Today is Sunday; 18th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 7th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1437 lunar hijri; and October 9, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

Over three millennium lunar years ago, on this day, God Almighty spoke for the first time with Moses, entrusting him with Prophethood and the immediate mission to invite the tyrannical Pharaoh to monotheism and to ask for the release of the children of Israel from bondage. As is evident by ayah 9 onwards of Surah TaHa of the holy Qur’an, while searching for fire in the wilderness, Moses saw flames atop Mount Sinai and was startled to see a bush on fire but with all its green leaves and branches miraculously intact, without being the least scorched. Here he heard the voice of the Almighty Creator asking him to take off his shoes, throw his walking staff down that miraculously turned into a snake and to remove his hand from the armpit to find the palm glowing with light.  

1377 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, Omar Ibn Sa’d, the Omayyad commander besieging Imam Husain (AS) and his group in Karbala, stationed a force of 500 horsemen led by Amr Ibn Hajjaj on the banks of the Euphrates, to deprive the Prophet’s Household of water, on the orders of the tyrannical governor of Kufa, Obaidollah Ibn Ziyad. The plan was to force the Imam to surrender and give allegiance to the Godless rule of Yazid, but the grandson and 3rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) refused to yield to injustice despite the fact that he and his companions, including women and small children were thirsty. On the 10th of Moharram, the Imam bravely drank the elixir of martyrdom along with his devoted followers in an epic combat.

1377 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, Obaidullah ibn Ziyad, the tyrannical Omayyad governor of Iraq, dispatched more forces to Karbala to besiege Imam Husain (AS) and ordered the commander of his army, Omar ibn Sa’d, to cut off access to the waters of the River Euphrates in order to extract oath of allegiance to Yazid’s illegal rule from the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Omar ibn Sa’d promptly instructed Amr ibn Hajjaj az-Zubaidi to station a detachment of five hundred horsemen on the river banks, but the Imam’s valiant brother, Hazrat Abbas (AS), managed to fetch water from the Euphrates during a night raid and stored it in the encampment, until all resources ran dry on the following day.

837 lunar years ago, on this day in 601 AH, the historian and geographer, Yusuf Ibn Yaqoub Shaybani Dameshqi, known as Ibn al-Mujawir, was born in the Syrian capital, Damascus. He spent his childhood and youth in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, learning sciences under the prominent figures of his era. He traveled all over the Arabian Peninsula and wrote the important work, "Tarikh al-Mustabsir", which contains valuable political, geographical, and social information of the whole region. He died at the age of 89 in 690 AH.

742 solar years ago, on this day in 1264 AD, the Spanish Muslim Ta’efa of Jerez (Sheresh in Arabic) in southern Spain, along with its capital of the same name, was occupied by Christian mercenaries of the kingdom of Castile after over five-and-a-half centuries of Muslim rule. In the 12th and 13th centuries Jerez underwent a period of great development, building its defense system and setting the current street layout of the old town.

486 lunar years ago, on this day in 952 AH, on his return march from exile in Iran to reconquer Afghan-occupied Hindustan with Iranian help, Mughal Emperor Naseer od-Din Humayun took Qandahar, and as promised by him to Shah Tahmasp, handed it over to the Safavid Empire. Qandahar, which is currently in Afghanistan, formed the border between the Safavid and Mughal Empires in those days. It was often a bone of contention, exchanging hands many times.

422 solar years ago, on this 1594 AD, a 20,000-strong army of the Portuguese Empire was annihilated by the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka, bringing an end to the Campaign of Danture, and marking a turning point in the indigenous resistance to Portuguese colonialism. The Portuguese, led by Pedro Lopes de Sousa, invaded Kandy on 5 July 1594, and after three months, severely depleted by guerilla warfare, the Portuguese army was completely annihilated by the forces of King Vimaladharmasuriya. With this victory, the Kingdom of Kandy emerged as a major military power; it was to retain its independence until 1815, against Portuguese, Dutch, and British armies.

308 solar years ago, on this day in 1708 AD, Sweden was decisively defeated by Peter the Great at the Battle of Lesnaya in Belarus when it attacked Russia. Given the freezing weather and shortage of food, over half of the Swedish soldiers lost their lives.

276 solar years ago, on this day in 1740 AD, Dutch colonists and various slave-trading groups began massacring ethnic Chinese in Batavia, eventually killing 10,000 and leading to a two-year-long war throughout Java.

256 solar years ago, on this day in 1760 AD, Austrian and Russian troops entered Berlin and began burning structures and looting during the “7-Year War” that involved most of the big powers of the time and affected Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines. The two major opponents were Britain and France. In the historiography of some countries, the war is named after combatants in its respective theatres: “The French and Indian War” in the United States. In French-speaking Canada, it is known as the “War of the Conquest”, while it is called the “Seven Years' War” in English-speaking Canada, the “Pomeranian War” (with Sweden and Prussia, 1757–1762), “Third Carnatic War” (in the Subcontinent, 1757–1763), and “Third Silesian War” (with Prussia and Austria, 1756–1763). “The Seven Years' War” is retrospectively regarded as one of the first true world wars, having taken place almost 160 years before what is commonly known as World War I.

125 lunar years ago, on this day in 1313 AH, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hadi Milani was born in holy Najaf in Iraq in an Iranian family hailing from the town of Milaan in West Azarbaijan Province. He grew up in Najaf where he started his religious studies at a very young age, soon mastering jurisprudence, theology, hadith, exegesis of the holy Qur’an, philosophy, and Arabic and Persian literature. He soon reached the status of Ijtehad and in 1332 AH, at the age of 21, migrated to holy Mashhad in Iran, where he stayed the rest of his life, passing away in 1395 AH at the age of 82. He occupied himself with teaching the sciences of Kharij Fiqh and Usul. He established the Imam Sadeq (AS) Seminary and the Husaini Institute of Islamic Sciences in Mashhad. After the passing away of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi in 1381 AH, he, along with the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), was one of Iran's leading Marja’-e Taqlid (Source of Emulation). Ayatollah Milani who groomed many leading scholars and wrote the 10-volume book on jurisprudence titled “Muhadhiraat fi Fiqh-al-Imamia”, was laid to rest in the Towhid-Khanah Aivan of the holy mausoleum of Imam Reza (AS), the 8^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

68 lunar years ago, on this day in 1370 AH, the jurisprudent and exegete of the holy Qur’an, Ayatollah Shaikh Ja’far Nizari Naqdi, passed away in holy Najaf, Iraq, at the age of 64. A student of famous scholars such as Ayatollah Shaikh Ahmad Kashef al-Gheta and Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Yazdi, on the latter’s instructions he was stationed for a time in al-Ammarah in southern Iraq to enlighten the local tribes of the teachings of Islam. He is the author of several books, such as “al-Anwaar al-Alawiyya wa’l-Asraar al-Murtazawiyya” on the God-given merits of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the 1^st divinely-designated vicegerent of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

53 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, Uganda gained independence after 74 years of British rule. Over 15 percent of the population of Uganda is Muslim. Situated in East Africa, the Republic of Uganda covers an area of almost 235,880 sq km and shares borders with Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its capital is Kampala.

49 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, South Korean forces, operating under US command in South Vietnam, massacred hundreds of Vietnamese men, women and children, in two separate incidents in the regions of Dien Nien and Phuoc Binh. In Dien Nien, the massacre lasted two days and as many as 280 unarmed civilians were killed in cold blood in Tinh Son village of Quang Ngai Province. In Phuoc Binh hamlet, the victims of the massacre were mostly 180 children and elderly women who were butchered in a schoolyard. The South Koreans acted upon the orders of the US.

48 solar years ago, on this day in 1967 AD, prominent Latin American revolutionary, Ernesto Che Guevara of Argentina, was executed by the US-installed regime of Bolivia, along with many of his comrades at the age of 39. Because of the poverty, discrimination, suppression by ruling regimes and exploitation by the US, he launched his anti-imperialist struggles, following his meeting in Mexico with Cuban leader, Fidel Castro in the 1950s. The two teamed up to lead the Cuban revolution to victory in 1959, after which Che Guevara went to Bolivia to form a guerrilla group to bring down US-installed regime. He was tracked down by the CIA, imprisoned and executed.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, Palestinian revolutionary Majed Abu-Sharaar was martyred in Italy by agents of the illegal Zionist entity. The usurper state of Israel pursues a policy of terrorism against Arabs and Muslims around the world in a vain bid to prolong its illegal existence on the soil of Palestine.

18 solar years ago, on this day in 1998 AD, Iranian linguist and Persian language expert, Dr. Mostafa Moqarrabi, passed away at the age of 88. Born in Tehran, as a member of “Farhangistan-e Zabaan”, he contributed to the preparation of school textbooks, and was active in the compilation and publishing of the Persian Language Encyclopedia. In 1953, he joined the prominent scholar Iraj Afshar and his team of scholars such as Mohammad Taqi Daneshpazhuh, Abbas Zaryab Khoei, and Manouchehr Sotudeh, to publish the journal “Farhang-e Iranzamin”, which focused on publishing manuscripts of treatises and short books. He has left behind several works including translation of “History of the World” for school students, and compiled the book “17 Discourses”.

AS/ME