Today is Sunday; 5th of the Iranian month of Dey 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 25th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1438 lunar hijri; and December 25, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

Sometime between 2016 to 2020 solar years ago, the miraculous birth of Prophet Jesus (PuH) through the Virgin Mary, without the association of any male as his father, took place by the Will of the One and Only God. He was born on a date of the Roman calendar that still remains uncertain, although several centuries later, the newly-founded Christian Church chose as Christmas the 25th of December, which was a major pagan festival, in order to propagate Christianity amongst the polytheists of Europe. It is, however, worth noting that the Israelites, amongst whom this great Prophet was born, followed the lunar calendar, similar to the Arabic and the later Islamic calendar. Thus according to certain narrations, the birth of Prophet Jesus (PuH) was either on the eve of the 25th of the month of Zilqa’dah or the 6th of the month of Muharram. Anyway since most of the Christian World celebrates Christmas this day we extend our congratulations to them, and pray for guidance of the Western powers, which have totally deviated from the peaceful message of the Messiah and plunged the world into wars, moral depravity, economic chaos, and social disintegration. The holy Qur’an, which is the final revelation of God to mankind, mentions the virgin birth of Jesus (PuH). Islam regards Jesus (PuH) as one of the five greatest Prophets – the others being Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the last and greatest of them all, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). In Surah Saff, the holy Qur’an mentions Jesus’ prediction to the Israelites of the coming of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), a fact that is also found in the Gospel of St. John. Here, it would be not out of context to refer to the account in the Gospel of St. Mathew of the coming of the Magi or Three Wise Men from the east, to Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus. It is obvious by the term Magi, which is a corruption of the Persian word ‘Majous’ that these wise men were Iranians.

1742 solar years ago, on this day in 274 AD, Emperor Aurelian imported into Rome the cult of Sol Invictus and made its December 25 festival a national holiday. Based on the Shams, the solar god of Palmyra in Syria, Aurelian placed and consecrated a cult statue of the sun god looted from Palmyra in the temple of Sol Invictus that he built. He made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. Sol Invictus played a prominent role in the Mithraic rites that were borrowed from ancient Iran. Aurelian also instituted games in honor of the sun god, held every four years from AD 274 onwards, and declared Sunday (day of the sun god) as public holiday. Centuries later when Rome was Christianized, the 25th of December that was an already existing festival of the Sol Invictus was turned into the supposed birth of Prophet Jesus (PuH). A manuscript from the 12th-century Bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi, mentions: "It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the Nativity of Jesus should be solemnised on that day."

1076 solar years ago, on this day in 940 AD, Iranian warlord, Maakaan ibn Kaki, who was active in the Caspian Sea region, was killed in battle near Rayy by fellow Iranians, the Samanids. Like his father, he served the Alawid Shi’a Muslim Dynasty of Tabaristan, and became involved in the succession disputes. He managed to establish himself as ruler of Tabaristan and Gorgan for short periods of time, in rivalry with other Daylamite Iranian warlords such as Asfar ibn Shiruwaiyh and the Ziyarid brothers Mardavij and Vushmgir.

1002 lunar years ago, on this day in 436 AH, the great scholar and jurisprudent, Seyyed Ali Ibn Hussain, popularly known as Sharif Murtaza, passed away at the age of 81 in his hometown Baghdad. He was born in a family descended on both sides from Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). His father Hussain was 5^th in line of descent from Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), while his mother, Fatema – a scion of the family that had carved out an independent state in Tabaristan on the Caspian Sea coast of Iran – was a descendant of Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS). It was she who entrusted her two sons, as students, to the great scholar, Sheikh Mufid, who on her insistence had written one of his famous books “Ahkam an-Nisa” or jurisprudential rules for women. Sharif Murtaza’s vast knowledge earned him the title of 'Alam al-Huda' (Banner of Guidance). He wrote some 66 books and treatises on a variety of topics such as theology, jurisprudence, Qur’anic sciences, grammar, literature, and poetry. This leading Mujtahed served for 30 years as the Chief Judge of Baghdad, and was highly respected by all, including Sunni Muslims. Acknowledged as the greatest scholar of his era, during the rule of the Iranian Buwaiyhid Dynasty over Iraq-Iran-Oman, he groomed many outstanding ulema, including the famous Iranian scholar Shaikh at-Ta’efa Tusi – the founder of the celebrated Islamic Seminary of Najaf. Sharif Murtaza was the elder brother of the equally prominent, Sharif Radhi, the compiler of the famous book “Nahj al-Balagha” – the collection of the sermons, letters and maxims of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS). His books include “al-Intisar”, “ash-Shafi”, “at-Tanzih al-Anbiyya”, “al-Ghurar wa’d-Durar” and “Zakhirat al-Usul al-Fiqh”, as well as a Diwan containing over 20,000 of his Arabic verses.

879 solar years ago, on this day in 1137 AD, Salah od-Din Ayyoubi, who conquered the Islamic city of Bayt ol-Moqaddas from the European Crusader invaders by ending the 88-year illegal existence of the usurper Kingdom of Jerusalem in Palestine, was born in Tikrit in Iraq into a Kurdish family. After serving the Turkic Zangi dynasty of Syria, along with his uncle Shirkouh, he saw service in Egypt, which he seized from the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'a Muslim Dynasty, and subsequently spread his rule over Syria and the Hijaz after persecuting Shi’ite Muslims. He burned whole libraries in Egypt and forcibly imposed the Sunni creed upon Egyptians. He died in Damascus at the age of 57 and is buried behind the Omayyad Mosque.

463 solar years ago, on this day in 1553 AD, the Battle of Tucapel in Chile resulted in a decisive victory for the Amerindians led by Lautaro against the Spanish conquistadors. The Spanish governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia was captured and killed in this battle that was part of the 300-year long-running Arauco War between the European invaders and the indigenous Mapuche inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. Lautaro inflicted crushing defeats and huge death tolls on Spanish forces in several battles despite having far inferior weaponry. He was close to final victory when he was killed in battle at around 23 years of age in 1557. Born in 1534, during his teen years he allowed himself to be captured by the Spaniards and became the personal servant of Governor Don Pedro de Valdivia, in order to learn the military ways and skills of the technologically- advanced European invaders. He was witness to atrocities committed by the Spanish on captive Mapuche warriors. In 1552 he returned to his people to teach them new techniques of warfare and the use of horses and ammunitions in order to defeat the Spaniards. Lautaro is considered the first Chilean revolutionary and is hailed as a hero for uniting the dispersed Mapuche people.

394 solar years ago, on this day in 1622, Ahmadnagar, the capital of the Shi’a Muslim Nizam-Shahi kingdom of the Deccan (southern India) was besieged and the nearby town of Burhanabad sacked by the Moghal army of Hindustan (northern subcontinent). The reason for the attack was the alliance of the Nizam-Shahis with the Safavid Empire of Iran. Soon the aggressors were repulsed by Queen Chand Sultana, who is famous for her bravery and administrative capabilities in Ahmadnagar and the neighbouring Adel-Shahi kingdom of Iranian origin of Bijapur.

374 solar years ago, on this day in 1642 AD, English physicist and mathematician, Isaac Newton was born. He greatly benefited from the works of Islamic scientists, and his study of optics included using a prism to show that white light could be split into a spectrum of colours. His three laws of motion are fundamental in the study of mechanics. He was the first European to describe the moon as falling (in a circle around the earth) under the same influence of gravity as a falling apple, embodied in his law of universal gravitation – although centuries earlier, Muslim scientists had discovered these facts. He died in 1727 at the age of 85.

351 solar years ago, on this day in 1665 AD, the French East India Company was set up during the reign of King Louis XIV for political, economic, and colonial rivalry with the British East India Company, established 66 years earlier. The British and the French fought for control of southern India. The British emerged victorious and drove out the French, who retained a few insignificant towns such as Pondichery, Karikal and Yanaon on the southeast or Coromandel Coast of India, Mahe on the southwestern or Malabar Coast, and Chandernagor in Bengal near Calcutta. Following the independence of India in 1947, Chandernagore was ceded to India on 2 May 1950 and with Bengal state on 2 October 1955. On November 1, 1954, the four enclaves of Pondichery, Yanam, Mahe, and Karikal were de facto transferred to India. The de jure union of France’s Indian colonial possession, with India did not take place until 1962, when the French Parliament in Paris ratified the treaty with India.

275 solar years ago, on this day in 1741 AD, the Centigrade temperature scale was devised by astronomer Anders Celsius and incorporated into a Delisle thermometer at Uppsala in Sweden. Celsius divided the fixed-point range of the Fahrenheit scale (the freezing and boiling temperatures of water) into 100 equal divisions, but curiously set the freezing point at 100 and the boiling point at 0. This reverse scaling was changed to match the sense of the other temperature scales after Celsius's death.

140 solar years ago, on this day in 1876 AD, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Founder of Pakistan was born in Karachi in a Khoja Ismaili Shi’a Muslim family and later embraced the creed of the mainstream Ithna Ash’ari – Twelver or Imami Muslims. After completing education in London, he started his career as a lawyer, and soon turned into a popular politician and statesman, earning the title "Qa’ed-e Azam" (or Great Leader) from Muslims of the Subcontinent. Jinnah served as head of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan's independence on August 14, 1947, and as Pakistan's first Governor-General from August 15, 1947 until his death on September 11, 1948 at the age of 72. His legacy is still alive in Pakistan.

118 solar years ago, on this day in 1898 AD, prominent physician and jurisprudent, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hussaini Mar’ashi, popular as “Seyyed ol-Atibba”, passed away at the of 99. Born in Tabriz, after preliminary religious education he went to holy Najaf, Iraq, for higher religious studies and soon attained the status of Ijtehad. On his return to Iran, he studied medicine and other branches of Islamic sciences in Isfahan for 15 years, and then spent a few more years in Sabzevar as student of the famous philosopher Mullah Hadi Sabzevari. He was an accomplished jurisprudent, philosopher and physician. He spent the rest of his life in his hometown Tabriz, treating spiritual and physical ailments. A prolific writer, he authored several books, including “Tarikh-e Tabriz”, Commentary on the Prophet’s Medical Prescriptions, and Commentary on the “Samaat Supplication”. 

60 solar years ago, on this day in 1955 AD, the famous Iranian combatant religious leader, Seyyed Mojtaba Mir-Lowhi, known popularly as Hojjat al-Islam Nawab Safavi, was martyred at the young age of 32 years by a firing squad of the Shah’s despotic regime, along with three other revolutionaries, after a summary trial, following arrest on 22 November for Islamic activities. A product of the seminary of holy Najaf, he had visited Egypt for contacts with the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood). It was on his advice that Yasser Arafat, who was a young Palestinian student in Cairo, left his academic career to involve himself in political activities against the usurper state of Israel. On his return to Iran Nawab Safavi founded the Fadayan-e Islam Organisation for reforming the Iranian society and was close to the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). He had a striking personality and was a mesmerizing orator.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1977 AD, British comedian and filmmaker, Charles Spencer Chaplin, died in Switzerland at the age of 88. Born in London, he appeared on stage in childhood and went to the US to work in films. Due to making critical films and expressing sympathy with the poor and needy, he faced a number of restrictions imposed by the US regime. In 1952 he was deported from the US and settled in Switzerland, from where he always criticized the corrupt Western cinema. In general, his films, which are black-and-white comedies, ridicule the unequal social relations in the West. His most famous films include “The Gold Rush”; “City Lights”; and “The Great Dictator”. The last named was his first sound film comedy on German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, Professor of Tehran’s Polytechnic University, Kamran Nejatollahi, was martyred by the Shah's regime during a sit-in protest by university professors at the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, three senior Palestinian officials were assassinated by the Zionist entity’s spying agency Mossad. Ali Hassan Salameh, the security official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was killed in a car bombing in Beirut. Samir Toqan, a member of PLO Political Bureau in Cyprus was assassinated by Mossad agents. The third Palestinian official, who was killed on this day by the Zionist terrorists, was the PLO representative in Kuwait, Ali Naser Yasin.

13 solar years ago, on this day in 2003 AD, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake shook the city of Bam in southern Iran, and its environs, almost destroying the city of Bam and claiming the life of 41,000 people in addition to the tens of thousands of injured and homeless. The Iranian nation and government rushed to help the quake-hit victims. The earthquake also damaged the ancient Bam Citadel, the world’s largest mud-brick fortress.

AS/ME