Today is Thursday; 20th of the Iranian month of Aban 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 10th of the Islamic month of Safar 1438 lunar hijri; and November 10, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1349 lunar years ago, on this day in 99 AH, Sulayman ibn Abdul-Malik, the 7^th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, died at the age of 43 after a reign of 2 years and nine months in Qenshirin, near Aleppo on his way to invade the Byzantine Empire, following the unsuccessful siege of Constantinople by his brother, Maslamah. He was gluttonous with insatiable appetite for large quantities of food, in addition to being a womanizer. An intensely jealous person, he publicly disgraced Musa Ibn Nusayr, the governor-general of North Africa and Spain for not delaying the triumphal entry into Damascus of the rich spoils of the Iberian War until he could take over the caliphate from his ailing brother, Waleed I. He subsequently had two of Ibn Nusayr’s sons executed and sadistically presented the head of one of them to the wretched father. He also had the governor of Khorasan and Transoxiana, Qutayba Ibn Muslim, killed in battle for advising Waleed to exclude Sulayman from the list of succession. He used to openly praise the founder of the Omayyad usurper regime, Mu'awiyah ibn Sufyan, saying he had never come across anyone so unabashed in cruelty, crime and oppression

1109 lunar years ago, on this day in 329 AH, the Iranian statesman and historian, Abu Ali Mohammad Amirak Bal’ami, passed away. Born in Lashjerd near the Khorasani city of Marv (presently in Turkmenistan), he was the son of Abu’l-Fazl Bal’ami (also called Bal’am-e Buzurg or the Elder), and was appointed vizier of the Iranian Samanid Empire during the reign of Amir Abdul-Malik I (954-961). He kept holding the office under the next ruler, Mansour I. His most famous work is “Tarikh-e Bal’ami”, which is a Persian translation of the famous Iranian historian Abu Ja’far Mohammad bin Jarir Tabari’s monumental Arabic work “Tarikh ar-Rusol wa’l-Mulook” (History of Prophets and Kings). It contains supplementary material, some of which is found nowhere else. It is the oldest Persian prose work after the Shahnamah of Daqiqi.

814 solar years ago, on this day in 1202 AD, during the Fourth Crusade, Christian hordes from Western Europe, unable to confront the might of Muslims, began the siege of the Catholic city of Zara (now Zadar, Croatia). Pope Innocent III had mobilised forces on the pretext of invading Palestine through Egypt, but his Catholic hordes never ventured near any Muslim territory and instead indulged in sectarian sedition by attacking fellow Christians of the Byzantine Empire. In April 1204, the Crusaders invaded and sacked the Orthodox Christian city of Constantinople, which is seen as one of the final acts in the Great Schism between the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church, and a key turning point in the decline of the empire and of Christianity in the Asian parts of the empire. The crusaders established the short-lived Latin Empire (1204–1261) and other "Latin" states in the Byzantine lands they conquered. Byzantine resistance in unconquered sections of the empire such as Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus ultimately liberated the capital and overthrew the crusader states. The Fourth Crusade is considered to be the last major campaign of the Crusades, and marked an end to any further serious attempts at invading the Muslim land of Palestine.

572 solar years ago, on this day in 1444 AD, the Ottoman army under Sultan Murad II inflicted a crushing defeat on the combined Hungarian and Polish armies commanded by Władysław III of Poland and Hunyadi Janos of Hungary in the Battle of Varna in eastern Bulgaria. It was the final battle of the Crusade of Varna and King Wladyslaw was killed. The Turks captured some 80 thousand prisoners. This was one of the most important events in European history and established Muslim rule over a large part of southeastern Europe.

549 solar years ago, on this day in 1467 AD, Muzaffar od-Din Jahan Shah, the most powerful king of the Qara Qoyounlu (Black Sheep) Turkoman dynasty, was killed at the age of 70 in the Battle of Chapakchur near Lake Van in present day Turkey by the army of Uzun Hassan of the rival Aq Qoyounlu (White Sheep) dynasty of Anatolia, after a reign of almost 30 years. Jahan Shah, who had expanded his kingdom to include Iraq, the southern Caucasus, western Anatolia, and northwestern and central Iran, was an able administrator. He was buried in his capital Tabriz, which he had greatly embellished and built the theological schools of Gok-Madrasah and Muzafferiyya. With his death the almost century long sway of the Qara Qoyounlu Turks, who were staunch followers of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt, came to its end. Scions of the Qara-Qoyounlu migrated to the Deccan (southern India), where Sultan Quli of Hamedan rose to become the governor of Telangana in the 1470s under the Bahmani Dynasty of Iranian origin, with the title of Qotb ol-Mulk, and in 1512 founded the Persianate Qotb-Shahi Dynasty of Golkandah entitling himself Sultan Quli Qotb-Shah. The Qotb-Shahis, who built the city of Haiderabad, maintained excellent relations with Iran and considered the Safavid monarchs as Emperors till their downfall in 1687 at the hands of Aurangzeb the Mughal Emperor of the northern subcontinent.

533 solar years ago, on this day in 1483 AD, German religious dissident, Martin Luther, was born. He became a priest in his youth. Following completion of his academic studies, he lectured on philosophy. He strongly disputed the claim of the Catholic Church that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. In 1517, he formally started his protest against injustices of the Church by writing his famous “Ninety-Five Theses”. His refusal to retract all his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V resulted in his excommunication by the pope. His translation of the Bible from Latin into the spoken language made it more accessible and led to the development of a standard version of the German language. Luther wrote that since the Israelites betrayed Prophet Jesus (peace upon him) and continue to slander the Virgin Mary (peace upon her), all Jewish homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, and their wealth confiscated., and broke the Catholic law by translating the Bible into German, thereby launching the protestant movement, now known as the Protestant sect of Christianity. His ideas led to wars and political and sectarian upheavals in Europe, especially Germany. Thomas More, English lawyer, social philosopher, who was a bitter opponent of the Protestant Movement, ridiculed Martin Luther as a heretic in the book "Responsio ad Lutherum". Martin Luther died in 1546.

436 solar years ago, on this day in 1580 AD, after a three-day siege, the English Army brutally beheaded over 600 Papal soldiers and civilians at Dún an Óir, in Ireland.

435 lunar years ago, on this day in 1003 AH, the famous Persian poet and scholar of India, Shaikh Abu’l-Faiz, known by his penname “Faizi”, died from asthma at the age of 49 years. He was the “Malik-ush-Shu'ara” (Poet Laureate) of the court of the Mughal Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar Shah, and was elder brother of the equally famous court historian Abu’l-Fazl. He composed significant poetic works in Persian and his Divan comprising “qasida” (eulogy), “ghazal” (lyric), “ruba’i” (quatrain), and “marthia” (elegy), is entitled “Tabashir as-Subh”. In pursuance of the literary practice then in vogue, he produced “Panj Ganj” (Five Treasures) in the “khamsa” style of poetry in imitation of the celebrated Iranian poet Nizami Ganjavi. He thus wrote “Nal va Daman”, “Markaz ul-Advaar”, “Sulaiman va Bilqis”, “Haft Kishvar” and “Akbarnamah”. These are respectively answers to Nizami's “Layla va Majnoun”, “Makhzan ul-Asraar” “Khosraw va Shirin”, “Haft Paykar” and “Iskandarnamah”. Faizi also wrote a series of reports on political and cultural conditions of the sultanates of the Deccan (southern India), as well as on the Safavid Empire of Iran. Among his other works is an exegesis of the Holy Qur’an, and translation from Sanskrit into Persian of the famous mathematical work “Lilavati”.

357 solar years ago, on this day in 1659 AD, Afzal Khan, the famous general of eastern Iranian origin of the Adel-Shahi dynasty of Bijapur in the Deccan (southern India), was treacherously murdered by the Maratha rebel, Shivaji, during a supposedly unarmed meeting between the two sides for submission to the central authority and end of insurgency. The incident occurred near Pratapgarh in what is now the state of Maharashtra after a series of victories by Afzal Khan over the Marathas. Weakened by insurgency, the Adel-Shahi dynasty, a Persianate state founded by Iranian adventurer from Saveh, Yousuf Adel Khan in the closing years of the 15th century as the first kingdom in the Subcontinent to officially adopt the School of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) or Shi’ite Islam as official creed, collapsed in 1686 when attacked by Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb.

174 lunar years ago, on this day in 1263 AH, the prominent Iranian author and scientist, Mullah Ja’far Shariatmadar Astarabadi passed away in Tehran at the age of 66 and his body was taken to holy Najaf in Iraq for burial. He was a product of the famous Najaf Islamic seminary. He left for Iran during the siege of the holy city of Karbala by the Ottoman General Davoud Pasha. He was an expert on Arabic literature and an accomplished poet. Among his books is "al-Masabih" on principles of Islamic Jurisprudence.

131 solar years ago, on this day in 1885 AD, the first ever motorcycle, designed by Gottlieb Daimler, made its debut. The frame and wheels were made of wood, while a leather belt transferred power from the engine to large brass gears mounted to the rear wheel. The leather saddle wasn't very comfortable since there was no suspension (front or rear). The top speed for the single cylinder motorcycle was 12 km per hour. It was built as an experimental vehicle to test the new Daimler engine, which was to power Daimler's first motorized carriage the next year.

127 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, the jurisprudent Mullah Ahmad Khowaini Qazvini passed away in Qazvin at the age of 68. After attending the Isfahan seminary, he left for Iraq for higher religious studies in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, where he stayed for long years before returning to Iran. He settled in Qazvin, teaching and grooming budding scholars. He authored several books, such as the 3-volume “Mirat al-Murad” on biographical evaluation of narrators, and the 2-volume “al-Lawame’ on jurisprudence.

104 solar years ago, on this day in 1912 AD, France and Spain started their colonial rule over Morocco by dividing between them this Muslim land, a move that angered the people and led to armed struggle for liberation. Morocco gained its independence from the colonial rule of France and Spain in the year 1956.

96 solar years ago, on this day in 1926 AD, Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House", premiered in New York. A critic of the existing western social order, he was famous for his positive remarks on Islam.

“If any religion had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe within the next hundred years, it could be Islam."

“I have always held the religion of (Prophet) Mohammad (SAWA) in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him - the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior of Humanity.”

“I have prophesied about the faith of (Prophet) Mohammad (SAWA) that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.”

78 solar years ago, on this day in 1938 AD, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Ottoman military officer and 1^st President of the Republic of Turkey, died at the age of 57. He forced the Turkish Muslim people to change their centuries-old writing of the Turkish language from the Arabic-Persian alphabet to the Latin script. The goal was to deprive Turkey and the Turks of their Islamic identity and make them culturally subordinate to Europe. Mustafa Kamal, who styled himself as Ataturk (Father of Turks), in addition to forcibly replacing the traditional dress of the Turkish people with the European style of dressing, banned recitation of the “Azan” (Call to Prayer) from mosques. Although these laic measures harmed Turkish Muslims and for several decades made them subservient to the West, they failed to undermine their strong faith in Islam.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, heavy fighting in Surabaya between Indonesian nationalists and returning Dutch colonialists after the defeat of Japan in World War II, resulted in victory for the Muslims. The day is celebrated as Hari Pahlawan or Heroes' Day in Indonesia.

56 lunar years ago, on this day in 1382 AH, the Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abdul-Hadi Shirazi, passed away. A product of the famous Najaf Seminary he learned Islamic sciences under prominent lecturers such as Akhound Khorasani and Allamah Yazdi, attaining the level of ijtehad. He authored several books, including a book named “Dar al-Islam”.

41 solar years ago, on this day in 1975 AD, the UN General Assembly in a historic move approved Resolution 3379 equating Zionism with racism, in view of the blatant discrimination against Palestinians by the usurper state of Israel. It was adopted by a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions). It said: “Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.” Because of US pressures and threats from Western Europe, coupled with treason from Arab reactionary regimes, this fair and just resolution was repealed in December 1991 by Resolution 4686.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, Soviet Leader, Leonid Brezhnev, died at the age of 76 after 16 years in power as General-Secretary of the Communist Party, following his ouster of Nikita Khrushchev. He was a conservative politician, and adopted the détente policy, in an effort to avoid any atomic confrontation with the US. The 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia and the December 1979 occupation of Afghanistan took place during his term in office.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, the combatant jurisprudent, Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Fazl Khosrowshahi, passed away at the age of 84. A product of the seminaries of Tabriz and holy Najaf in Iraq – where he attained the status of Ijtehad – he guided the people of Tabriz during the suffocating days of the British installed Pahlavi tyrant Reza Khan. After World War 2 when Azarbaijan was briefly detached from Iran and declared a ‘communist republic’ under protection of the Soviet Union, he firmly stood against the self-styled Democrats, who plotted to assassinate him and his equally learned brother. On the collapse of communist rule and return of Azarbaijan to Iran, he resumed his religious activities, undeterred by the harassment of the Pahlavi regime.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2004 AD, Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) was awarded the "Man for Peace" prize in Rome at the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Born in London in 1948 to a Greek Cypriot father and a Swedish mother, and named Steven Demetre Georgiou, he formally converted to Islam in 1977 after studying the holy Qur’an. An accomplished musician by profession, his staunch faith in Islam has often earned him the ire of anti-Muslim groups.

AS/ME