Today is Wednesday; 28th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 11th of the Islamic month of Sha'ban 1437 lunar hijri; and May 18, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1425 lunar years ago, on this day in 12 AH, the Battle of Khanafes (or Beatles) occurred between Arab Muslims and Arab Christians in al-Anbar in Iraq, resulting in the victory of Islam.

1404 lunar years ago, on this day in 33 AH, Ali Akbar (AS), the son of Imam Husain (AS) was born in Medina, and greatly resembled his great-grandfather, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). According to another narration his birth occurred in 42 AH, and he grew up into a virtuous youth and played a pivotal role during the epic of Ashura where he sacrificed his life for Islam and humanitarian values. His birthday is marked in the Islamic Republic of Iran as Day of Youths.

968 solar years ago, on this day in 1048 AD, the Iranian Muslim mathematician, astronomer, and poet, Omar Khayyam, was born in Naishabur, Khorasan in northeastern Iran. Around 1074 AD, he set up an observatory and led work on compiling astronomical tables. To him goes the credit of reforming the Iranian solar hijri calendar on the basis of the Spring Equinox, which is still in use in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and parts of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iraq, Anatolia, and the Subcontinent. This calendar is more perfect than the Gregorian Christian calendar that was imposed on Muslim countries by the colonialists after World War 1. Among Khayyam's works, his book on algebra was until the last century taught as textbook in Iran. In geometry, he reformed the generalities of Euclid and contributed to the theory of parallel lines. His contributions to other fields of science included developing methods for the accurate determination of specific gravity. He is known to English-speaking readers for his “Rubaiyyaat” (quatrains), published in 1859 by Edward Fitzgerald, although in the Islamic world he remains the astronomer and mathematician that he was, rather than a poet, since whatever he composed of poetry were casual expressions during his rare leisure hours after strenuous scientific studies and experiments. He died in 1131 AD at the age of 83 and was buried in his native Naishabur in the courtyard of the shrine of Imamzadah Mahruq, a descendant of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). A lunar crater “Omar Khayyam” was named after him in 1970. In 1980, a minor planet discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova, was named: “3095 Omarkhayyam”.

920 solar years ago, on this day in 1096 AD, during the First Crusade launched by the Christians of Europe against Muslims in West Asia, around 800 Jews were massacred in Worms, Germany by the European hordes on their way to Syria. Count Emich von Leiningen and his army swept through their own German homeland, murdering thousands of Jews, whom they had declared “Murderers of Jesus”. When Emich arrived in the town of Worms in May, he slaughtered some 500 people who had taken shelter in a palace, and killed another 300 Jews.

908 lunar years ago, on this day in 529 AH, the acclaimed Persian poet and mystic, Abul-Majd Majd od-Din ibn Adam Sana'i Ghaznavi, passed away in Ghazni in what is now Afghanistan at the age of 62. He was connected with the court of the Ghaznavid king, Bahram Shah, who ruled for 35 years. When accompanying the king on a military campaign to India, Sana’i met the Sufi teacher Lai-Khur, and immediately quit Bahram Shah's service as a court poet, even though he was promised wealth and the hand of the king's daughter in marriage. He now started serving the people and criticized in his poems the unjust and corrupt rulers. He was a trend-setter in the style of Persian poetry. His most important work is “Hadiqat-al-Haqiqah” (Walled Garden of Truth) which is in the form of odes, reflecting his ethical and Gnostic thoughts. Among his other works, one can mention “Elahi Namah” and “Tariq at-Tahqiq” (Path to Research). He has written some excellent panegyrics in praise of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the First Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). For the past nine centuries Sana'i has had a tremendous influence on Persian literature, and along with Shaikh Farid od-Din Attar, was regarded by Mowlana Jalal od-Din Rumi as an inspiration.

748 solar years ago, on this day in 1268 AD, the Crusader state of Antioch in Syria, fell to the Egyptian Mamluk Sultan, Zahir od-Din Baibars, after he had taken Caesarea, Haifa, Arsuf and Galilee. By the time of his death in 1277 AD, he had confined the Crusaders to a few castles along the coast of Palestine. Three decades later, the Muslims succeeded in completely driving out these European invaders from Islamic lands.

725 solar years ago, on this day in 1291 AD, with the liberation of Acre by Muslim armies of the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt, the illegal presence of European Crusaders ended in Palestine. The Mamluks were led by Sultan Ashraf Khalil, son of Sultan Qalawun, who had begun preparations for the siege but died in November 1290.

518 solar years ago, on this day in 1498 AD, the Portuguese navigator, Vasco da Gama, with the help of Arab navigators managed to discover the sea route around Africa, and reached the port of Calicut, India. Vasco da Gama was a treacherous and murderous person, and killed many Hindus and Muslims, including the Arab navigator who had guided him.

367 lunar years ago, on this day in 1070 AH, the scholar, Allamah Mohammad Taqi Majlisi, passed away at the age of 63 in his hometown Isfahan, and was laid to rest behind the famous Jame’ Mosque. He is known as Majlisi-e Awwal, since his son Allamah Mohammad Baqer Majlisi-e Thani (Second Majlisi), developed into one of the greatest religious scholars of all time. Born in a scholarly family to Sheikh Maqsoud Ali Isfahani that traced descent to the famous scholar, Abu Nu’aym Ahmad bin Abdullah Isfahani (d. 430 AH) – author “Hulyat-al-Awliya” and “Zikr-e Akhbar-e Isfahan” – on his mother’s side he was the grandson of Kamal od-Din Darwish Mohammad bin Hassan al-Amili (a disciple of the celebrated Shahid Ṯhani. Among his teachers was the celebrated Sheikh Baha od-Din al-Amili, on whose death he succeeded him as the Friday Prayer Leader of Isfahan. Mohammad Taqi Majlisi wrote commentaries in both Arabic and Persian on the great scholar, Ibn Babawaiyh Sheikh Sadouq’s “Man la yahdhar al-Faqih”, as well as on Sheikh at-Ta’efa Tusi’s Hadith compendium “Tahdhib al-Ahkaam” titled “Iḥyā al-Ahadith fi Sharh Tahdhib al-Hadith”, and on the “Sahifat-as-Sajjadiya”– the collection of supplications of Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He concentrated his activities on revival and transmission of of the hadith of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.

264 lunar years ago, on this day in 1173 AH, Mullah Ismail Mazandarani Khaju’i, one of Iran’s prominent ulema, passed away. A product of the Islamic seminary of Isfahan, he survived the 7-year occupation of Iran by the Hotaki Afghans, who killed many religious scholars and destroyed seminaries. After the liberation of Iran, he strove to revive the religious and cultural values of the country, groomed students and wrote 150 books and treatises, including "Jame' ash-Shataat" and “Fawa’ed ar-Rijaliyyah”.

212 solar years ago, on this day in 1804 AD, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself French emperor, thereby re-establishing the monarchic system 15 years after the French Revolution.

186 solar years ago, on this day in 1830 AD, the French army invaded Algeria by refusing to repay seven million Francs it had borrowed from the Algerian rulers. The Algerian people, inspired by Amir Abdul-Qader Jazaeri, fought against the French. Although the French occupied Algeria and plundered the wealth of this North African Muslim land, they were finally forced to leave in 1962 after killing more than a million Muslims.

144 solar years ago, on this day in 1872 AD, the British philosopher and mathematician, Bertrand Russell, was born. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1950. He has left behind a number of books, including: “A History of Western Philosophy”, “The Principles of Mathematics”, and “Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy”. Russell died in 1970.

105 lunar years ago, on this day 1332 AH, the great religious scholar Sheikh Mohammad Taqi Isfahani known as Aqa Najafi Isfahani, passed away at the age of 70. He was a product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, and on return to Iran, involved himself in the struggles against despotism of the Qajarid dynasty and the deviation of spurious outfits like the Zionist-affiliated Baha’is, through the writing of such invaluable books on the guidance of the masses, as “Hidayat al- Mustarshidin” and “Fiqh al-Imamiyya”. He also groomed a large number of scholars, such as the Late Grand Marja’ Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1944 AD, Muslim Tatars, who for six centuries had formed the overwhelming majority of the population of the Crimean Peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea, were deported en masse by Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, as a collective punishment on alleged charges of sympathizing with Germany during World War 2. Over 250,000 homes and hearths of the Tatars were occupied by Russian migrants, while these hapless Muslim men, women, and children, of whom many died during the long journey, were forced to settle in special camps in Uzbekistan and other distant parts of the Soviet Union, toiling as indentured workers in the cruel GULAG system. A Turkic ethnic group, native to the Crimean Peninsula, they had accepted Islam in the 14th century, following the conversion of Ozbeg Khan. They emerged as a nation at the time of the Crimean Khanate, an Ottoman vassal state during the 15th to 18th centuries, and built a grand Islamic culture, with mosques, libraries, baths, palaces, and bazaars. In 1744, Crimea became independent according to the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarca, at the end of the 6-year long Russo-Turkish War, with the Ottomans renouncing their political right to protect the Crimean Khanate. After a period of political unrest in Crimea, Russia violated the treaty and annexed the Crimean Khanate in 1783. After the annexation, under pressure of Slavic colonization, Crimean Tatars began to abandon their homes and move to the Ottoman Empire in continuing waves of emigration. Particularly, the Crimean War of 1853–1856, the laws of 1860–63, the Tsarist policy and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 caused an exodus of the Crimean Tatars. Today, an estimated six million people of Turkey are said to be descendents of Crimean Tatars, who are also found in Uzbekistan, from where they were allowed to return to Crimea in the late 1980s. Presently, they form only a 12% minority in their homeland Crimea, while in Ukraine they number only 248,200.

42 solar years ago, on this day in 1974 AD, India conducted its first nuclear test in Rajasthan Desert, near Pakistan’s border, becoming the 6th nuclear power after the US, Soviet Union, France, Britain, and China. Some 24 years later on 11th & 13th May 1998, India conducted five other nuclear tests and practically built an atomic weapon. Pakistan followed with its own atomic tests on 28th May 1998 and also became a nuclear-armed power.

39 solar years ago, in 1977 AD, May 18 was designated as the International Day of Museums. The goal behind museums is to preserve and display the works of the past generations and the heritage of humanity.

33 solar years ago, on this day in 1983 AD, Saddam of the repressive Ba'th minority regime of Iraq, imprisoned 90 members of the family of the Late prominent marja' of the seminary of holy Najaf, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohsin al-Hakeem, and after some days martyred six scholarly male members, followed by the execution of ten others a few days later. The Godless US-backed dictator was incensed at the establishment in Iran of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SAIRI), by the Late Grand Ayatollah's son, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer al-Hakeem.

21 solar years ago, on this day in 1996 AD, the prominent scholar Allamah Mohammad Taqi Shushtari – also known as at-Tustari – passed away at the age of 93 after a fruitful life of academic studies, coupled with struggle against despotism, and was laid to rest in his hometown Shushtar in southwestern Iran. Son of Shaikh Mohammad Kazem Shushtari and grandson of the famous Shaikh Ja'far Shushtari, he was born in holy Najaf in Iraq, and at the age of 7, came to his ancestral town Shushtar, along with his family. He studied under his scholarly father and other scholars of repute. In 1935, he had to migrate to Iraq for opposing the forced unveiling of women by the British-installed Pahlavi dictator, Reza Khan. This provided an opportunity for him to continue his higher studies in the famous seminaries of the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. During his 6-year stay in Iraq, he authored the book "Qamous ar-Rejal" (Biographical Dictionary of Hadith Narrators) and later in his life expanded it to fourteen volumes. In 1941, on the removal from power of Reza Khan Pahlavi by his British masters, he returned to Iran and resided in Shushtar where he taught Islamic subjects, in addition to his researches, as well as opposition to dictatorial policies of the Pahlavi regime. He authored many books during his lifetime, including "Qadha' Amir al-Mominin Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS)" (or Judgments of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), "Al-Akhbar ad-Dakheela" about the various forms of forged and distorted hadiths, “Risalah fi Tawarikh an-Nabi wa’l-Aal” (Treatise on the Histories of the Prophet and his Progeny), and "Bahj as-Sabagha fi Sharh Nahj al-Balagha" a commentary on the famous collection of the Sermons, Letters, and Aphorisms of Imam Ali (AS). He gave his house to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), and in the endowment document, willed that the books must not be taken out of this house. Accordingly, Astan Qods Razavi has changed part of his house into a library in Shushtar under supervision of the Imam Reza Endowment.

AS/ME