Today is Tuesday; 6th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 25th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Hijjah 1437 lunar hijri; and September 27, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

Some 1428 lunar years ago, on this day God revealed ayahs 5 to 22 of Surah Dahr of the holy Qur'an in praise of Prophet Mohammad's (SAWA) blessed family the Ahl al-Bayt. In fulfillment of a vow, the Prophet’s daughter Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), her husband Imam Ali (AS), her two sons Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS) had fasted for three consecutive days. On each night, however, when a destitute, an orphan, and a freed prisoner, happened to knock on their door at the particular hour of breaking the fast, they gave away for the sake of God whatever meagre food they had, preferring to remain without meals themselves. This day is observed in the Islamic Republic of Iran as the day of Family.

1402 lunar years ago, on this day in 35 AH, Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) divinely-decreed heir, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), who a quarter century earlier was deprived of his right to be the political head of the Islamic state, formally started his four year and nine months rule of social justice, when the caliphate came begging at his door. A week earlier on the 18th of Zi’l-Hijjah, incidentally the 25th anniversary of the Prophet’s historic proclamation of his God-given Wilayah or authority, the Muslims had begged him to take up the caliphate following the killing of Osman Ibn Affan on that day. The Imam reluctantly agreed on condition that he would rule only on the basis of God's Revealed Word, the holy Qur'an, and the Prophet’s Sunnah. Imam Ali (AS), knew that whether or not he was given political authority, he was the righteous divinely-appointed heir of the Prophet in all affairs, as per the historic proclamation at Ghadeer-Khom in 10 AH, as is evident by ayah 67 of Surah al-Ma'edah. The Imam's rule of justice has never been equaled to this date, and serves till this day as a model for all seekers of justice and human rights.

726 solar years ago, on this day in 1290 AD a massive earthquake in China’s Gulf of Chili killed an estimated 100,000 people.

688 solar years ago, on this day in 1328 AD, on this day in 1328 AD, the pseudo scholar, Ahmad ibn Abdul-Haleem Ibn Taymiya, died in Damascus at the age of 65, while in prison for attributing body, shape and human organs to Allah Almighty, for misinterpreting the holy Qur’an, for discouraging celebrations on the Prophet of Islam’s birth anniversary, for declaring pilgrimage to the Prophet’s tomb as “bid’ah” (or innovation), and for belittling the sanctity of Islam’s two principal mosques – the Masjid al-Haram around the holy Ka’ba in Mecca and Medina’s Masjid an-Nabi that encloses Prophet of Islam’s holy shrine. Earlier also, he had spent over 18 months in jail in Cairo (1319-21) for his views which the Sunni ulema considered heretical and Kufr. Born in Harran in upper Mesopotamia, which is currently in Turkey on the Syrian border, he indulged in vitriolic criticism of not just Christians, but also of fellow Muslims, to the extent that without bothering to properly study the works of the famous Spanish Muslim Gnostic, Mohi od-Din Ibn Arabi, he branded him an unbeliever – an accusation that brought swift response from scholars who wrote books against him. He came to Iran to the court of the Mongol Muslim ruler, Ghazaan Khan, with a delegation of scholars and courted trouble by his rash attitude and lack of manners. Ibn Taymiyya has earned lasting notoriety for forbidding pilgrimage to holy shrines, as well as his call to return to the days and ways of the Salaf – instead of the Prophet’s pure and pristine “Sunnah” and “Seerah” (or practice and behaviour), and the teachings of the Immaculate Ahl al-Bayt. Salaf, which means predecessor, is a reference to early Muslims, especially those who assumed power of the Islamic state, even though neither the Prophet had delegated them any authority nor God has given them any legitimacy in the holy Qur’an. The fact of the matter is that most of the Salaf, who were bitter enemies of the Prophet before becoming reluctant converts to Islam from decades of idolatry and sinful life, continued their violation of the letter and spirit of the holy Qur’an even after becoming Muslims, as is evident by their persecution and killing of the Ahl al-Bayt. This is clear by the seditious actions of the present day Salafis, who under the guise of Islam indulge in the most heinous forms of terrorism against Muslims, including the destruction of holy shrines.

487 solar years ago, on this day in 1529 AD, the Siege of Vienna started with the attack of Suleiman I on the Austrian capital. It signalled the pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire's power, the maximum extent of Muslim expansion in central Europe. The Turkish failure to capture Vienna turned the tide against almost a century of Muslim conquest throughout eastern and central Europe, which had previously directly annexed Central Hungary in the wake of the Battle of Mohacs. According to British historian Toynbee, "The failure of the first [siege of Vienna] brought to a standstill the tide of Ottoman conquest which had been flooding up the Danube Valley for a century past."

347 solar years ago, on this day in 1669 AD, the Venetians surrendered to the Ottoman Empire the fortress of Candia on the island of Crete, thus ending the 21-year siege – the longest in history. Candia is called Heraklion today. As part of the surrender terms concluded with Ahmad Pasha Koprulu, the Grand Vizier of Albanian origin, all Christians were allowed to leave Candia. It is said that when news of Candia's fall reached Pope Clement IX in Rome in October he immediately fell ill and died two months later.

195 solar years ago, on this day in 1821 AD, Mexico gained independence from Spain. It was centre of the Aztec Empire that had reached heights of civilization centuries before the coming of the Europeans. In 1519, the greed for gold and silver brought to this land the Spanish conquistadores led by Hernan Cortes who mercilessly killed the people, including emperor Montezuma. It required another two centuries for Spain to complete its conquest of the Aztec Empire, although it named the land “New Spain. After the fall of Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, it took decades of sporadic warfare to subdue the rest of Mesoamerica. Particularly fierce was the Chichimeca War (1576–1606) in the north. During the colonial period lasting from 1650-to-1821, Mexico was part of the much larger Viceroyalty of New Spain, which included Cuba, Puerto Rico, Central America, as far south as Costa Rica, Florida, the southwestern United States and the Philippines. The country was exploited by Spain, and after independence fell to the repeated aggressions of an expansionist US, which seized large parts of Mexico, including California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado.

183 solar years ago, on this day in 1833 AD, Indian humanitarian and reformer, Ram Mohan Roy, whose study of the holy Qur’an, led him to discover the concept of monotheism in Vedic texts and to denounce idol-worship and polytheism of Hindus as innovations, died at the age of 61 at Stapleton near Bristol, while serving as ambassador to Britain of the penultimate Mughal king, Akbar Shah II. He was buried in Arnos Vale Cemetery. A Bengali Brahmin, he started his education by learning Bengali, Sanskrit and Persian, and later enrolled at a Muslim madrasah in Patna for higher Persian and Arabic studies. With his new found knowledge of Arabic he started reading the holy Qur’an and became a monotheist, making his alarmed family send him to Benares for learning the intricacies of Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures. To the horror of his family, Ram Mohan now interpreted the Upanishads through the monotheist strictures of the holy Qur’an, and denounced idolatry. He, along with other Bengali Hindu intellectuals, who had studied Christianity and Islam, founded the Brahmo Samaj Movement. In 1805, he published “Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin” (A Gift to Monotheists) – an essay written in Persian with an introduction in Arabic in which he rationalized the indivisible unity of the One and Only God. During the 1820s he published journals in English, Hindi, Persian and Bengali, calling for abolishment of temples, of priests, of ‘sati’ or widow-burning on the husband’s funeral pier, and other such superstitious practices. His most popular Bengali journal was “Sambad Kaumudi”, while the Persian paper was titled “Mirat ul-Akhbar”

76 solar years ago, on this day in 1940 AD, The Tripartite Pact was signed by the Axis Powers of the Second World War – Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan. The three agreed that for the next ten years they would "stand by and co-operate with one another, and recognized each other's spheres of interest, pledging to assist one another with all political, economic and military means when one of the three contracting powers is attacked.

67 solar years ago, on this day in 1949 AD, the populous city of Beijing was officially chosen as the Chinese capital. Beijing is situated in East China and is considered as one of the major political, economic, and cultural hubs of China.

54 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, a day after overthrow of the Zaydi Shi’a Muslim dynasty of North Yemen through a military coup by Colonel Abdullah Sallal, assisted by Egypt’s President Jamal Abdun-Nasser, the Yemen Arab Republic was established. The coup marked the beginning of the North Yemen civil war that pitted pro-monarchy and revolutionary elements. Conflict continued until 1967 when Egyptian troops were withdrawn after their humiliating defeat in the 6-day Israeli war, and finally ended in 1970. Ever since, the successive governments in Sana’a, even after the merger of South Yemen with North Yemen in 1990, have continue to deprive Northern Yemen’s Zaydi Muslim majority of its birthrights, resulting in the present chaos in the country. Currently, the Americans and the Saudis are trying prevent the people from reclaiming their rights through a policy of state terrorism that is evident in the ongoing invasion of the country and the more than six months of unabated aerial bombing by Saudi Arabia that has led to the killing of over 6,000 men, women and children.

39 lunar years ago, on this day in 1398 AH, the prominent jurisprudent, Ayatollah Mohammad Gharavi Kashani passed away at the age of 85. Born in Kashan, after studying under his scholarly father, Allamah Shaikh Mohammad Hussain Mojtahed Natanzi Kashani, he left for Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary of Nafaf, where his teachers were Ayatoallah Mirza Hussain Na’ini, Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani, and Ayatollah Zia od-Din Iraqi. After attaining the status of Ijtehad, he returned to Iran, and took up residence in Tehran, where he groomed a number of scholars in various branches of Islamic sciences. He was socially active and campaigned against corruption and un-Islamic practices of the Pahlavi regime.  

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1977 AD, Iranian composer and trombone player, Hussain Nassehi, passed away at the age of 52. Born in Tehran he studied Trombone at the Tehran Conservatory, at which he later became professor for several years. Among his pupils were Hussain Dehlavi, Ahmad Pejhman and Parviz Mansouri. Most of Nassehi's works because of his political activities were never performed in Iran during the repressive Pahlavi era.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, author, translator, and political activist, Behzad Bashi, passed away. Fluent in English and well versed in Music, for thirty years he was active in the various sections of the Persian media – wire agencies, newspapers, radio, and TV – and because of his bold views against despotism, was subjected to bouts of imprisonment and banishment to the remote parts of the country by the Pahlavi regime. He translated into Persian “Feudal Society” as well as “Greater America and Human Rights”. During the last ten years of his life, following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he wrote “History of Music in the Orient” and “The Comprehensive History of Music”.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, a brutal massacre took place in Sukhumi on its capture by Abkhazian separatists, who drove out some 250,000 Georgians, as part of ethnic cleansing. It is said the Armenians assisted the Abkhaz militia in torturing and killing Georgian men, women, and children.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1996 AD, the Taleban militia, which was formed in Pakistan, funded by Saudi Arabia and armed by the US, occupied the Afghan capital, Kabul, after ousting the legal government of President Burhan od-Din Rabbani. The Taleban forced the UN mission in Kabul to hand them over, General Mohammad Najibollah, the last communist president of Afghanistan, and brutally executed him. The Taleban unleashed a reign of terror in Afghanistan by enforcing medieval European laws, in a bid to tarnish the image of Islam. In October 2001, they were ousted by their own godfather, the US.

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2011AD, Iran announced the mass production of a new cruise missile, designed to destroy warships and coastal targets. The Qader has a range of 300 km.

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