Today is Monday; 17th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 30th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1437 lunar hijri; and June 6, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

888 lunar years ago, on this day in 548 AH, the famous Iranian Sunni Muslim scholar and exegete of the holy Qur'an, Mohammad Ibn Abdul-Karim Shahrestani, passed away at the age of 81 in his hometown Shahrestan in Khorasan, northeastern Iran. In the city of Nishabur he studied under different masters who were all disciples of the Ash`ari theologian al-Juwayni. At the age of thirty, he went to Baghdad to pursue theological studies and taught for three years at the famous Nizamiyya Academy, before returning to Khorasan, where he worked as Deputy Chancellor for Sultan Sanjar, the Seljuq ruler. He wrote several important works, such as “al-Milal wa'n-Nihal” (The Book of Sects and Creeds), which presents the doctrinal points of view of religions and philosophies that existed up to his time. This book is one of the earliest systematic studies of religion and is noted for its scientific approach. Another of his famous works is the exegesis "Mafatih al-Asraar wa-Masabih al-Abraar" (The Keys of the Mysteries and the Lamps of the Righteous), which introduces the Qur’an and gives a complete commentary on the first two Surahs. In this book, pointing to the confused events of the days of the 3rd Caliph, Osman Ibn Affan, concerning the compilation of the Qur’an, Shahrestani says: We should study why (Imam) Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS) was not approached for compilation of the Qur'an? Was he not a greater authority than Zayd Ibn Thabit in transcribing the Qur'an (as well as its memorization and familiarity with its contents)? Did he not possess a better knowledge of Arabic and its grammar than Sa'eed Ibn Aas? Was not (Imam) Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS) considered closer to the Prophet of Allah (SAWA) than any of the sahabah? Why did they (Abu Bakr and Omar) reject the first ever copy of the Qur'an compiled by (Imam) Ali (AS) immediately after the passing away of the Prophet?

625 solar years ago, on this day in 1391 AD, a mob led by Catholic Priest Ferrand Martinez surrounded and set fire to the Jewish quarter of Seville, Spain. The surviving Jews were sold into slavery. It was on 6 June that the first great massacre occurred. Thousands of Jews were murdered and many were forced to accept baptism. Over the course of the year, the massacres would spread to all of Spain.

451 solar years ago, on this day in 1565 AD, Murtaza Nizam Shah I succeeded his father Husain Nizam Shah to the throne of Ahmadnagar in the northwestern Deccan (Southern India) as the 4th king of the dynasty founded by Malik Ahmed Bahri (son of a Kanarese Brahmin convert to Islam), who assumed the title of Nizam Shah on seceding from the Bahmani Empire of Iranian origin. The second king, Burhan Nizam Shah I, became a staunch follower of the school of Prophet Mohammad's (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt, and established cordial relations with Safavid Iran. Many scholars and artists migrated from Iran, Iraq and Hijaz to Ahmadnagar, where the court language was Persian. During Murtaza's minority, his mother Khanzada Humayun Sultana, ruled as a regent for several years, and on coming to age, he annexed the neighbouring sultanate of Berar in 1574. He died in 1588 after a reign of 23 years. Among the famous books in Persian written in Ahmadnagar were "Tuhfa-e Nizam-Shahi" and "Tarikh-e Elchi-e Nizam Shah"– the latter being an account of Nizamshahi envoy to Iran.

372 solar years ago, on this day in 1644 AD, the Qing dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor captured Beijing during the collapse of the Ming dynasty. Two years later in 1646, the Muslim rebellion erupted in China calling for the restoration of the Ming dynasty and supported by non-Muslim Chinese as well. These forces assembled in the northwest under a Muslim leader known in Chinese sources as Milayin who revolted against Qing rule in Ganzhou (Gansu). He was soon joined by another Muslim named Ding Guodong, and they took over a number of towns in Gansu, including the provincial capital Lanzhou, before being captured and killed by Meng Qiaofang in 1648. By 1650 the Muslim rebels had been crushed in campaigns that inflicted heavy casualties.

264 solar years ago, on this day in 1752 AD, a devastating fire destroyed one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes.

217 solar years ago, on this day in 1799 AD, Russian poet and author, Alexander Pushkin, was born in Moscow. He catapulted to fame with publication of his collection of poems in 1820. Later, he wrote his odes in admiration of freedom which led to his exile. In his poems, Pushkin has defended freedom. His plays, stories in verse, and odes, are all considered as the prominent works in the Russian literature. Among his famous works, mention can be made of the novels “Eugene Onegin”, and “Boris Godunov”. He died at the age of 38 years.

134 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, more than 100,000 inhabitants of the Indian port city of Bombay were killed as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushed huge waves into the harbour.

115 solar years ago, on this day in 1901 AD, Ahmad Sukarno, Indonesian engineer, politician, and the 1st President of the country was born. Along with fellow revolutionary Mohammad Hatta, he proclaimed the independence of Indonesia by launching the Indonesian National Revolution against Dutch colonial rule. Four years later, thanks to the people's uprising, Indonesia emerged as an independent country. In 1956, total independence was achieved and Sukarno was elected the first president. In 1967, he was forced to resign and hand over power to military general, Suharto. Ahmed Sukarno, died at the age of 69 in 1970.

48 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, Palestinian Christian activist, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, in a revolutionary style execution with a pistol, shot dead US presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, in defence of his Zionist-usurped homeland, days after Kennedy had pledged that on becoming president he would send 50 advanced bombers to the illegal entity called Israel in order to further terrorize and kill Palestinians and other Arabs. While still a boy Sirhan and his parents – natives of Bayt al-Moqaddas (Jerusalem) – were like most other Palestinians, displaced from his ancestral home by the illegal Zionist migrants from Europe and after a life in refugee camps, forced to migrate to the US. Sirhan is serving a life sentence in the US, and his supporters defend his killing of Kennedy as a justified act in support of his occupied homeland, Palestine.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, following establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, all banks along with a number of other financial and industrial establishments were nationalized. The nationalization and the subsequent consolidation of the banks paved the way for the launching of Islamic banking, which has greatly expanded.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, forces of the illegal Zionist entity, led by notorious butcher Ariel Sharon, invaded Lebanon and seized control of all areas from the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut. During their occupation, the Israelis destroyed Lebanon’s economic installations and killed countless people, culminating in the massacre of over 5,000 Palestinian women, children and the elderly in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. These brutalities made the Lebanese people organize themselves into the Islamic Resistance that forced the Zionist troops to retreat, and finally led to the liberation of almost all southern Lebanon in May 2000.

32 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, the Indian army attacked the Golden Temple of the Sikhs in Amritsar, Punjab, in what is known as "Operation Blue Star" that resulted in the killing of over 1,000 Sikhs. According to Indian government, Sikhs separatists had turned the Golden Temple into a weapons stockpile for uprising against the central government. In retaliation for the attack, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead later in 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Iran's first women-only bank branch opened, allowing ladies to manage their finances without dealing with unrelated men, as part of Islam’s dynamic shari’ah to ensure proper progress of all sections of the society, in keeping with their social status and dignify.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, the Iranian Red Crescent Society dispatched three aid ships to Gaza in the latest bid to break the blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory by the illegal Zionist entity.

AS/ME