Today is Saturday; 24th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 13th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1437 lunar hijri; and October 15, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1377 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, the aged Abdullah ibn Afif al-Azdi al-Ghamidi, who had served the cause of Islam with distinction, was martyred by Obaidullah ibn Ziyad, the tyrannical governor of Iraq, for praising the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS) and the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, as the chosen ones of God. On the 12^th of Moharram, when the severed heads of the martyrs of Karbala were brought before him, Ibn Ziyad went to the Mosque of Kufa and addressing the prayer gathering from the pulpit verbally abused the Ahl al-Bayt. On hearing this, Abdullah ibn Afif, who was blind, having lost one eye during the Battle of Jamal and the second eye during the Battle of Siffin, while fighting for the cause of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), retorted: “The liar, son of the liar, is you and your father, and the one who appointed you as the governor [i.e. Yazid] and his father [Mu’awiyyah]. O son of Marjanah (the morally lose woman)! You kill the offspring of the Prophet from whom Allah removed all abomination, and then claim that you are a Muslim. Where are the sons of the Muhajirun and the Ansar to seek revenge against this tyrant, the one who and whose father were both cursed by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).”

Ibn Ziyad’s anger intensified and he ordered his guards to seize Abdullah ibn Afif, who gave the battle cry of the Azdi Clan that brought clansmen to his rescue. He was taken home that day but in the night, the Omayyads burst into his house, and after overpowering the blind man who staged a valiant defence, they took him to Ibn Ziyad, who ordered his execution, at which Ibn Afif boldly said: “Then Praise to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds! I have been for years praying my Lord to grant me the honour of martyrdom even before your mother gave birth to you, and I prayed Him to let it be at the hands of one whom He curses and hates the most!”

1104 solar years ago, on this day in 912 AD, Abdullah ibn Mohammad, the 7th emir of Muslim Spain died in his capital Cordoba at the age of 68, after a reign of 22 years and was succeeded by his grandson, Abdur-Rahman. Contemporary historians charge him of orchestrating the death of his elder brother, al-Mundhir, whereby he ascended to power. His government was marked by continuous inter-Muslim wars between Arabs, Berbers and Muladi. His power as emir was confined to the area of Cordoba, while the rest of country was seized by rebel families that did not accept his authority. He showed no reluctance to dispose of those he viewed as a threat, even if they were family. Two of his own brothers were executed on his orders, and he commanded one of his sons, al-Mutarrif, to kill his own brother. Mutarrif too was executed for treason a few years later. The most formidable threat for the emir was Omar Ibn Hafsun, who though defeated in 891 conquered back all lost territories, forcing the emir to sign a peace accord in 901.

1063 lunar years ago, on this day in 376 AH, the Iranian astronomer and mathematician, Abu'l-Hassan Abdur-Rahman ibn Amr as-Sufi ar-Razi was born in Rayy, currently the southern suburb of Tehran. He was one of the greatest astronomers and astrologers and was patronized by Azud od-Dowla Daylami. Among his works is “Kitab al-Kawakeb as-Sabeta” on astronomy. A related work by him is: “Kitab Suwar al-Kawakeb ath-Thamaniya al-Arba’in”.

751 solar years ago, on this day in 1265 AD, Temür Oljeytu Khan, or Emperor Chengzong of the Yuan Mongol Dynasty of China was born to Zhenjin the son and crown prince of Kublai Khan. At the age of 21 he succeeded his grandfather as the 6th Great Khan and ruled for 13 years from 1294 to February 10, 1307. Many high posts of his empire were filled with people of different origin, including Muslims. Mongol statesmen were assisted by Chinese administrators and Muslim financers. The most prominent Muslim statesman was Bayan, a great-grandson of the migrant Iranian scholar and statesman, Seyyed Ajal Shams od-Din, who was in charge of the Finance Ministry. He banned sales and distillation of alcohol in 1297.

487 solar years ago, on this day in 1529 AD, the Siege of Vienna ended as Suleiman, the 10th Ottoman Sultan and 2nd self-styled Turkish caliph, ordered retreat of his forces to the safety of Belgrade in the face of harsh weather and harassment by the Christian defenders that had gathered from various parts of Christendom and who viewed it as a key battle of world history, fearing a Christian defeat would lead to Muslim domination of the rest of Europe. The siege of Vienna signaled the peak of Ottoman expansion in Central Europe, as the Turks settled in Buda on the left bank of the River Danube. Thereafter, 150 years of bitter military tension and reciprocal attacks ensued, culminating in the Battle of Vienna of 1683, which marked the start of the 15-year-long Great Turkish War and the subsequent Ottoman decline. Suleiman's main objective in 1529 was to assert Ottoman control over the whole of Hungary, the western part of which was under Habsburg control. The Vienna siege is viewed as an opportunistic maneuver after Suleiman’s decisive victory in Hungary, and not any serious attempt to take the city and march beyond, since the Turks were stretched thin. Moreover, Suleiman was worried of the real danger to the Ottomans from the Safavid Empire of Iran in the east, following defections of the Turcoman governors of some regions in Anatolia to Shah Tahmasp. Therefore, after a second failed attempt on Vienna in 1532, with his European frontier secured, he hastened east to invade Iraq and occupy Baghdad, while the Safavids, reluctant to shed the blood of fellow Muslims withdrew without a fight and for the next two decades followed a scorched earth policy in northwestern Iran that frustrated the Ottomans and forced Suleiman to sign a durable peace

434 solar years ago, on this day in 1582 AD, was the first day of the Gregorian calendar under the decree of Pope Gregory XIII in the Catholic countries of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland, which realigned the calendar with the equinoxes. The rest of the Christian world was still using the Julian calendar, and recognized the day as 5 Oct 1582.

417 lunar years ago, on this day in 1021 AH, the prominent Iranian religious scholar, Mullah Abdullah Shushtari, passed away. He was a product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq and on returning to Iran, he groomed a great many scholars. He lived a life of piety and asceticism and adopted a simple lifestyle. He has written a large number of books and at the same time was active in social affairs, sparing no efforts to solve people's problems.

252 solar years ago, on this day in 1764 AD, British scholar and member of parliament, Edward Gibbon, observed a group of Christian priests shamelessly singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which made him to write his monumental work “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” – noted for its prose, use of primary sources, and open criticism of Judaism and Christianity. He traced the spread of Islam and the Mongol invasion from the height of the Roman Empire to the fall of Byzantium. He says about Prophet Mohammad (SAWA):

“He breathed among the faithful a spirit of charity and friendship; recommended the practice of social virtues; and checked ... the thirst of revenge, and the oppression of widows and orphans."

Gibbon notes the remarkable preservation of the holy Qur’an in its original form, from the time of the Prophet till this day, in contrast to the scriptures of the Jews and Christians that have constantly undergone changes. He says:

“It is not the propagation but the permanency of his religion that deserves our wonder, the same pure and perfect impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved after the revolutions of twelve centuries by the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes of the Qur’an.”

About Imam Ali (AS), Gibbon writes:

“The zeal and virtue of Ali were never outstripped by any recent proselyte. He united the qualifications of a poet, a soldier, and a saint; his wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral and religious sayings; and every antagonist, in the combats of the tongue or of the sword, was subdued by his eloquence and valour. From the first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral, the Apostle was never forsaken by a generous friend, whom he delighted to name his brother, his vicegerent, and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses.”

About the heartrending tragedy of Karbala, Gibbon writes:

“In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Husain will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader.”

Gibbon was highly critical of the Christian Church and has written:

"If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism.”

About the Israelites, he is even more frank and forthright, writing:

“Humanity is shocked at the recital of the horrid cruelties which they (Jews) committed in the cities of Egypt, of Cyprus, and of Cyrene, where they dwelt in treacherous friendship with the unsuspecting natives;”

In his footnote Gibbon adds:

“In Cyrene, [the Jews] massacred 220,000 Greeks; in Cyprus, 240,000; in Egypt, a very great multitude... The victorious Jews devoured the flesh, licked up the blood, and twisted the entrails like a girdle around their bodies.”

233 solar years ago, on this day in 1783 AD, Frenchman Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier, made a tethered balloon ascent, in the gardens of La Muette. The Montgolfier-made balloon, Aerostat Reveillon, carrying Pilatre – the first man in air – rose to the end of its 250-ft tether. It stayed aloft for15 minutes, then landed safely nearby. On 15 Jun 1785, Pilâtre attempted the first east-to-west crossing of the English Channel with a hybrid balloon combining lift from both hydrogen and hot air. Within minutes, the craft exploded, and plunged to the rocks on the coast of Wimereux. Neither Pilâtre nor his co-pilot, Romain, survived the crash.

210 solar years ago, on this day in 1806 AD, French and the German Prussian troops fought each other, following the victory of Napoleon Bonaparte in the six-day war. The French forces entered the Prussian Capital, Berlin, in triumph.

186 solar years ago, on this day in 1830 AD, Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, writer and poet, was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. In 1881 four years before her death she wrote the highly researched book "A Century of Dishonor",  that drew attention to the worsening plight of Native Americans – the victims of the genocide unleashed by the White Europeans.

172 solar years ago, on this day in 1844 AD, German philosopher, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, was born. He was an agnostic and did not believe in ethical principles. He was unable to grasp facts and realities. His idea of a perfect person is the one that is devoid of the concept of good and evil. He lost his mental balance in the waning years of his life and died in 1900 AD.

136 solar years ago, on this day in 1880 AD, Mexican soldiers killed Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists.

124 solar years ago, on this day in 1892 AD, the US regime forced the Crow Amerindians to give up 1.8 million acres of their reservation (in the mountainous area of western Montana) for only 50 cents per acre in order to open this land to white settlers, as part of the repressive policies of Washington against the natives.

122 solar years ago, on this day in 1894 AD, the trial of the French Jewish officer, Alfred Dreyfus, started in Paris, as one of the most controversial events of 19th century Europe. He was stripped of his military rank and was slapped with a life imprisonment under the charge of treason and presentation of French military secrets to Germany. Later he was released and his suspicious acquittal provided the Zionists with a pretext to launch propaganda across Europe about the supposed discrimination against Jews.

87 solar years ago, on this day in 1929 AD, Nadir Khan seized the throne of Afghanistan after a 3-way power struggle and styled himself Nadir Shah. His tribal Waziri army looted government buildings and houses of wealthy citizens because the treasury was empty. Habibullah Kalakani, along with his supporters, and a few supporters of the ousted ruler Amanullah Khan were killed by Nadir, who was assassinated four years later in 1933. With the ouster of his son and successor, Zahir Shah in a military coup by Daud Khan in 1973, monarchy ended in Afghanistan – a mountainous land which had no independent existence before 1747 when Ahmad Shah Abdali taking advantage of the political chaos resulting in Iran following the murder of Nader Shah Afshar set up the Durrani kingdom.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, while the people of Kerman in southeastern Iran were commemorating at the city's Jame' Masjid or Main Mosque, the traditional 40th day of the martyrs of the Tehran uprising against the despotic regime of the Shah, Pahlavi agents attacked the mourners, martyring and injuring scores of them. This led to development of a new wave of protests against the British-installed and American-backed regime, resulting in chain demonstrations throughout the country that eventually led to the victory of the Islamic Revolution under the guidance of Imam Khomeini (RA).

AS/SS