Today is Saturday; 9th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 29th of the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1438 lunar hijri; and January 28, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1417 lunar years ago, on this day in 21 AH, one of the most controversial figures of early Islam and initially among the Prophet’s most avowed enemies, Khaled bin Waleed, died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 50 in Homs – said to be killed by genies, while living in exile in Syria after his dismissal from command of the neo-Muslim Arab army which he had led in rapaciously brutal conquests of parts of the Byzantine and Persian Empires that tarnished the peaceful image of Islam. His own cousin, Omar ibn Khattab had called for his punishment for his unprincipled acts including the cardinal sin of murdering the righteous Muslim, Malek bin Nuwairah, and marrying his widow the same night – an act that was a clear case of adultery. Khaled’s father Waleed, the head of the Makhzum Clan of Mecca and the most wealthiest of the Qoreish, has been denounced by God in ayahs 30 and 31 of Surah Zukhruf for his calling the holy Qur’an ‘sorcery’ and for his bitter enmity towards Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). In several other Surahs, such as 6, 15, 68, 74 and 109, the holy Qur’an has exposed Waleed as a pagan of dubious birth. In such a polytheist atmosphere Khalid grew up and shared his father’s animosity towards Islam and the Prophet. When the Prophet migrated to Medina in safety, frustrating the murderous plots of the likes of Khaled, he participated in the battles imposed by the pagan Arabs on Muslims. In the Battle of Ohad, he earned notoriety for his ambush of the unsuspecting Muslims, and his forces would have killed the Prophet if not for the heroic swordsmanship and valour of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), in beating back Khaled’s forces. At Hodeibiyyya, where the Prophet signed the treaty with the Meccans in 7 AH, he plotted to kill the Prophet, but was frustrated in his murderous designs. The next year, realizing the futility of open enmity towards the rising power of Islam, Khaled, along with that other notorious hypocrite, Amr ibn Aas, resorted to a ruse and came to the Prophet in Medina, claiming to have accepted Islam. Soon he joined the Muslims in the march on Mecca and on the peaceful surrender of that city he disobeyed the Prophet’s explicit instructions against bloodshed by killing at least thirty Meccans to settle old scores. The Prophet openly disassociated himself from Khaled and his murderous act, and paid blood money as compensation to the bereaved families. At Ghadeer, Khaled gave oath of allegiance to Imam Ali (AS) on the latter’s declaration as vicegerent by the Prophet on divine commandment, but no sooner did the Prophet pass away, he joined the conspirators in depriving the Imam of his right of political leadership of the ummah. Appointed commander of the Arab armies in the brutal campaigns against the Byzantine and Persian Empires, his constant violation of the laws of Islam made Omar ibn Khattab dismiss him.

1203 solar years ago, on this day in 814 AD, Charlemagne, the king of Franks, died at the age of 72. After his conquest of Italy and central Europe he was crowned the first Roman Emperor in Western Europe after three centuries by Pope Leo III. Throughout his long 45-year reign, he was brutal in his suppression of opposition to his rule, but his attempts to expand his dominion into Muslim Spain met with defeat and a historical retreat that resulted in the complete destruction of his rearguard by the Basques in the Pyrenees. When a clock was sent to him from Baghdad by the scientifically advanced Muslims, Charlemagne and the Europeans who were living in the dark ages were for long suspicious of the mechanical object and thought that a genie was inside it, showing the time of the day and the passing hours.

800 lunar years ago, on this day in 638 AH, the famous Spanish Muslim Gnostic and philosopher, Mohi od-Din Mohammad ibn Ali ibn Mohammad ibn Arabi, passed away in the city of Damascus at the age of 78, during which he widely travelled on the three continents of Europe, Africa and Asia. He was a child prodigy and after acquiring the sciences of the day, left Spain at the age of 30 to travel over the Islamic world, acquiring further knowledge and writing books during his journeys, which took him on pilgrimage to Mecca and far off places like Baghdad in Iraq and Konya in what is now Turkey. He took up residence in Damascus as 620 AH, and started to lecture and write books. Among his well-known books are “Fusus al-Hikam” (Bezels of Wisdom), and “Futuhaat al-Makkiyya” (Meccan Illuminations).  His Gnostic school has continued to have a profound impact for several centuries despite the senseless attacks on him by the pseudo scholar, Ibn Taimiyya, who failed to taint Ibn Arabi’s saintly personality for elaborating the Qur’anic concepts of “wasila” (means of attaining the proximity of God) and “shafa’a” (power of intercession) that God has granted to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Infallible Imams

765 lunar years ago, on this day in 673 AH, the historian and hadith scholar, Shams od-Din Mohammad ibn Ahmad ibn Osman ibn Qaymaz at-Turkmani, known as adh-Dhahabi from his father's profession of goldsmith, was born in Damascus. He travelled around Syria, Hijaz and Egypt to collect hadith, and penned down the history of Islam and the biographies of prominent figures until the year 704 AH. His works include “Tarikh al-Islam al-Kabir” (Major History of Islam), and “Siyar A'laam an-Nubala” (Lives of Eminent Figures) in 23 volumes, which is a unique.

388 solar years ago, on this day in 1629 AD, the coronation of 18-year old Sam Mirza as Shah Safi took place, as the 6th ruler of the Safavid Empire, ten days after the death of his grandfather, Shah Abbas I. He was the son of Mohammed Baqer Mirza, the eldest son of Shah Abbas I, and his Georgian wife, Dilaram Khanum. An inefficient ruler, he ruthlessly eliminated anyone he regarded as a threat to his power, and paid little attention to state affairs and had no cultural or intellectual interests, preferring to spend his time in his addiction to opium. He, however, abhorred tobacco smoke like his grandfather, going as far as to have those caught smoking tobacco in public brutally killed. The dominant political figure of Safi's 13-year reign was Saru Taqi, appointed grand vizier in 1634. Taqi was incorruptible and highly efficient at raising revenues for the state. Iran's foreign enemies took opportunity to exploit Safi's perceived weakness. The Ottomans made incursions in the west in 1630 and 1634 (briefly occupying Revan and Tabriz) and in 1638 they succeeded in seizing Baghdad from Iran. Nevertheless, the Treaty of Zuhab signed in 1639 put an end to all further wars between the Safavids and the Ottomans. Apart from the Ottoman attacks, Iran was troubled by the Uzbeks and Turkmens in the northeast and lost Qandahar in what is now Afghanistan to the Mughal Empire of the Subcontinent in 1638.

270 solar years ago, on this day in 1757 AD, Ahmad Shah Abdaali (Durrani) of what is now Afghanistan invaded India, annexed the Punjab and briefly occupied Delhi to save the tottering Moghal dynasty and the people from the raids of the Maratha marauders. An ethnic Pashtun general of Nader Shah Afshar of Iran, he had taken part in the latter’s triumphal Iranian march on Delhi in 1739. On Nader Shah’s death, Ahmad Khan Durrani seized control of the eastern parts of Iranian Khorasan and the Pashto-speaking regions of the Moghul Empire of India to set up the first independent Afghan state and declare himself king in 1747, although the term Afghanistan was officially used by the first time in 1857. In 1761, Ahmad Shah again invaded India to inflict a shattering defeat on the Marathas at the 3^rd Battle of Panipat, thus ending, once and for all, their dreams of empire in India.

316 solar years ago, on this day in 1701 AD French mathematician and traveler, Charles Condamine, was born in Paris. In 1735, he led a delegation for measurement of the meridian, which took about ten years. He died in 1774.

273 solar years ago, on this day in 1754 AD, the word “Serendipity” meaning a “fortuitous happenstance” or “pleasant surprise” was coined from Persian by British man of letters, Horace Walpole. In a letter to a friend he explained an unexpected discovery he had made by reference to a Persian tale titled “The Three Princes of Serendip”, who were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.” “Serendip” was the ancient Iranian name for Sri Lanka. In its modern vernacular, “serendipity” is commonly associated with luck and accidental discovery. The notion of serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of scientific innovation such as Alexander Flemming's accidental discovery of Penicillin in 1928, and the invention of the microwave oven by Percy Spencer in 1945, to name but a few. In contrast, “Bahramdipity” is derived from the 15th Sassanid Emperor of ancient Iran, Bahram Gur, and means suppression of serendipitous discoveries or research results by powerful individuals.

197 solar years ago, on this day in 1820 AD, a Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovered the Antarctic continent in the South Pole.

171 solar years ago, on this day in 1846 AD, the Battle of Aliwal, in Punjab near Ludhiana was won by the superior tactics of British troops, making it a turning point in the First Anglo-Sikh War. The Sikhs after losing over 2000 of their soldiers retreated in a disorderly manner, abandoning 67 canons and their camp baggage.

135 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, the Moroccan freedom fighter and patriot, Amir Abdul-Karim al-Khattabi, was born. He struggled against the Spanish and French domination of Morocco and formed a resistance core in the mountainous regions. In World War I, Spain, intent on expanding its territory massacred many Muslims in Morocco. After the termination of war and the growth of the movement of Moroccan revolutionaries, France slaughtered thousands of Moroccan Muslims that virtually eliminated the revolution against the Spanish and French occupiers after 18 years of resistance. He was exiled to the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, and later moved to Egypt, where in the time of President Jamal Abdun-Naser, he presided over the Liberation Committee of the Maghreb from European colonial rule. He died in 1963.

121 solar years ago, on this day in 1896 AD, Giuseppe Fiorelli, Italian archaeologist whose systematic excavation at Pompeii helped to preserve much of the ancient city as nearly intact as possible and contributed significantly to modern archaeological methods, died at the age of 72. Fiorelli's initial work at Pompeii was completed in 1848. With his next excavations at Pompeii (1860), he pioneered his meticulous method of studying archaeological strata; observation, recording, preservation (including building a museum), and reporting were its fundamental features. In particular he studied the materials and building methods utilized at Pompeii. It was his idea to pour liquid plaster into the spaces left by decomposed bodies in the beds of ashes to produce casts representing the original victims. It was in August 79 AD that Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted, burying in volcanic ash and molten lava the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae, which were notorious as vice dens of the Empire. An estimated 20,000 people were struck by divine wrath. Today, Pompeii, whose excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a Roman city, including the erotic and sinful ways of the pagans, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here it is necessary to recall the warnings of God Almighty in the holy Qur’an to mankind to travel around the world to see the ruins of the past nations and reflect on the fate that befell unrepentant sinners. Pompeii and its inhabitants were destroyed after due warnings, years before the major eruption of Vesuvius. In 62 AD, a major earthquake had devastated most of the city. Although preceded over the past decades with small-scale tremblers, this severe earthquake was clearly a divine warning to the people to leave their sinful and erotic ways or else face the wrath of the All-Merciful God that finally descended 17 years later. Many inhabitants moved to other cities, fearing divine punishment, while others remained, or came from other cities in pursuit of carnal pleasures and were struck by divine wrath.

84 solar years ago, on this day in 1933 AD the name ‘PAKISTAN’ was coined by Choudhary Rahmat Ali Khan who campaigned for a separate country made up of the five predominantly Muslim populated regions of the Subcontinent in the northwest. He authored the famous 1933 pamphlet titled “Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever”, which is also known as the Pakistan Declaration. The pamphlet started with the famous statement: “At this solemn hour in the history of India, when British and Indian statesmen are laying the foundations of a Federal Constitution for that land, we address this appeal to you, in the name of our common heritage, on behalf of our thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN – by which we mean the five Northern units of India, namely: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan.” In a subsequent book, Rahmat Ali discussed the etymology in further detail, saying: “PAKISTAN is both a Persian and an Urdu word. It is composed of letters taken from the names of all our South Asia homelands; that is, Punjab, Afghania (or Pashtun-speaking areas of the Subcontinent), Kashmir, Sindh and Balochistan. It means the land of the Paks – the spiritually pure and clean.” In 1947, at the birth of the country he had envisaged, he was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, following the sit-in of ulema at the Tehran University Mosque, in protest to the Pahlavi regime’s bid to stop the return home from exile of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), massive throngs of people converged on this mosque to voice solidarity with the ulema. In other cities of Iran, people took to the streets, calling for return home of their Beloved Leader. Several people were martyred and wounded when the US-backed regime’s forces opened fire on the people of Tehran.

14 solar years ago, on this day in 2003 AD, the Gnostic and preacher of ethics, Mohammad Ismail Dolabi, passed away at the age of 99 years. Born in Dolab near Tehran, he started life as a farmer, and soon due to his interest in learning, studied religious sciences under prominent ulema, specializing in Gnosticism and ethics. A staunch devotee of the Ahl al-Bayt or Blessed Household of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), in his discourses at public gatherings he emphasized on love, affection, and kindness. For scores of years he preached to the masses in simple language, and after his passing away his son has compiled his lectures in six volumes for the benefit of the public titled “Tooba-e Mohabbat”.

4 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran successfully sent a monkey into space in the “Pishgam” Satellite, describing the launch as another step toward Tehran's goal of a manned space flight.

AS/MG