Today is Thursday; 6th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 19th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1437 lunar hijri; and May 26, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1565 solar years ago, on this day in 451 AD, Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire took place in what is now the Republic of Armenia in the Caucasus. The Iranians led by Yazdegerd II defeated the Armenians militarily, but were unable to reconvert them to Zoroastrianism. In 484, Emperor Peroz I, as per the Treaty of Nvarsak, granted the Armenians freedom to openly practice Christianity, after the Armenian Church formally separated from the Latin Catholic Church of Rome and the Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople. 

1431 lunar years ago, on this day in 6 AH, the Battle of Bani Mustaliq occurred near a place called Muraysi between Jeddah and Rabigh, when on hearing news of the intention of pagan Arabs led by Hareth ibn Abi Dirar, to attack Muslims, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) led an expedition in order to settle the matter in a peaceful way. The pagan Arabs refused to cease hostilities and heed the call of Islam. On seeing that the Prophet had only 30 riders amongst his modest group, the pagan Arabs attacked the Muslims. The hypocrites among the companions of the Prophet, deserted on hearing that most Arab tribes were allied with the pagan warlord Hareth. The true Muslims had no other option but to defend themselves with arms. Imam Ali (AS) led the charge and soon disposed off some of the leading pagans such as Malik. The Muslims emerged victorious although some descendants of the Prophet’s grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, were martyred. The fruits of this victory were the capture of several hundred pagan Arabs, including the fearsome Bani Mustaliq chief, Hareth, who later, along with many members of his clan became Muslim. It was during this expedition that God revealed “Surah al-Munafiqoun” since some of those who accompanied the Prophet from Medina and claimed to be Muslims, like Abdullah bin Ubbayy, were hypocrites at heart, planning to undermine Islam.

1188 solar years ago, on this day in 818 AD, as per the Gregorian Calendar, Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was martyred, through poisoning in the city of Toos, Khorasan, northeastern Iran, by the crafty Abbasid caliph, Mamoun. The 8th Imam, whose blessings are evident to all, needs no introduction. Today Toos is known as Mashhad – short form of "Mashhad-ar-Reza" or Martyrdom Place of Imam Reza (AS). The sprawling golden-domed shrine of the Imam draws millions of pilgrims from all over Iran and the world, while there is no trace of even the graves of the Abbasid or Omayyad caliphs, anywhere in any Muslim land.

723 solar years ago, on this day in 1293 AD, an earthquake struck Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 30,000.

595 solar years ago, on this day in 1421 AD, the 5th Ottoman Sultan, Mohammad I Chalabi, died after a reign of 8 years, at the age of 31 and was buried at Bursa. He was a son of Bayezid I, while his mother was Dowlat Khatun, was a daughter of Yaqoub Shah, the ruler of the principality of Germiyan and a descendant of the famous Iranian mystic and Persian poet, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi. Although his 8-year reign as sultan started with his victory at the Battle of Jamurlu over Musa Chalabi, his brother, Mohammad I as the most powerful brother contending for the throne, was the de facto ruler of most of the empire for nearly the whole preceding period of 11 years of the Ottoman Interregnum since his father's defeat and capture at Ankara by Amir Timur.

504 solar years ago, on this day in 1512 AD, the 8th Ottoman sultan, Bayezid II, died after a 31-year reign, a month after being forced to abdicate the throne by his rebellious son, Selim I. Bayezid II, who brutally suppressed several popular uprisings by the Qizilbash or Shi’ite Muslims of Anatolia that were influenced by the Safavid Empire of Iran, is notable for resettling tens of thousands of Jews from Spain throughout the Ottoman Empire after proclamation of the Alhambra Decree by the Christian rulers of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. Bayezid II engaged in numerous campaigns to conquer the Venetian possessions in Morea. The last of these wars ended in 1501 with his gaining control of the whole Peloponnese Peninsula or present day southern Greece.

379 solar years ago, on this day in 1637 AD, A combined Protestant and Mohegan force under the English Captain John Mason attacked a Pequot village in Connecticut, massacring over 500 Native Americans. The white settlers from Europe were notorious for their genocide of the so-called Red Indians, and their enslavement of the black people kidnapped from Africa and made to toil as slaves in the New World.

363 solar years ago, on this day in 1653 AD, Robert Filmer, the English political theorist who irrationally defended the divine right of kings, died at the age of 65. His best known work, “Patriarcha”, published posthumously in 1680, was the target of numerous Whig attempts at rebuttal, including Algernon Sidney's “Discourses Concerning Government”, James Tyrrell's “Patriarcha Non Monarcha” and John Locke's “Two Treatises of Government”. Filmer also wrote critiques of Thomas Hobbes, John Milton, Hugo Grotius and Aristotle, but he failed to prove his divine right theory.

313 solar years ago, on this day in 1703 AD, British naval administrator and Member of Parliament, Samuel Pepys, who is now most famous for the detailed diary of important events he kept for a decade, died at the age of 70. Through hard work and talent for administration, he rose to be Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and subsequently King James II. The detailed private diary Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published in the 19th century and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of such important events, as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London. Often regarded as the most celebrated diary, it contains over a million words, and the author’s frankness in writing his own weaknesses, has made historians ascertain the accuracy of his record of daily British life and major events in the 17th century.

133 solar years ago, on this day in 1883 AD, Algerian freedom fighter, Seyyed Abdul-Qader ibn Mohi od-Din al-Hassani al-Jaza'iri, died in Damascus, Syria at the age of 75, and was buried near the tomb of the famous Spanish Muslim Gnostic, Sheikh Mohi od-Din Ibn Arabi. Born near Mascara in Oran in Algeria, he claimed descent from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). In 1825, he set out for the Hajj pilgrimage. In Mecca, he met with and was impressed by Imam Shamil of Daghestan, the leader of the struggle against Russian expansion in the Caucasus which had recently been seized by the Czar from the Qajarid rulers of Iran. He also visited Syria and Iraq. After five years, he returned to his homeland in 1930 a few months before the Ottoman Turks lost it to the French invaders. He led the military struggle against France, organizing guerrilla warfare over the next decade. His failure to get support from the eastern tribes and the Berbers of the west led to the quelling of his uprising. On December 21, 1847, after being denied refuge in Morocco because of French pressure, he surrendered and was exiled to France, where he remained under detention until 1852. He was released on taking an oath never again to question French rule in Algeria. In 1855 he settled in Damascus, where he died this day. During the Druze-Christian riots of 1860 in Damascus, he had sheltered a large number of Christians, earning praise and awards from European states and the USA. Unfortunately, Abdul-Qader had become a member of the notorious Jewish secret organization, the Freemasons in 1864. Among the books he wrote, the “Call to the Intelligent, Warning to the Indifferent” and “The Arabian Horse” could be mentioned.

90 solar years ago, on this day in 1926 AD, the prominent Iranian poet, Abdul-Jawad Adib Naishapuri, passed away at the age of 63. He went blind in childhood due to smallpox, but continued to learn sciences enthusiastically and after honing his skills in Arabic literature and other sciences of his era, he started to lecture these subjects. Gradually, he turned into a skilled poet. Selection of appropriate terms and precise meanings are the strong points of his poetry. His Diwan of poems consists of beautiful verses in Persian and Arabic.

86 solar years ago, on this day in 1930 AD, Indian-Iranian lexicographer and critic, Karim Imami, was born in Calcutta, India, which was a frequent destination of his father, a tea merchant from Shiraz. He learned English from his father and returned to Iran and studied English literature at University of Tehran, and later at the University of Minnesota in the US. He became a journalist in the early 1950s for the English language Iranian daily “Kayhan International”. During the 1960s, he translated contemporary Persian poetry into English. In 1967, he was named editor-in-chief at Franklin Books, where he was instrumental in the publication of quality books and training younger writers and editors. He also founded Soroush Press, the publishing arm of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting – IRIB – (Radio and TV), and established the Zamineh Bookstore in Tehran, a meeting place for writers, intellectuals, and book lovers. In the final decade of his life he was an active contributor to “Motarjem”, an Iranian quarterly dedicated to the translation and translators. He died of leukemia in Tehran.

67 solar years ago, on this day in 1949 AD, the Iranian literary figure, researcher, and historian, Allamah Mohammad Qazvini, passed away. Among his services to culture and literature was to prepare photographs and copies of Persian manuscripts in European museums. He has left behind annotations on a number of books, including an introduction to the Shahnamah of Ferdowsi.

50 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, Guyana became independent from centuries of British rule, and four years later became a republic. Guyana was occupied by the Spanish in late 15th century and seized by Britain in the 17th century. Situated in South America with a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, Guyana’s indigenous people are the Arawak-speaking Lucayan, part of the Taino people, who are now a minority in their own homeland. The country has a population of 10 percent Muslims, while a slight majority of the national population is made up of Guyanese of Indian origin.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the 6-nation Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), was set up by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman. The goals were given as economic, political, and military coordination to deter foreign threats to the region, but the PGCC has turned out to be an instrument of US neo-colonialist policies in the Persian Gulf, and indulges in sowing seeds of discord and fanning ethnic tensions among Muslims of the region.

AS/MG