Today is Monday; 20th of the Iranian month of Dey 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 10th of the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1438 lunar hijri; and January 9, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1336 solar years ago, on this day in 681 AD, the Twelfth Council of Toledo was initiated by King Erwig of the Visigoths of Spain, and enacted twenty-eight laws against the Jews. The bishops ordered the reading in all the churches of the canons against the Jews and conserved all acts of abjuration and conversion of Jews, prohibiting the ‘conversos’ from returning to Judaism. Christians have historical hated, persecuted and massacred the Jews, because of their complicity in the plot too handover Prophet Jesus to the Romans, as well as their continued slandering of the Messiah and his pure and chaste mother, the Virgin Mary, in whose honour there is a Surah or chapter in the holy Qur’an. 

1237 lunar years ago, on this day in 201 AH, Hazrat Fatema al-Ma’soumah (peace upon her), the venerable daughter of the Prophet of Islam’s 7th Infallible Heir, Imam Musa Kazem (AS), succumbed to the wounds she suffered 17 days earlier when her caravan was attacked near Saveh, and attained martyrdom in the city of Qom. The young 28-year old lady was on her way from her hometown Medina to Merv in Khorasan to meet her brother, Imam Reza (AS), who was forced to come to northeastern Iran by the crafty Abassid caliph, Mamoun. She was a picture of piety, knowledge, wisdom, virtue, and generosity that earned her the title of “Karimey-e Ahl al-Bayt” or Munificent Lady of the Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Her holy shrine draws millions of pilgrims every year from all over Iran and the world, and has transformed Qom into a prime centre of Islamic learning.

890 solar years ago, on this day in 1127 AD, during the Jin–Song Wars, invading Jurchen soldiers of the Jin dynasty besieged and sacked Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China. They abducted Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song dynasty.

735 solar years ago, on this day in 1282 AD, the Spanish Muslim scholar, Sa'eed ibn Hakam al-Qurashi, who was also ruler of the Mediterranean Balearic island of Minorca (Manurqa in Arabic), passed away at the age of 77. Born in what is now Portugal in the city of Tavira (Tabira in Arabic) in the Algarve region (al-Gharb or the west, in Arabic),he studied philology at Seville (Ishbiliya in Arabic) and took part in literary reunions of famous Arabic poets. He was well versed in Islamic law and medicine, in addition to being a philologist, grammarian and poet. After the occupation of the Balearic Islands by the Christian forces of Aragon, Sa’eed ibn Hakam took the title of Ra’ees and declared Minorca independent. He built a strong political apparatus in Madinat-al-Jazira (modern Ciutadella) with a council of ministers, secretaries and clan representatives. On 17 January 1287, five years after his death, following five glorious centuries of Muslim rule, the Christians occupied this Muslim island, killed many of its inhabitants, sold many of them as slaves in the markets of Ibiza, Valencia and Barcelona, and forcibly Christianized the rest.

668 solar years ago, on this day in 1349 AD, the Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of Black Death, was rounded up and incinerated by Christians, who are notorious for their frequent bloody persecution of the followers of Judaism throughout history.

257 solar years ago, on this day in 1760 AD, the Afghans defeated the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat, in one of a series of victories to gain control of the decaying Mughal Empire, which gave the crafty British colonialists time to consolidate their power in Bengal, after they had contrived with traitors to defeat Nawab Siraj od-Dowlah (of Iranian ancestry) in 1757. At Barari Ghat on the banks of River Jamna, 16 km north of Delhi, the Maratha chief Dattaji Sindhia, retreating from the Punjab before the army of Ahmad Shah Durrani, was surprised by Afghan troops who, concealed by high reeds, crossed the river. Dattaji was killed and his army scattered. His defeat opened the way to the Afghan occupation of Delhi. The next year, Ahmad Shah as a veteran general of Nader Shah Afshar of Iran, completely broke the power of the Marathas by his resounding victory in the 3rd Battle of Panipat.

225 solar years ago, on this day in 1792 AD, a peace agreement was signed between the Ottoman and Russian Empires to end the wars that had started in August 1787, because of the Russo-Austrian plot to break up the power of the Turks in Europe. At the end of the war, Russians occupied vast lands of the Ottoman Empire, including the Crimea Peninsula in what is now Ukraine.

144 solar years ago, on this day in 1873 AD, Napoleon III, the first elected President of the Republic of France and the last Emperor of the French Empire, died in exile in London at the age of 65, three years after losing power, following his disastrous defeat in the Battle of Sedan with Prussia (Germany). Nephew and heir of Napoleon Bonaparte, he returned to France from exile on the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy. In 1848, he won by a wide margin, the first ever popular elections in France, to become President. In 1851, he initiated a coup d'état, and on 2 December 1851, ascended the throne as Napoleon III. He ruled as Emperor until 4 September 1870, thus holding the distinction of being both the first titular president and the last monarch of France. The French Empire was overthrown three days after his surrender at the Battle of Sedan that resulted in the proclamation of France’s Third Republic.

108 lunar years ago, on this day in 1330 AH, the Holy Shrine in Mashhad of Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), was shelled by the invading Russian forces. The blasphemous attack which damaged the minarets was part of Russia’s pressures on the weak Qajarid dynasty to expel American advisor, Morgan Schuster, and appoint foreign nationals only with the permission of Russia and Britain. Many people of Mashhad were martyred and wounded in this barbaric attack.

101solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, the Battle of Gallipoli – also known as the Battle of Janakkale Savashi – took place near Gelibolu in Turkey during World War I, with the Ottomans achieving a great victory over the Allied forces made up of British, French, Australians and New Zealanders. The battle is perceived as a defining moment in the history of the Turkish people — a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the aging Ottoman Empire was crumbling. By the time the Gallipoli War ended, 80,000 Turks, most of them civilians, were killed in the Allied bombing of Turkish hospitals and public places. The Allied Forces lost almost 60,000 troops, while 145,000 more British soldiers became ill during the campaign.

99 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, the Battle of Bear Valley, the last battle of the three centuries-long wars against the native Amerindian people by the white-skinned Anglo-Saxon occupiers from Europe, took place. The Battle of Bear Valley was a small engagement between a group of Yaquis and a detachment of the US Army in Arizona near the Mexican border as part of Washington's genocidal policy to wipe out the native Amerindian people.

57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, work started on the Aswan Dam on the River Nile in Egypt. The prestigious project to check the disastrous floods of the River Nile that was announced by President Jamal Abdun-Nasser in 1953 was abandoned by the European countries, following the nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956, and the joint offensive of the French, English, and Zionists on Egypt. The Soviet Union seized the opportunity and rendered financial and technical assistance for construction of the dam, making Egypt dependent upon Moscow. The 114-meter high dam, spans a length of 3,600 meters, generates 2100 megawatts of electricity and irrigates a large number of farmlands.

53 solar years ago, on this day in 1964 AD, in protest to the US control over the Panama Canal region, disturbances broke out, leading to the death and injury of a number of people at the hands of the US troops. During World War II, the US set up military bases in 134 regions of Panama and practically occupied this Latin American country. In 1947, the intense opposition of people of Panama forced Washington to dismantle its bases. By the end of 1999, the US withdrew from the Panama Canal, which links the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, parliament member, Seyyed Mohammad Khamenei, survived an assassination attempt by the MKO terrorists as part of their campaign to eliminate the leading figures of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Seyyed Mohammad, the brother of the then president and current leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, was on his way to the Majlis (parliament) when he was targeted.

17 solar years ago, on this day in 1421 AH, prominent religious leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Waheedi, passed away. Born in Tabriz, he was a product of the seminaries of the holy cities of Qom and Najaf. He was involved in the struggles against the despotic regime of the British-installed and American-backed Shah. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he continued his cultural and religious activities, writing several books, including “Partou-e Vilayat”.  

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, Iran's intelligence services announced the arrest of culprits who carried out the assassination a year earlier of nuclear physicist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, in a months-long covert operation that also led them to penetrate the notorious Mossad spy agency of the illegal Zionist entity.

AS/ME