Today is Thursday; 3rd of the Iranian month of Bahman 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 27th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1441 lunar hijri; and January 23, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1486 lunar years ago, on this day in 45 years before Hijra, Abdul-Muttaleb, the paternal grandfather of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), passed away in Mecca and was laid to rest in the Jannat al-Mu’allah Cemetery – unfortunately desecrated and destroyed by Wahhabi heretics 93 years ago in 1925 when the Godless Aal-e-Saud clan occupied Islam’s holiest city. His father was the monotheist Hashem, a direct descendant of the Prophet Abraham’s (AS) firstborn son, Prophet Ishmael (AS), while his mother was Salmah bint Amr of the Khazraj clan of Yathreb – which was to become known as Medinat an-Nabi or simply Medina, following the migration to that city of his grandson the Prophet. Named Shaibah by his mother, he was brought to Medina by his uncle Muttaleb, following the death of his father Hashem. When the people of Mecca saw Shaibah with his uncle, they thought he was his slave, and called him Abdul Muttaleb, which means slave of Muttaleb. Although Muttaleb tried to explain that the boy was his nephew, the name stuck. Muttaleb continued to manage his brother Hashem's duties until Abdul Muttaleb was old enough to take over. Abdul Muttaleb took over the duties of Saqaya and Rifada when his uncle Muttaleb died. He had many good qualities and made many changes to the lives and habits of the Quraish. In the year known as Aam al-Feel or Year of the Elephant in which his grandson the Prophet of Islam was to be born, a miraculous incident happened, when Abraha, the governor of Abyssinian-occupied Yemen, riding an elephant, marched upon Mecca to raze down the holy Ka’ba and in the process his soldiers seized the camel-herd of Abdul Muttaleb, who boldly approached the invader and demanded the return of his camels. When Abraha mockingly asked him as to why he is not requesting that the Ka’ba should be spared, Abdul Muttaleb said: I am the owner of camels, while the Ka’ba has its own Owner. No sooner did the elephantine army of Abraha tried to storm the city, a swarm of tiny birds appeared overhead by the command of God Almighty, raining death upon men and beasts by dropping pebbles upon them and reducing them to resemble chewed straw, as Surah al-Feel of the holy Qur’an states. To Abdul-Muttaleb goes the credit of having a divinely-inspired dream that led to the rediscovery and unearthing of the spring of Zamzam which God Almighty had caused to burst from under the feet of a thirsty little Ishmael, as his mother Hajar, frantically ran between the hillocks of Safa and Marwa, trying to find water for her seemingly dying son. When grandson Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) was born and the infant soon became orphan with the death of his father Abdullah, the doting grandfather Abdul-Muttaleb took care of the boy until his own death 8 years later, but before breathing his last, gave custody of the child to his other son, the monotheist Imran Abul Taleb – the guardian of both his nephew and the creed of Islam in Mecca. Abdul-Muttaleb’s another son was the valiant Hamzah, who was also a devout Muslim and achieved martyrdom in the Battle of Ohad, which the pagan Arabs imposed upon the Prophet.

1049 solar years ago, on this day in 971 AD, troops of the Song Dynasty soundly defeated the war elephant corps of the southern Han kingdom at Shao, largely due to intensive crossbow fire. This defeat not only marked the eventual submission of the southern Han to the Song, but was also the last instance where a war elephant corps was employed as a regular division of a Chinese army. The Song Dynasty, founded in 960, succeeded in uniting China once again, by putting an end to seven decade period of “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms” that had emerged after the collapse of the powerful Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty, during its over three-century rule, was the first government in world history to nationally issue banknotes or true paper money, and this period also saw the first known use of gunpowder. During the Song era, more Buddhist monks from India visited China than in the previous period, while people from other lands, especially Muslims of Iranian, Turkic, and Arab origin traveled to China to conduct trade or live permanently. The result was Muslims becoming a pre-eminent force in the import and export industry, while some were appointed as officers to supervise economic affairs.

991 lunar years ago, on this day in 450 AH, Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ali an-Najashi, passed away in Matirabad near the city of Samarra in Iraq at the age of 78. He is considered the earliest and among the most authentic Shi'ite Muslim scholars of “Ilm ar-Rijaal”, which literally means "Knowledge of Men", and refers to a discipline of Islamic religious science in which the narrators of hadith are evaluated. His book “Rijaal an-Najashi” has been the most reliable source of information about early ulema and scholars of the School of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and paved the way for later generations to further explore this vital field. Najashi was a student of the celebrated Shaikh Mufid and other prominent scholars, while his father, Ali ibn Ahmad, had studied under the famous Iranian scholar, Shaikh Sadouq, when the latter visited Baghdad. Born with an inquisitive mind that enabled him to embark on a scrutiny of sources and narrators, Najashi belonged to a family of eminent scholars. His seventh ancestor, Abdullah an-Najashi, the governor of Ahvaz and Fars during the reign of Mansour Dawaniqi, the 2nd self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was a student of Imam Ja'far Sadeq (AS), the 6th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He compiled the Imam's answers to his queries under the title “Risalat-Abdullah an-Najashi”.

821 solar years ago, on this day in 1199 AD, Ya'qoub al-Mansur, the 3rd ruler of the al-Muwahhed Dynasty of Morocco and Muslim Spain, died in Marrakesh at the age of 39 after a 15-year rule. Known as Moulay Ya'qoub, his reign saw the flourishing of trade, architecture, philosophy and the sciences, coupled with military victories, especially over the Christian rebels of what is now Portugal and Spain, as well against the Crusaders off the coast of Syria. He avenged his father's killing by the Christians in what is now Portugal by liberating several cities and forts of that land and transporting to Morocco some three thousand captives. During his absence from Andalusia, when Christian rebels occupied several cities, he returned from North Africa to defeat them once again, before going back to Morocco. Taking advantage of his absence, Christian rebels and European mercenaries led by King Alfonso VIII of Castile, assembled a huge army of over 300,000. On hearing this, he returned again to Iberia and won a resounding victory in the Battle of Alarcos on 18th July 1195. Half of the huge enemy forces were decimated and treasury beyond calculation fell to him. Al-Mansour established a strategic partnership with the Kurdish ruler of Egypt-Syria, Salah od-Din Ayyoubi, which was reflected in the participation of the al-Muwahhed fleet in the operations against the Crusaders, even in the Red Sea, where ships lent to al-Adel by al-Mansour defeated the expedition against Mecca by Renaud de Chatillon in 1182. During his reign, al-Mansur undertook several major projects. He built the Kotoubia and al-Mansuria Mosques in Marrakesh. He attempted to build what would have been the world's largest mosque in Rabat, along with the highest tower, but the project remained incomplete. He also patronized the great Spanish Muslim philosopher-scientist, Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Like many of the Muslim rulers, al-Mansur was learned and favoured the Zahirite School of jurisprudence, founded by Dawoud ibn Khalaf az-Zahiri of Isfahan – a school that was widespread among Sunni Muslims in Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Africa and Spain, before the Turkic rulers forcibly replaced it with the Hanafi School (also founded by an Iranian, Abu Hanifa, the son of a Zoroastrian convert to Islam from Kabul).

652 solar years ago, on this day in 1368 AD, in a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming Dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries. Born in a peasant family in 1328, Zhu Yuanzhang, who liberated China from the rule of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, transformed China into a major power during his 30-year rule. Although born a Buddhist, he embraced the Confucian doctrine, and showed inclination towards Islam. He ordered the construction of several mosques in Nanjing, Yunnan, Guangdong, Xijing and Fujian, and placed inscriptions in them in praise of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He rebuilt the Jinjue Mosque in his capital Nanjing, and large numbers of the Muslim Hui people moved to the city during his rule. He had ten Muslim generals in his military, including Chang Yuchun, Lan Yu, Ding Dexing, Mu Ying, Feng Sheng and Hu Dahai. He personally wrote a 100-word praise (baizizan) on Islam, Allah and the Prophet.

506 solar years ago, on this day in 1514 AD, Hai Rui, original name Haider, the famous Chinese official of Muslim origin, of the Ming Dynasty, who was known for his honesty and integrity in office, was born in Qiongshan, Hainan. His great-great-grandfather, a native of Guangzhou, was also named Haider. Having lost his father at the age of three, Hai Rui was raised by his mother, who was also from a Muslim (Hui) family that originated from the subcontinent. Hai Rui, noted for his Neo-Confucian philosophical works, never discussed Islam openly to avoid any hostility. He gained a reputation for his uncompromising adherence to upright morality, scrupulous honesty, and fairness. This won him widespread popular support but made him many enemies in the bureaucracy. Nevertheless, he was called to the capital Beijing and promoted to Secretary of Ministry of Revenue. In 1565, he submitted a memorial strongly criticizing the Jiajing Emperor for the neglect of his duties and bringing disaster to the country, for which he was sentenced to death in 1566, but was released after the Emperor died the next year. Hai Rui was reappointed under the Longqing Emperor but forced to resign in 1570. He then spent 15 years in retirement in Hainan before being finally brought back to the Empire's "auxiliary capital" of Nanjing, in 1585, to serve under the Wanli Emperor. Hai Rui was promoted to censor-in-chief of Nanjing in 1586, but died in office a year later. His has ever since become a byword of faith, honesty and integrity.

464 solar years ago, on this day in 1556 AD, one of the deadliest earthquakes shook the Chinese State of Shaanxi – a densely populated province located on fault lines. This terrible quake killed an estimated 830,000 people besides inflicting huge loss on the infrastructure.

263 lunar years ago, on this day in 1178 AH, the Hadith scholar, Abdul-Karim Ibn Ahmad al-Halabi, passed away. He was from Aleppo as his surname suggests, and though he went blind, he wasn’t demoralized and remained a prominent scholar. He has left behind numerous compilations, including “Ad’iyat as-Safar” or supplications to God for safety while on journey.

231 solar years ago, on this day in 1789 AD, Ja’far Khan, the 7th ruler of the Zand Dynasty of Iran, was killed after a 4-year reign, by Murad Khan, who threw his decapitated head over the citadel walls and declared himself Shah, only to be defeated and killed four months later by the deceased ruler’s son, the popular Lotf Ali Khan. A capable military commander and son of Sadeq Khan – the nephew of the Zand Dynasty’s founder, Karim Khan – Ja’far inflicted numerous defeats on Agha Mohammad Khan the Qajarid warlord, who in 1794 finally succeeded in overthrowing the Zands and becoming king of the new Qajar Dynasty of Iran.

188 solar years ago, on this day in 1832 AD, the French Painter, Edouard Manet, was born. He was a pivotal figure in the transition from the painting school of Realism to Impressionism. His works include "Olympia". He died in 1883.

150 solar years ago, on this day in1870 AD, in Montana, US cavalrymen cold-bloodedly killed almost two hundred Amerindians, mostly women and children, in what became known as the Marias Massacre. This was yet another incident of state terrorism and genocide by the white men against the native populations.

122 solar years ago, on this day in 1898 AD, film theorist and director, Sergey Mikhailovich Eisenstein, was born in Russia. He directed his first film, “Strike”, in the year 1924. His second film: “The Battleship Potemkin”, led to a huge development in the world’s film industry. He was a pioneer in the use of montage. His other major films include: “October”.

101 solar years ago, on this day in 1919 AD, the Fascist Party of Italy was founded by Benito Mussolini. Its members believed in the revival of the ancient Roman Empire, and were known as "Black Shirts" because of their black attire. Fascism favoured dictatorship, negated parliamentary representation, opposed basic freedoms, and pursued an expansionist policy abroad. Mussolini seized the Italian capital, Rome, in October 1922, declared himself as 'Leader', and when World War 2 broke out in 1939, joined forces with Adolph Hitler of Germany. During the last days of the war, he was detained and executed by Italian patriots.

41 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, the Shah’s troops, faced by the people’s firm resolve, withdrew from the holy city of Qom, while in Tehran, the revolutionary masses, under the supervision of the ulema, established a central committee for coordination to prevent chaos. The committee called on the people to continue strikes and demonstrations until the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, Spanish surrealist painter and founder of the Cubism Style, Salvador Dali, died in Catalonia at the age of 84. His talent in painting became apparent in his youth and thereafter he catapulted to global fame. Dali attributed his love of everything that is gilded and excessive, as well as oriental clothes to a self-styled "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Muslim Moors – who were forcibly Christianized.

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2013AD, in northern Iraq Saudi-backed Takfiri terrorists handed a bagful of explosives to an unsuspecting person and then blew him through remote control in the midst of a funeral ceremony of ethnic Turkmen Shi’a Muslim mourners, martyring around fifty and wounding some 150 others.

AS/SS