Today is Thursday; 25th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 13th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Hijjah 1437 lunar hijri; and September 15, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1438 lunar years ago, on this day in the year preceding the hijrah, or the historical migration to Medina of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), the Second Pledge of Aqaba took place, when a group of Muslims from Medina and other places came to Mecca to reaffirm their allegiance to Islam. This pledge followed the First Pledge of Aqaba that ended the long feud between the tribes of Ows and Khazraj, through the mediation of the Prophet, thereby winning fresh adherents to Islam. After the Second Pledge of Aqaba, the people of Medina invited the Prophet to leave Mecca and come to their city. The Prophet's migration, on divine command, a year later, was a turning point in human history and opened a new chapter in the spread of Islam.

1061 lunar years ago, on this day in 376 AH, the Muslim mathematician Ali ibn Ahmad Antaki, passed away. He was born in the Syrian city of Antakya (formerly Antioch and under Turkey’s occupation since 1937), and later took up residence in the city of Baghdad to learn sciences. Among the books written by him is "al-Mawazin al-Aadadiyah".

1022 solar years ago, on this day in 994 AD, the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'ite Muslim Dynasty of Egypt, North Africa, Syria and Hejaz won a major victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes near the river of the same name in what is now south-central Turkey. The Byzantine army was led by Michael Bourtzes, while the Fatemid forces were under command of the vizier of Damascus, the Turk general Manjutakin. The fighting also involved the Hamdanid Shi'ite Muslim rulers of Aleppo who had become Byzantine vassals. Manjutakin besieged Apamea, and when the two armies met across two fords on the Orontes River, he sent his forces to attack the Hamdanids across one ford while pinning the main Byzantine force down on the other. His men succeeded in breaking through the Hamdanids, turned round and attacked the Byzantine force in the rear. The Byzantine army panicked and fled, losing some 5,000 men.

762 solar years ago, on this day in 1254 AD, the famous Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, was born. His travels are recorded in the book “Il Milione”, which introduced Italians and subsequently Europeans to the rich culture and advanced civilizations of Iran, Central Asia and China. His accounts of use of paper money and coal as fuel were scoffed by Europeans. His father and uncle, Niccolo and Maffeo, had earlier travelled through Asia and met the Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan, in China. He went with them on an epic journey to Asia, returning after 24 years to find Venice at war with Genoa. Marco was imprisoned and dictated his stories to a cellmate. He was released in 1299 and became a wealthy merchant. He died in 1324 at the age of 70. Marco Polo was entrusted by Kublai Khan to escort to Iran the Mongol princess, Kokechin, who on arrival in Soltaniyeh became the wife of the Ilkhanid ruler, Ghazaan Khan, who converted to Islam and took the name Mahmoud.

227 solar years ago, on this day in 1789 AD, US novelist, James Fenimore Cooper, was born in Burlington, New Jersey. He is best known for "The Pioneers" and "Last of the Mohicans". His famous quote: "The press, like fire, is an excellent servant, but a terrible master." He died in 1851.

195 solar years ago, on this day in 1821 AD, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica jointly declared their independence from Spain, following the fall of Spain to French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. These five countries formed the Central American Alliance that was dissolved in 1838. In mid-19^th century these countries were occupied by the US, but got together again to defeat the American mercenaries. Nonetheless, the US has always aimed to dominate Central American countries and has dispatched troops to these countries on several occasions. These countries have coastlines of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

186 solar years ago, on this day in 1830 AD, William Huskisson, a British statesman became the first railway fatality while observing the ceremonial procession of locomotives at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway. He was one of the dignitaries riding in a special carriage pulled by the leading locomotive, the Northumbrian. Partway along the line, while the Northumbrian stopped to take on water, the passengers stood by the rails to observe the procession of other locomotives passing on the parallel line. Huskisson stumbled and fell in the path of the Rocket locomotive, and was run-over. With severe injuries to his leg and thigh, he died later that evening. Among other government positions, he had been colonial secretary and leader of the House of Commons.

134 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, British forces led by General Wolseley entered Cairo two days after crushing the nationalist uprising under Ahmad Uraibi, and on the pretext of protecting Khedive Towfiq Pasha (declared traitor to country and religion by al-Azhar), they virtually occupied Egypt, in particular to have complete monopoly over the Suez Canal. The British occupation officially lasted till the 1922 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, but in fact continued till the next treaty of 1936 that gave gradual control back to the government of Egypt.

101 lunar years ago, on this day in 1356 AH, the Islamic scholar and revolutionary, Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Taqi Golshan Ha’eri Shirazi, passed away in the holy city of Karbala in Iraq at the age of 80 during the height of the struggle against British domination of the country, and is believed to have been martyred through poisoning by colonialist agents. Born in Shiraz, he migrated to Iraq as a 12-year old, with his father and after studies at the Najaf seminary reached the status of Ijtihad. He was one of the best students of Grand Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Hassan Shirazi, who issued the famous fatwa against tobacco consumption in order to save Iranian economy against exploitation by the British colonialists. Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi opposed British meddling in the affairs of Iraq and mobilized the Iraqi people in the southern parts of the country to inflict a military defeat on the British occupation army. He authored several books.

100 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD during World War I tanks were used for the first time in warfare at the Battle of the Somme in France by both sides – the Germans and the Anglo-French alliance. The battle was one of the largest of World War I, in which more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of humanity's bloodiest battles.

100 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, the Romanian author and researcher, Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu, was born. He conducted extensive research in different fields, including the sacred religion of Islam. The book: "Mohammad, the Prophet of Islam" is one of his prominent works, which was welcomed in the World of Islam, especially in Iran. Among his other books, mention can be made of "The 25^th Hour". He died in 1992.

75 solar years ago, on this day in 1941 AD, the British removed their agent Reza Khan Pahlavi from the Peacock Throne of Iran and replaced him with his 21-year son Mohammad Reza, because of showing sympathies with Germany. An illiterate soldier, Reza Khan was promoted rapidly by the British to become head of the Cossack Brigade, before being imposed on Ahmad Shah Qajar as prime minister. In 1925, he was formally installed as king after abolishment of the Qajar Dynasty, and instructed to impose decadent western values on the Iranian Muslim people, including the forced unveiling of women, and banning of the traditional Persian dress of men. The British took him to Mauritius, then to Durban, and thence to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he died on 26 July 1944. His son, Mohammad Reza, fled Iran in January 1979 after his barbaric measures failed to crush the Islamic Revolution, thereby bringing the curtain down on 54-years of the despotic and corrupt Pahlavi Dynasty. 

58 solar years ago, on this day in 1958 AD, for the first time in the history of Medicine, the virus of Trachoma was identified, setting the stage for its treatment since it was the cause of blindness of thousands of people around the world. The virus was identified by the two English physicians, L H Collier, and J Sowa.

48 lunar years ago, on this day in 1389 AH Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Mohsin, popular as Aqa Bozorg Tehrani, passed away in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, at the age of 96. His father Haji Ali was active in the tobacco boycott campaign of 1891 and later wrote a book on the history of the movement to thwart British exploitation of Iran’s economy, thanks to the historic fatwa of Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi. After preliminary education in his hometown Tehran, at the age of 26 Mohammad Mohsin migrated for higher studies to Najaf, and spent the rest of his life in Iraq, with the exception of four brief return visits to Iran and two short journeys to Syria, Egypt, and the Hejaz – for the Hajj pilgrimage. Among his teachers were Akhund Mullah Mohammad Kazem Ḵhorasani, Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Yazdi, Sheikh ash-Shari’a Isfahani and Mohaddith Mirza Hussain Noori. In turn he groomed several outstanding ulema including Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hussaini Sistani – the current marja’ in Najaf. At the age of 40, he went to Samarra to join the circle of the revolutionary scholar Mirza Mohammad-Taqi Golshan Shirazi. During his 24-year stay in this city, before returning to Najaf, he conceived, and began to execute, the plan of a comprehensive bibliographical survey of all classes of literature produced by Shi’a Muslim authors. His original intention was to refute a statement by the Christian Arab litterateur, Jorji Zaydan, belittling the Shi’a contribution to Arabic literature. However, the masterpiece that Aqa Bozorg produced in almost 30 volumes, titled “az-Zari’a ila Tasaneef ash-Shi’a”, became a major contribution to Islamic scholarship. In this encyclopedic work, the titles of all books written by Shi’a authors are listed alphabetically, together with a brief indication of authorship and content, as well as place and date of publication in the case of printed works, and location in the case of manuscripts. He also compiled a biographical encyclopedia of Shi’a Muslim scholars as a companion to “az-Zari’a”, titled “Tabaqaat A’laam ash-Shi’a”, but each section, pertaining to the scholars of a given century, also has a separate title. Aqa Bozorg Tehrani’s influence was not limited to the admiration elicited by his decades of industrious scholarship. He exchanged numerous ijaazaat (licenses of transmission) with the scholars of Hadith, both Shi’a and Sunni, whom he met in the course of his travels – a practice he consciously sought to revive as vital to the cultivation of Islamic scholarship. He was also widely regarded for his piety and asceticism: He regularly led congregational prayer at several mosques in Najaf, and on Tuesday afternoons, used to walk from Najaf to Kufa to pray at Masjid Sahla which was the house of Prophet Idris (Enoch) and will be headquarters of the Prophet’s 12^th and Last Infallible Heir, Imam Mahdi (AS) during his global government of peace, prosperity and justice.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, a 7.7-magnitude quake jolted northeastern Iran and destroyed the city of Tabas and its environs in eastern Iran, killing more than 25,000 people and leaving tens of thousands of others injured. This trembler hit Iran at a time when the people had risen against the tyrannical regime of the Shah, which tried to exploit public sentiments in regard in a bid to undermine the Islamic Movement. The Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), in a message to Iranian nation, emphasized on assistance to the quake victims and called for people’s vigilance and continuation of their struggles against the dictatorship.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, Macedonia, in southeastern Europe, gained its independence. For five centuries it was part of the Ottoman Empire until its occupation by Bulgaria in late 19^th century. In 1913, Serbia seized control of Macedonia, which then became part of the new state of Yugoslavia. After the end of socialism in Europe in 1989, Macedonia followed the path of Croatia and Slovenia, to secede from Yugoslavia. Of the two-million plus population of the country, around 40 percent Macedonians are Muslims, mostly ethnic Albanians. Macedonia covers an area of almost 26,000 sq km, sharing borders with Greece, Serbia, Albania, and Bulgaria in the Balkan Peninsula.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, prominent Iranian literary figure, researcher and political activist, Seyyed Abu’l-Qassim Injavi Shirazi, passed away at the age of 72. Born in Shiraz, he became a journalist in 1948 at the age of 27 and was arrested and banished to remote areas by the British-installed Pahlavi regime for writing critical analysis of the country’s situation. During the oil nationalization campaign, he became part of the administration of Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq, on whose overthrow by the CIA, he was imprisoned. On his release, he busied himself in collecting documents of the cultural heritage of the nation. After victory of the Islamic Revolution he joined the national radio and launched the popular programme “People’s Culture”, the result of which was publishing of ten volumes on this valuable heritage.

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2009 AD, Iraqi journalist, Muntazar az-Zaidi, who won international fame on 14 December 2008, when he threw a pair of shoes at US president, George W. Bush, was released after nine months in prison. On release, he charged Iraqi security forces of torturing him with beatings, whippings and electric shocks. Born in Baghdad’s Sadr City in a family adhering to the school of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), he shouted "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog", as he threw his first shoe at Bush during a press in Baghdad attended by Iraqi premier, Noori al-Maleki. As a frightened Bush ducked to avoid being hit in the face, az-Zaidi threw his other shoe at the US president, shouting: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."Again, a badly shaken Bush barely evaded a direct hit on the face. The heroic Iraqi journalist was immediately pulled to the ground, as security guards kicked, beat and dragged him outside the conference hall, with blood dripping from his body. He was jailed, tortured, interrogated, put on trial, defended his action as the natural response to the killing of over a million Iraqis by the American occupiers, and sentenced to a year in prison. Nine months later, he was released for good conduct, and now works for a Lebanese TV channel. He has been hailed around the world for his heroic action.

AS/ME