his teachers included the celebrated Mohammad Kazem Akhound Khorasani. On his return to Iran he started reclaiming the old buildings of the defunct seminary of Qom, and after revival of the Qom seminary by his colleague Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Ha’eri Yazdi, he began teaching students. At the same time he was politically and socially against the British-installed and American-supported Pahlavi regime.

58 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, Tehran University students suffered injuries when mercenaries of the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime attacked their peaceful gathering. Text books were seized and the regime fearful of protests by the students, closed down Tehran University for more than two-and-a-half months.

55 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, Prime Minister Hassan-Ali Mansour of the Shah's detested regime was revolutionarily executed by Muslim combatant, Mohammad Bokharai. Mansour was an American stooge. It was during his tenure that the rubber-stamp parliament of the Pahlavi regime passed the Capitulation Bill granting immunity to American criminals from judicial pursuance in Iran. This enabled the US to plunder Iran’s resources and to interfere in its domestic affairs more freely. Mansour also earned notoriety for sending into exile the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). Soon after the beloved Imam’s exile to Turkey, Mansour was fatally shot by Bokharai, and died a few days later.

52 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, in Vietnam, the Battle of Khe Sahn began, with US occupation forces dropping over 100,000 tons of bombs (equivalent in destructive force to five Hiroshima-size atomic bombs) until mid-April on the hapless Vietnamese people. This was roughly 1,300 tons of bombs dropped daily. In addition, 158,000 large-caliber shells were fired on the hills. It lasted for over five months and was the longest and bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War.

45 solar years ago, on this day in 1975 AD, Dr. Mohammad Qarib, physician, clinician, distinguished university professor and the Father of Pediatrics in Iran, passed away in Tehran at the age of 66. Born in Garakan in Ashtiyan County of Markazi Province, after completing high school in 1927, he went to Reims, France, where he studied at Ecole de Médecine de Reims for 2 years and then enrolled at the Paris University Medical School. An honour student at the medical school, he passed the difficult examinations for an externship and later those for the coveted and highly competitive interne des hopitaux de Paris. He received an M.D. degree in 1937 and, after one year of training in pediatrics with Professor Ribadeau-Dumas, he returned home. Dr. Qarib was appointed the first professor of pediatrics at Tehran University. Subsequently, he became chairman of the pediatrics department, a post he held until his death in 1975. In 1941, he was the author of the first Persian textbook on diseases of children. Throughout his career, he edited or co-edited numerous volumes on pediatric problems and progress in Iran, and published many articles in Persian, French, and American medical journals. During a span of 37 years, he taught the medicine of childhood to thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. Many of his pupils subsequently held important positions in Iranian medical education, including the chairmanship of most of the pediatrics departments in the numerous medical schools in Iran. Because of his endeavors and influence, the field was recognized as a specialty in 1950 and a Pediatrics Specialty Board was created in 1955. In 1960, he and his colleagues founded the Iranian Pediatrics Society, of which he was president until 1974. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the International Pediatrics Association from 1968 to 1974. In 1970, he was instrumental in the planning and building of the 150-bed Children's Hospital Medical Center in Tehran, and he served as its medical director from 1971 to 1975. For his lifetime of service, Dr. Qarib was honoured on a stamp issued by the Islamic Republic of Iran on October 10, 1991. His personal, professional, and political life, was detailed in a 36-part television series entitled "Roozegar-e Qarib" or "Times of Qarib", was first shown on Iranian TV in 2007.

41 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, pillars of the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime were shaken by popular nationwide protests, as Iranians stormed the Shah's prisons to release thousands of prisoners. Simultaneously, a large number of Air Force officers staged demonstrations to announce their solidarity with the revolutionary masses. Reports circulated that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), would soon be returning from exile. People rejoiced and everyone prepared to accord a unique and historical welcome to the beloved leader.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1983 AD, prominent Iranian musician, calligrapher, and scholar of Persian literature, Ibrahim Bonari, passed away at the age of 91. Born in Taleqan, he qualified in jurisprudence and Arabic literature, before mastering Persian literature, music and the art of calligraphy.

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