Today is Friday; 18th of the Iranian month of Tir 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1437 lunar hijri; and July 8, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1429 lunar years ago, on this day in 8 AH, the Battle of Hunayn occurred in the valley of the same name between Mecca and Ta’ef, when Arab infidels of the Hawazen and Thaqeef tribes attacked Muslims, following the peaceful surrender of Mecca to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Proud of their military might, the pagan Arabs resolved to strike and kill the Prophet to prevent the spread of the monotheistic teachings of Islam. The Muslims, for their part, were deceived by the apparently large number of converts to the faith by the Meccan Arabs, only a fortnight ago. But when the infidel Arabs ambushed the army of Islam, almost all the neo-Muslim forces, including the Muhajer and the Ansars fled, deserting the Prophet, except for his valiant cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), his another cousin Abu Sufyan ibn Hareth ibn Abdul-Muttaleb, his uncle Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttaleb, and a few others. The valour of Imam Ali (AS) saved the day, while the loud voice of Abbas in urging the fleeing Muslims to return brought back no more than a hundred Muslims to the battlefield. The Prophet, beseeching God Almighty for help, ordered the fight-back. Imam Ali (AS) launched an attack, with his flashing blade Zulfeqar making short work of the fearsome Arab standard-bearer Abu Jaroul and some 40 other warlords, which forced the infidels to retreat, thereby resulting in a decisive defeat for the pagan Arabs. The holy Qur’an has referred to this event in ayahs 25-26 of Surah Towba, which read:

“Allah has certainly helped you in many situations, and on the Day of Hunayn, when your great number impressed you, but it did not avail you in any way, and the earth became narrow for you in spite of its expanse, whereupon you turned your backs [to flee].

"Then Allah sent down His composure upon His Prophet and upon the faithful, and He sent down hosts you did not see, and He punished the faithless, and that is the requital of the faithless."

1190 lunar years ago, on this day in 247 AH, the Godless tyrant Mutawakkil, who styled himself as the 10th caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was murdered while drunk and asleep, by his own son, Muntasir, with the help of Turkic guards, at the age of 39 after a reign of 14 years. Named Ja’far on birth to Qaratis, a Greek concubine of Mu’tasim, he became caliph on the suspicious death of his brother Watheq – whose body lay in negligence with mice eating away his eyes, while Mutawakkil held festivities for several days. Immediately he unleashed a reign of terror, especially on the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He persecuted the Prophet’s progeny, instructed judges to always give the verdict against them, forbade them to ride horses in Egypt, forcibly brought the Prophet’s 10th Infallible Heir, Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS), to Samarra from Medina to be placed under house arrest, and blasphemously destroyed the holy shrine of Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala, several times. The reason for his murder was his usual habit of cursing the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS) that finally broke the patience of his elder son, Muntasir, who left the assembly of drunkards in rage under the taunts of his father and soon got rid of him. The Commander of the Faithful had prophesied him as "most infidel" of Abbasid rulers.

1077 solar years ago, on this day in 939 AD, “Ghaybat a-Kobra” (Major Occultation) of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) namesake and his 12th and Last Infallible Heir, commenced following the death of Ali Ibn Mohammad Samari the last of the Four Deputies (Nawwab al-Arba’), who had been informed six days before his death through an epistle by the Imam to tell the faithful that no other Deputy would replace him. The Imam’s Letter reads:

"In the Name of Allah the All-Compassionate the All-Merciful; O Ali Ibn Mohammad Samari, in the grievance of your death shall God grant your brothers a great reward. You will leave this world in 6 days. Settle your affairs and do not assign a successor for yourself. The time of the “Ghaybat al-Kubra” (Major Occultation) has arrived and I will not reappear until Allah grants me the permission to do so, and my reappearance will only be after a long time and the pitilessness of hearts and the overspread of injustice on the Earth. There will be those who will announce themselves as my deputy to my Shi’ites (followers). Beware that if anyone before the emergence of the (bloodthirsty) Sufyani and the Loud Announcement from the sky, makes any such claims (to be my deputy), then (he/she) is a liar and a deceiver as all movements and influences are from none but Allah."

The 69-year period of “Ghaybat as-Soghra” (Minor Occultation) that had started on the martyrdom of the Prophet’s 11th Infallible Heir, Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) for his 5-year old son and successor thus ended, and during the long period of the Major Occultation the faithful have been advised to refer to devout, sincere, pious, far-sighted, and courageous ulema for guidance, until God orders the 12th Imam’s reappearance as Mahdi al-Qa’em (AS) to cleanse the Planet of all vestiges of oppression and corruption by establishing the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.

917 solar years ago, on this day in 1099 AD, as part of the First Crusader invasion of Muslim lands, 15,000 Christian soldiers marched in a religious procession around Bayt al-Moqaddas as its Muslim defenders looked on. Bayt al-Moqaddas was then under the rule of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’ite Muslim Dynasty of Egypt-North Africa. Because of disunity in Muslim ranks, coupled with the underestimation of the designs of the enemies, this holy Islamic city was seized by the Crusaders, who massacred as many as 70,000 men, women, and children of various ethnicities, including Arab, Iranian, Turkish and Kurdish. It took 88 years for the Muslims to close ranks and liberate Bayt al-Moqaddas in 1187 under a united Muslim force of Arabs, Iranians, Kurds, and Turks.

604 lunar years ago, on this day in 833 AH, the Iranian historian and geographer, Shehhab od-Din Abdullah ibn Lotfollah, known popularly as Hafez Abrou, passed away in Zanjan, northwestern Iran. He was a native of Herat, the capital of Khorasan, and after education in Hamedan in western Iran, joined the service of the Central Asian conqueror Amir Timur, accompanying him on many of his campaigns, including those to Iraq, Syria and Anatolia. As a court historian and eyewitness of many historical accounts, he also served Timur's son and successor, Shah Rukh. He died while returning from Shah Rukh’s second military campaign to Azarbaijan. He is an authority on the history of the later Ilkhanid period and early Timurid era. Among his major works is the "Majmu'a", which is a collection of three older historical works with annotations by him. His 4-volume "Majma'at-Tawarikh" is a world history covering ancient Iran, the pre-Islamic prophets and events of other lands, with details on the Seljuq and Mongol periods. His history of the Timurid Dynasty titled "Zubdat at-Tawarikh-e Baysunquri" is dedicated to Prince Baysunqur Mirza. He also translated into Persian a geographical work from Arabic, titled “Masalek al-Mamalek wa Suwar al-Aqalim", with focus on the various regions of Iran.

136 solar years ago, on this day in 1880 AD, the French scientist and founder of science of Phrenology, Pierre Paul Broca, died at the age of 56. He conducted extensive research on the skulls of the deceased and made major discoveries. He realized that the left side of the brain is responsible for speaking and any harm to this part would lead to speech disorders.

122 lunar years ago, on this day in 1315 AH, the prominent Iranian scholar, Ayatollah Mirza Hussain Mar’ashi Shahrestani, passed away in Karbala at the age of 60 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imam Husain (AS). Born in Kermanshah in a scholarly family, he attained the status of Ijtehad at a young age. Later he became one of the prominent Sources of Emulation at Najaf seminary in Iraq. He wrote on a wide variety of topics, and among his most important books, mention can be made of “Lubab al-Ijtehad”, and “Tazkerat an-Nafs”.

60 solar years ago, on this day in 1956 AD, the Italian thinker and author, Giovanni Papini, died at the age of 75. He was born in Florence and went through a tough childhood, but his interest in learning led him to frequent public libraries, which helped him develop his sublime talent in literature. He wrote his autobiography at a young age, disclosing his mental trauma and non-belief in religion. After World War I, he felt a major spiritual change within him that awakened his innate feelings for faith in Almighty God. He has stated his views and thoughts in his books.

22 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, the Leader of North Korea and Secretary-General of the country’s communist party, Kim Il-Sung, died at the age of 82. In 1945, he led the Korean communists and in 1948 upon foundation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, he was instated as the premier. He was Commander-in-Chief during the Korean War and was instated as president in 1972. He ably led the country despite the US plot and division of the Korean Peninsula into North and South. He maintained independence from the two major communist powers, the Soviet Union and China. The measures taken by Kim Il-Sung for reconstruction and industrial development of North Korea were highly successful.

14 solar years ago, on this day in 2002 AD, Ayatollah Seyyed Kazem Akhavan Mar’ashi, passed away at the age of 83 in holy Mashhad, where he was a prominent teacher of the Islamic seminary. Despite losing his scholarly father at the age of 5, he continued his studies, and after seven years of higher learning at the Islamic seminary of holy Qom, he left for holy Najaf, Iraq, at the age of 32 for further studies. On attaining ijtehad he returned to his homeland and started teaching at the seminary in Mashhad, where his house became the centre for political gatherings and decision-making against the Pahlavi regime during the events of the Islamic Revolution. Besides publishing Lessons in Jurisprudence, he wrote several other books including Annotation and Commentary on the famous book “al-Orwat al-Wosqa” of the prominent jurisprudent, Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Tabatabaie Yazdi. 

7 solar years ago, on this day 2009 AD, the famous Iranian Children’s Author, Mahdi Azar Yazdi, passed away at the age of 81 in Tehran and was laid to rest in his hometown Yazd. In 1944 he came to live in Tehran, and although was well read and employed in a photography shop in Yazd, in the capital he did not hesitate from taking any job, working as a construction labourer, a worker in a sock-weaving factory, and finally bookshops and publishing houses, such as Amir Kabir, Ashrafi and Etella'at. He wrote his first book at the age of 35, and titled it “Good Stories for Good Children”. When it was sold out, the publisher asked him to write a sequel. Soon the series reached eight volumes and was based on the classics of Persian literature such as the Golistan (The Rose Garden) of the poet Sheikh Sa’di, the Mathnavi of Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi, the Marzban-Nameh, and the Sindbad-Nameh, as well as accounts from the holy Qur’an and the life of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and the Imams of his Infallible Ahl al-Bayt. He also wrote “The Naughty Cat”, “The Playful Cat”, and “Poetry of Sugar and Honey”. His most famous work “Good Stories for Good Children” won the UNESCO Prize in 1966 and was regarded as the best book of the year in 1967. Also another of his books “Adam” was chosen by UNESCO as the best book of the year in 1968.