Today is Wednesday; 12th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 25th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1437 lunar hijri; and June 1, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1332 lunar years ago, on this day in 105 AH, Yazid II, the 9th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, died of tuberculosis at the age of 37 after a reign of four years, a fortnight after the death of his paramour, a slave girl named Hayyaba, in whose debauched love he had neglected state affairs in pursuit of drinking and other wanton pleasures. His father was Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan and his mother Atika was daughter of the Godless tyrant Yazid ibn Mu’waiyya, the perpetrator of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala. Installed as caliph on the suspicious death of Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz, he immediately reversed the latter’s positive policies and seized back the large orchard of Fadak in Medina from the progeny of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Oblivious of the civil wars in Spain and North Africa in the west, to Khorasan in the east – where the Abbasids were building a power base that would be later used to topple the Omayyads – he was so infatuated with Hayyaba that when she died, he kept her corpse in his palace unburied, indulging in all lewd acts, until the stench made the courtiers to press him to bury her. At the graveyard when Hayyaba’s corpse was lowered in the grave, Yazid II, who had clearly lost his mind, ordered it to be brought up and indulged in senseless behaviour, until forcibly separated. He was succeeded by his half-brother, the bloodthirsty Hisham.

1300 lunar years ago, on this day in 137 AH, the Iranian agent of the usurper Abbasid regime, Abu-Muslim Khorasani, whose string of military victories against the Omayyads, starting from Khorasan and continuing all the way up to Syria, resulted in regime change, was killed by his own masters, who feared his growing power might pose a danger to their newfound caliphate. The Abbasids and their agents had deceived the masses, especially the Iranian Muslims, through their slogan of restoring power of the Islamic state to its rightful owners, the progeny of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), but after exterminating the Omayyad usurpers and even digging up their graves and burning the bones of the dead caliphs, including those of Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan, they usurped the power themselves. As part of the elaborate propaganda to mislead the masses, Abu Muslim, who launched his uprising against the Omayyads in Balkh, actually on behalf of Abu’l-Abbas as-Saffah (the blood-shedder), shortly after the martyrdom in Jowzajan of Yahya ibn Zayd ibn Imam Zayn al-Abedin (AS), ordered his followers to wear black, brought down from the gallows the headless corpse of the young martyr, buried it, and instructed the naming of boys born that year in Khorasan as Yahya. This led to the mass popularity of the uprising and decisive victories against the hated Omayyads. In the meantime, the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), on being offered the caliphate by one of the victorious generals of the uprising, coolly burned the letter without opening it, thereby implying that such dubious political authority that depends upon the whims and inclinations of unprincipled elements, is definitely not the God-given “wilaya” which he already possessed. Thus, Mansour Dawaniqi, on succeeding his brother Abu’l-Abbas as-Saffah as the second caliph of the usurper Abbasid dynasty, had Abu-Muslim Khorasani murdered.

801 solar years ago, on this day in 1215 AD, Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, was captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.

764 solar years ago, on this day in 1252 AD, Alfonso X was crowned king of Castile and Leon, following the death of his father, Ferdinand III two days before. Born in the occupied Islamic city of Toledo in Spain, he ruled for 32 years. Although he was successful against Portugal, and managed to occupy the Muslim regions of Murcia and Cadiz, he suffered shattering defeats at the hands of Spanish Muslims when he tried to invade the Nasrid emirate of Granada. Twice his armies were defeated, especially in 1275 in the Battle of Ecija, in which he lost his sons. The important work undertaken by him was the study and translation of Arabic scientific books into the Castilian and Latin languages, in order to acquire knowledge from Muslims and break out of the dark ages into which the Christian Church had plunged Europe. The very first translation, commissioned by his brother, Fernando de la Cerda – who had extensive experience, both diplomatic and military, among the Muslims of Southern Spain and North Africa – was the animal fable “Kalila wa-Dimna”, a book that belongs to the genre of wisdom literature with stories and sayings meant to instruct the rulers in proper and effective governance. This book originated as “Panchatantra” in India, and was translated from Sanskrit into Middle Persian in 570 AD by the Sassanid Iranian scholar Borzuwayh. This became the basis for a translation into Arabic in 750 CE by Iranian scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as “Kalila wa Dimna”, and spread to North Africa and Spain. 

495 lunar years ago, on this day in 942 AH, Ottoman Prime Minister “Damaad” Ibrahim Pasha, who was the Sultan’s son-in-law, concluded a treaty with France for lease of the French Port of Toulon to establish a Turkish naval base for checking Spain’s ambitions. For the period of the lease, the French evacuated the local Christian population, while the Ottomans built mosques and used Toulon as a safe haven to raid Spanish coasts and dominate the Mediterranean Sea.

444 lunar years ago, on this day in 993 AH, the Ottomans, taking advantage of the power vacuum in Iran, breached the treaty of peace with the Safavids to occupy the Iranian city of Tabriz. The occupation lasted 18 years until Shah Abbas, after assuming power, inflicted a shattering defeat on the Ottomans to liberate Tabriz, the Caucasus, and eventually Iraq, where he reconstructed the holy shrines in Najaf, Karbala, and Kazemain on a grand scale.

268 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, Qamar od-Din, titled Chin Qilich Khan Nizam ul-Mulk Asef Jah I, the founder of the kingdom of Hyderabad-Deccan in south India, passed away at the age of 77 and was buried in the city of Aurangabad. A scion of the Persianate family of Samarqand (presently in Uzbekistan) tracing its descent to the Iranian mystic, Ziya od-Din Abu’n-Najeeb Suhrawardi (not to be confused with Suhrawardi the Philosopher), he was thus a direct descendent of Mohammad ibn Abu Bakr – the first caliph’s son who was loyal to the cause of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). Born in Agra on 20 August 1671 to Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung I who served as general to Emperor Aurangzeb and later as governor of Gujarat, his mother was Wazir un-Nisa Begum the daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan’s Grand Vizier, Sa’dullah Khan. Nizam ul-Mulk was one of the ablest generals and statesmen of the late Mughal period, and disillusioned with the sorry state of affairs in Delhi decided to concentrate on the Deccan where in 1924, he declared his independence. During the invasion of Nader Shah Afshar, he was recalled to north India, and so greatly impressed the Iranian king in the negotiations, that he was offered the rule of all India, but politely refused. He was an accomplished poet in Persian and used the pennames “Asef” and “Shaker” in his two Divans. The dynasty which he founded ruled for 224 years until its merger in the Indian Union in 1948, a year after end of British rule. The dynasty, which hosted a large number of Iranian émigrés including statesmen, scholars, artists, and businessmen, greatly contributed to Persian literature, Islamic sciences, architecture, infrastructural-industrial development projects, and later with the establishment of Osmania University in 1918 to the promotion of Urdu language. Hyderabad-Deccan which was closely linked to the Safavid Iran is today the seat of the Iranian Consulate-General for South India.

95 solar years ago, on this day in 1921 AD, the large scale Tulsa Race Riot ended after two days in Oklahoma State, in which white supremacists attacked the black community of Tulsa town’s Greenwood District (known as the ‘Black Wall Street’), burning to the ground the wealthiest black community in the United States. During the 16 hours of mayhem, some 300 Afro-Americans were killed, over a thousand blacks admitted to hospitals with injuries, more than 6,000 black people arrested and an estimated 10,000 of them left homeless. As many as 35 city blocks composed of 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire. Due to heavy censorship by the government, the events of the riot were long omitted from local and state histories, and rarely mentioned in history books, classrooms or even in private. It was only in 1996, the state legislature commissioned a report to establish the historical record of the events. Released in 2001, most of the recommendations of the report have yet to be implemented by the state and city governments that is indicative of the racist nature of the US system, which despite its claim to human rights and social liberties, brutally suppresses people at home and abroad.

93 solar years ago, on this day in 1923 AD, one of the deadliest quakes worldwide shook the Japanese Capital, Tokyo flattening the city, setting it ablaze and killing more than 150,000 people.

78 solar years ago, on this day in 1938 AD, Pakistan's prominent Urdu and Persian poet, Khawar Rizvi was born in Punjab in a family tracing its descent from Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Named Seyyed Sibt-e Hassan Rizvi at birth, he took the penname "Khawar" (East in Persian) for writing poetry and essays, as he was a great admirer of eastern values and way of life. An enlightened scholar, he actively participated in the political and intellectual movements as a member of the Progressive Writers' Movement. He was against all types of tyranny, dictatorship, subjugation and exploitation. Due to his ideology and political beliefs he became a victim of the oppressive policies of General Zia ul-Haq, the dictator of Pakistan. Khawar died of a heart attack at the age of 43 in 1981.

48 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, US blind-deaf author, political activist, and lecturer, Helen Adam Keller, died at the age of 88. She was the first deaf/blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how her teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film "The Miracle Worker". A prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in her anti-war convictions. A member of the Socialist Party of the US and the Industrial Workers of the World, she campaigned for women's suffrage, labour rights, socialism, and other causes.

36 lunar years ago, on this day in 1401 AH, scholar and statesman, Chief Justice Ayatollah Dr. Seyyed Mohammad Husseini Beheshti, along with 72 officials of the Islamic Revolution, including ministers and MPs, was martyred in a terrorist bomb blast by the MKO hypocrites at the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party in Tehran, a few days before start of the blessed fasting month of Ramadhan. Born in Isfahan, he studied religious sciences in Qom, and at the same time continued his academic studies at the university in Tehran, obtaining PhD in philosophy. He was active in political and cultural spheres, and as a loyal follower of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him), was involved in the 15th of Khordad uprising of June 5, 1963 against the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime. Later, following the Imam's exile to Iraq, Ayatollah Beheshti spent several years at the Islamic Centre in Hamburg, Germany. His fluency in German, English, and Arabic assisted him in promoting Islam in Europe. He returned to Iran in 1971 and continued his struggles against the despotic Shah. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he was assigned key posts, the last of which was Chief Justice. He played a major role in drafting the constitution of the Islamic Republic, establishing the Islamic Judicial system, foiling plots of anti-revolutionaries, and standing firm against US conspiracies. He wrote several books, including "God in View of Islam"; "Banking and Islam’s Financial Laws"; and "Role of Faith in Mankind’s Life". According to the late Imam, Ayatollah Beheshti was like a nation and his martyrdom revealed the true, ominous nature of the MKO terrorists.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, a number of primary school pupils called on children across the world to designate a day for peace. Their message partly read: “Our adults maintain fixed beliefs. They like us because we are their children. But, do they know that what kind of a world they have shaped for us? If the slightest mistake takes place in their nuclear installations we will never have a chance for growth. We demand means for growth and development. Thereafter, June 1 has been marked as the World Day of Children and every year especial ceremonies are held across the world on this occasion. On the other hand, despite all the wishes and demands of children in different parts of the world and irrespective of all efforts made by international organizations to dispel children’s problems, still every year more than 6 million children lose their life in the world due to malnutrition and 250 million children in different countries are pushed toward forced labour. Moreover, the lives of millions of children are at risk due to inappropriate health conditions across the globe.”

16 solar years ago, on this day in the year 2000 AD, the combatant scholar Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Ali Akbar Abu Torabi, lost his life in a car accident, along accident along with his father Ayatollah Seyyed Abbas Abu Torabi, at the age of 61. Born in the holy city of Qom he studied under prominent ulema, including the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him). Beginning from 1963 and the Khordad 15 Uprising, he was arrested and tortured by the Shah’s regime on several occasions. In September 1980, a year-and-a-half after victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when the US imposed the 8-year war on Iran through its agent, Saddam, he rushed to the battlefronts, and towards the end of the year was taken captive by the Ba’thist troops, who tortured him for ten years in prison camps, but failed to break his steadfastness. In 1990, he was freed along with other Iranian captives and was appointed by the Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, as representative for POW affairs. Hojjat al-Islam Abu Torabi was elected as lawmaker twice.

15 solar years ago, on this day in 2001 AD, massacre occurred in the royal palace in Nepal when Crown Prince Dipendra shot and killed several members of his family including his father and mother, King Birendra and Queen Aiswarya. The murderer immediately committed suicide and died three days later. In 2008 Nepal abolished monarchy and became a federal democratic republic.

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan police raided a terrorist hideout and arrested Habib Ullah, a notorious leader of the outlawed Lashkar-e Jhangvi outfit. He was the mastermind of over 32 terrorist attacks that claimed the life of more than 100 Shi'a Muslims between July 2003 and March, 2004. He was also involved in the planning and execution of terrorist attacks on the Ashura procession of Moharram 10 and on a mosque on Prince Road in Quetta, as well as a failed attack on the religious procession of 8th Moharram in 2005. A hardcore criminal, involved in dubious car deals, he had shaven his beard to dodge police but could not escape detection. Terrorist outfits in Pakistan are financed by Saudi Arabia and supplied equipment by the US and the Zionists.

AS/ME