Today is Saturday; 20th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Hijjah 1437 lunar hijri; and September 10, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1377 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3rd Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), left Mecca via the plain of Arafaat for Iraq, since he was loathe to see this inviolable land desecrated by bloodshed, as the tyrant Yazid had sent assassins disguised in pilgrim garb to attack him. Four months earlier, the Imam had left his hometown, Medina, to take up residence in Mecca along with family members after refusing to acknowledge the illegitimate rule of Yazid as caliph. Here in Mecca, the Imam informed people of the corrupt and oppressive nature of the Godless Omayyads. The reason he left for Iraq was the repeated invitation of the people of Kufa to come and resolve their affairs. A month later, Imam Husain (AS), along with almost all male members of his family and loyal companions was cruelly martyred in Karbala on the 10th of Moharram by the ungodly Omayyad forces. During his stay in Mecca, the Imam had apprised the people of the critical situation of the Muslim world, while his departure without completing the Hajj, made the Muslims further aware of the anti-Islamic policies of Yazid.

1120 lunar years ago, on this day in 317 AH, Abu Taher al-Jannabi, the chief of the Ismaili sub-sect called “Qarameta”, in an attack on the holy city of Mecca during the Hajj, massacred pilgrims, desecrated the Well of Zamzam by throwing corpses into it, sacrilegiously ripped apart the Hajar al-Aswad (Sacred Black Stone) from the holy Ka'ba, and took it to his base in the eastern parts of Arabia. The Islamic world was shocked. Some 22 years later, the Hajar al-Aswad was returned to the holy Ka'ba by paying a heavy ransom through the mediation of the Ismaili Fatemid caliph of North Africa.

845 solar years ago, on this day in 1171 AD, the Kurdish adventurer, Salah od-Din Ayyoubi, following his rather strange appointment as vizier of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’ite Muslim Dynasty of Egypt, Hijaz, and parts of Libya, treacherously betrayed his benefactors by abolishing the 262-year rule of the Ismaili caliphate with the declaration of the khutba in Cairo in the name of al-Mustadi, the 33^rd Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. The last and 14^th Fatemid ruler, the 22-year old al-Adid, who since assuming power in 1160 as a minor, was at the mercy of his constantly feuding courtiers, was found dead a few days later. The curtain thus came down on an empire which at its peak ruled Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco, Sicily, Hijaz, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and for a very brief period Baghdad. Salah od-Din persecuted the Egyptians by forcing them to become Sunnis. He also burned books and the written heritage of the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) in Egypt. Salah od-Din then turned against his own liege lord, Noor od-Din Zengi the Turkic ruler of Syria, who had sent him under his uncle Shirkoh to Fatemid Egypt to ward off Crusader invasions. In 1185, some eleven years after Noor od-Din’s death, Salah od-Din seized Damascus and Aleppo, forcibly married his master’s widow, and then sweeping across the rest of Syria, took Bayt al-Moqaddas by defeating the Crusaders in 1187, although he had refused to participate in Noor od-Din’s campaigns against the European occupiers. The short-lived Ayyubid Dynasty collapsed in Egypt by 1250 with the rise of the Turkic Mamluks, and in Syria it fell to the Mongols in 1260.

667 solar years ago, on this day in 1349 AD, the Jews who survived the massacre in the German city of Strasbourg earlier in the year were burned to death by Christians in Constance. On February 14, over a thousand Jews were publicly burned to death by Christian mobs while the remainder of their population was forcibly driven away from Strasbourg, as part of the pogroms, the Church used to frequently conduct against the followers of Judaism in Europe, at a time when Jews living in Islamic lands enjoyed all the freedom and privileges of Muslims, even rising to post of ministers. The massacre followed the deadly bubonic plague of 1348 which was blamed on the presence of Jews in Christian lands. The practices and behaviour of the Jews was also partly responsible for such massacres, because the Jews played the role of money-lenders and manipulated the economy, which brought about serious problems. European chroniclers report that the Jews were so arrogant that they were unwilling to grant anyone else precedence, and those who dealt with them, could hardly come to an agreement with them. This ruthlessness of the Jews, coupled with their slandering of Prophet Jesus and his Virgin mother, Mary (peace upon them), used to be the reason for their frequent massacres by Christians in Europe. Until the beginning of the 18^th century, Jews were forbidden to remain in town in any European country after 10 pm, and heavy taxes were levied on them, including a special tax to be paid for any horse that a Jew would ride or bring into the city.

507 solar years ago, on this day in 1509 AD, an earthquake known as “Qiyamat-e Kuchak” (The Lesser Judgment Day) hit Istanbul at about 10 pm. Its epicenter was the Sea of Marmara and it had an estimated magnitude of 7.2 on the surface wave magnitude scale. Forty-five days of aftershocks followed the earthquake, as well as a tsunami. Over 10,000 people died.

193 solar years ago, on this day in 1823 AD, the famous South American revolutionary leader, Simon Bolivar, was named President of Peru. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, he played a key role in Hispanic America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire, and is today considered one of the most influential politicians in the history of the Americas. Following the triumph over the Spanish Monarchy, Bolivar participated in the foundation of the first union of independent nations in Hispanic-America, a republic, which was named Gran Colombia, of which he was president from 1819 to 1830. He led Venezuela, Colombia (including Panama at that time), Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia to independence. He died in Colombia at the age of 47, and after initial burial there, his remains were transferred for permanent burial to his hometown Caracas. Bolivar had become a member of the secretive Zionist outfit "Freemason" while studying in Europe in his youth.

161 solar years ago, on this day in 1855 AH, Robert Koldewey, the German archaeologist who discovered the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (in modern Iraq), thus confirming its historical existence and it was not just a legend, was born in Blankenburg, Brunswick. His excavations for 18 years from 1899-to-1917, unearthed many of Babylon's features including the outer walls, inner walls, foundations of the ziggurat of Marduk, Nebuchadnezzar's palaces, the wide processional roadway which passed through the heart of the city and the Ishtar Gate. He developed several modern archaeological techniques including a method to identify and excavate mud brick architecture (made necessary at Babylon because the Gardens were built using mainly unfired mud bricks). The terraced gardens were built by the Babylonian king for his consort, the Iranian Mede princess to remind her of her green mountainous homeland. Koldewey died on 4^th February 1925 at the age of 69.

97 solar years ago, on this day in 1919 AD, Britain, France and the victorious Allied forces of World War 1 imposed the Treaty of Saint-Germain on the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire, recreating Poland and Hungary after several centuries, and setting up the new multi-ethnic countries of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia – both of which disintegrated in the 1990s. Italy, the Soviet Union and Romania also gained some territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

68 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, Prominent Chinese historian, Zhang Chengzhi, who is China’s most influential contemporary Muslim writer, was born in Beijing to Hui ethnic parents. As a teenager Zhang was influenced by communism and was the first person to call himself a "Red Guard"; using it as his pen name during his student days. He began his writing career in 1978, with the publication of a poem in Mongolian entitled "Son of the People" and a Chinese-language short story "Why does the Rider Sing?" In 1984, however, Zhang quit his job at the China Writers' Association and moved to China's Northwest, spending six years living with the Muslims of Xihaigu, Ningxia. His time there resulted not only in his reconversion to Islam and, in one critic's words, his "open renunciation of Chinese culture", but also in what is easily his most famous book: “History of the Soul” – a work which explores personal and religious conflicts during 172 years of development of the Sufi Jahriyya tariqah in China's northwest, interwoven with his own observations. This was the second-most popular book in China in 1994. His work repeatedly touches on the themes of martyrdom, everlasting tradition, and resistance to materialism and urban life. His writings have influenced people both in China and abroad.

62 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, a major earthquake jolted southwestern Algeria, near Orleansville. The city was destroyed and 10,000 people lost their life. Tens of thousands of Algerians became homeless and a heavy blow was dealt to the national economy.

42 solar years ago, on this day in 1974 AD, Guinea-Bissau in West Africa gained independence from Portugal after over a century-and-a-half of colonial rule. It was once part of the great Mali Muslim Empire. Islam is the fastest growing religion, with over 60 percent adherents, while Christians are less than 10 percent in this country. It has a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and shares borders with Senegal and Guinea.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1977 AD, Tunisian Hamida Jandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, was the last person to be executed by guillotine in France.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the prominent scholar, Ayatollah Seyyed Asadollah Madani, was martyred by MKO terrorists in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, while leading the Friday Prayer at the age of 67. He completed his studies at the Qom and Najaf Seminaries, and attained the status of Ijtehad. He was active in the struggle against the despotic British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime, revealing the evil nature of the Shah during the 15th Khordad Uprising of June 4, 1963. As a result, he suffered imprisonment and banishment to remote areas of the country. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he was appointed Friday Prayer Leader of Tabriz by the Founder of Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini (RA).

22 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, Iranian researcher and Qur'anic scholar, Dr. Mohammad Ramyar, passed away. Born in the holy city of Mashhad, after mastering Islamic sciences, he studied law and travelled to Britain, where he obtained a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh. On his return to Iran, he served as Dean of Faculty of Theology and Islamic Teachings of Tehran University, grooming numerous students. Among his books, mention can be made of "History of Qur'an", and "Kashf al-Mataleb".

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2004 AD, prominent Yemeni religious and political leader, Seyyed Hussain Badr od-Din al-Howthi at-Tabatabaie, was martyred at the age of 48 in the Marran District, Saada Governorate, along with twenty of his companions by the Yemeni army. Son of the prominent Zaydi Shi’a Muslim religious scholar, Seyyed Badr od-Din, he founded the group “Shabab al-Momineen” (Believing Youth) in 1990 to teach youngsters about Shi’a Muslim beliefs and their history. Today, this group is the core of the “Ansarullah Movement” that is defending Yemen in the face of the US-supported state terrorism of Saudi Arabia and its accomplices in the Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms. From 1993 to 1997, Seyyed Hussain al-Howthi represented the al-Haqq Islamic party in the Yemeni parliament. He later left for Syria and then Iran, along with his father and Abd ul-Malik (present leader of Ansarullah), to study in the seminary of holy Qom. He and his group became profoundly influenced by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and by Seyyed Hassan Nasrollah, the Leader of Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, the Hezbollah. His body was secretly buried by the government, and years later was retrieved by the Ansarullah and reburied in Saada on 5 June 2013, in a ceremony attended by tens of thousands of Yemenis.

AS/MG