Today is Saturday; 5th of the Iranian month of Tir 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 19th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1437 lunar hijri; and June 25, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1397 lunar years ago, on this day in 40 AH, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the First Infallible Successor to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was struck a fatal sword blow on the head by the renegade, Abdur-Rahman Ibn Muljam, while engaged in the Morning Prayer in the Grand Mosque of Kufa, and attained martyrdom two days later. As the first cousin, ward, son-in-law and divinely-decreed vicegerent of the Seal of Messengers, Imam Ali (AS) needs no introduction, the more so in view of his matchless characteristics such as faith, piety, patience, prudence, valour, magnanimity, knowledge, wisdom, ethics, eloquence, and justice. He single-handedly led Islam to victory in almost all the early battles imposed on the Prophet and the young Muslim community by the Arab infidels and the Israelite hypocrites. When usurpers seized the caliphate on the passing away of the Prophet, he patiently endured the calamity for the sake of Islamic unity, since his resorting to the sword would have made most neo-Muslim Arabs revert to paganism. When 25 years later, the caliphate came begging at his door, he reluctantly took up the reins of political rule of the Islamic state and for the next four-and-a-half years, until his untimely martyrdom, he strove to establish the model government of social justice, the like of which the world is yet to see. We offer heartfelt condolences to all our listeners and later in our programme will present a special feature on Imam Ali (AS).

604 lunar years ago, on this day in 832 AH, the eminent Iranian astronomer and mathematician, Ghiyas od-Din Jamshid Kashani, died under suspicious circumstances in Samarqand at the age of around 50 years. He was born in Kashan and went to Samarqand at the invitation of the Timurid scientist-ruler, Ologh Beg, to set up the famous observatory. He produced a Zij entitled the “Khaqani Zij”, which was based on Khwaja Naseereddin Tusi's “Zij-e Ilkhani”. He also produced tables on transformations between coordinate systems on the celestial sphere, such as the transformation from the ecliptic coordinate system to the equatorial coordinate system. He wrote the book “Sullam as-Sama” on the resolution of difficulties met by predecessors in the determination of distances and sizes of heavenly bodies such as the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and the Stars. He also invented a mechanical planetary computer which he called the Plate of Zones, which could graphically solve a number of planetary problems, including the prediction of the true positions in longitude of the Sun and Moon, and the planets in terms of elliptical orbits; the latitudes of the Sun, Moon, and planets; and the ecliptic of the Sun. In one of his numerical approximations of "P" (pronounced pie), he correctly computed 2 P to 9 sexagesimal digits. This approximation of 2 P is equivalent to 16 decimal places of accuracy. This was far more accurate than the estimates earlier given in Greek mathematics of 3 decimal places by Archimedes, Chinese mathematics of 7 decimal places by Zu Chongzhi and Indian mathematics of 11 decimal places by Madhava of Sangamagrama. The accuracy of Jamshid Kashani's estimate was not surpassed until Ludolph van Ceulen computed 20 decimal places of "P" nearly 200 years later.

194 solar years ago, on this day in 1822 AD, a group of black people in the US whose ancestors were kidnapped by Europeans from Africa and sold as slaves in the America, returned to Africa and settled down in the land which is today known as Liberia. This country was initially administered like one of the US states, but in 1847, it became a republic and its first president was Joseph Roberts, who had been enslaved in the State of Virginia.

116 solar years ago, on this day in 1900 AD, the Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovered the Dunhuang Manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China. Dating from the 5th to early 11th centuries, the manuscripts include works ranging from history and mathematics to folk songs and dance. Most of the religious manuscripts are Buddhist, but other religions including Daoism, Nestorian Christianity and Iranian Manichaeism are also represented. The majority of the manuscripts are in the Chinese and Tibetan languages. Other languages represented are Khotanese, Sanskrit, Sogdian, Tangut, Old Uyghur language, and Hebrew. The manuscripts are a major resource for academic studies in a wide variety of fields including history, religious studies, linguistics, and manuscript studies.

113 solar years ago, on this day in 1903 AD, George Orwell, British novelist, essayist and critic, was born in India as Eric Arthur Blair. He took his pen name in 1932. His books included "Animal Farm" (1945) and "1984" (1949), which attacked totalitarianism. He died in 1950.

66 solar years ago, on this day in 1950 AD, in the wake of wide-scale provocations by the US, North Korea had no choice but to swiftly advance into the south. A UN resolution, however, not only halted the offensive but provided the US to invade North Korea. The timely entry of the Chinese army led to the retreat of US forces and liberation of North Korea.

41 solar years ago, on this day in 1975 AD, Mozambique in southeast Africa became independent from Portuguese rule, after offering tens of thousands of martyrs. Mozambique lies on the Indian Ocean coast of Africa, and shares borders with Tanzania, Malavi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Muslims account for over 20 percent of the population of Mozambique, which is actually is a Portuguese corruption of the name of the chief Arab trader of the land, Mosa al-Bique.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, Croatia and Slovenia became independent from the Federation of Yugoslavia, or more properly from the Serbs. Croatia and Slovenia are located in the Balkan region, which for several centuries was ruled by the Ottoman Turks. Still a sizeable Muslim minority exists in both the countries.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, Ayatollah Madani Kashani passed away at the age of 93. In addition to grooming numerous scholars, he also shouldered social responsibilities and assisted the needy. He has left behind a large number of compilations, including “Fara’ez al-Moqaleddin”, and “Kashf al-Haqayeq”.

6 lunar years ago, on this day in 1431 AH, prominent scholar and jurist, Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Ahmadi Faqih Yazdi, passed away at the age of 60. Son of Ayatollah Ahmad Ahmadi Najafi Haeri Yazdi, and student of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Gulpayegani, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki, and the famous exegete of the holy Qur’an Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Tabatabai, he was teacher of the Islamic seminary in Qom. He was married to the Lady Mojtahed, Zohreh Sefati, who teaches higher level jurisprudence courses to female students in the Islamic seminary. He was laid to rest in the holy shrine of Hazrat Ma’soumah (peace upon her).

3 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Hamad bin Khalifa Aal-e Thani of the Persian Gulf Sheikhdom of Qatar, formally handed power to his 33-year son Tamim, following orders from the US, and refusal by Washington to review its decision regarding the client regime in Doha. Hamad himself had seized power from his father Khalifa bin Hamad on 27 June 1995, on the orders of the US, while the latter was in Geneva, Switzerland on a pleasure trip. It is interesting to note that Khalifa who is still alive at 83 years of age, had come to power by deposing his cousin, Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali on 22nd February 1972 while the latter was on a hunting trip in Iran and had ruled since 1960 when his own father, Ali bin Abdullah had abdicated in his favour under British pressure.

AS/SS