Today is Monday; 18th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1438 nar hijri; and February 6, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1274 solar years ago, on this day in 743 AD, Hisham ibn Abdul-Malik, the 10th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, died at the age of 53 after an oppressive rule of 20 years over an empire stretching from Spain and southern France in the west to the borders of China and India in the east. Hisham was the murderer of Imam Mohammad Baqer (PuH), the 5th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He also brutally martyred the 5th Imam's younger brother, Zaid ibn Ali and had the body mutilated after taking it out from the grave. Hisham was notorious for his misery, despite accumulating a vast treasure that his troops brought as loot from different parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia. He was succeeded by his nephew, Waleed, who refused to give him any shroud or burial, saying Hisham has left no legitimate and lawful income, and whatever he had accumulated was through plunder and seizure. Seven years after him, the Omayyad dynasty was thrown into the dustbin of history with the rise of the equally oppressive Abbasid usurpers.

400 solar years ago, on this day in 1617 AD, Italian physician and botanist, Prospero Alpini, died at the age of 64 in Padua. Born in Marostica, in the Republic of Venice, he served for a time in the army of the state of Milan, studied medicine in Padua, and then took up the study of botany. To increase his plant knowledge he travelled to Egypt in 1580 as physician at the Venetian consulate in Cairo. During his 3-year stay in Egypt, he seems to have benefitted from the botanical works of the early Islamic scientists. He was taught by the local Muslims the sexual difference of plants which was later adopted by the Europeans as the foundation of the Linnaean taxonomy system. He was also taught and observed how the female date-trees or palms do not bear fruit unless the branches of the male and female plants are mixed together; or, as is generally done, unless the dust found in the male sheath or male flowers is sprinkled over the female flowers. On his return, he resided for some time in Genoa, and later served as professor of botany at Padua. His best-known works are: “De Medicina Egyptiorum”, “De Plantis Aegypti liber” (published in his native Venice in 1591 & 1592) is said to contain the first account of the coffee plant published in Europe. The same work introduced the banana and baobab to Europeans from the Muslim world. Another of his famous works “De Plantis Exoticis” was published in 1629 after his death. The genus Alpinia, belonging to the order “Zingiberaceae” (Ginger Family), was named after him by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus.

353 solar years ago, on this day in 1664 AD, Mustafa II, the 22nd Ottoman Sultan and the 14th self-styled Turkish caliph, was born in Edirne to Sultan Mohammad IV and his Greek Cretan slave-girl, Evemia Voria, who on becoming Muslim was given the Persian-Arabic name Mahpara Amatullah Rabia Golnoush. He succeeded his uncle, Sultan Ahmad I in 1695 and died in January 1704, a few months after being deposed by the Jannisarries, in favour of his younger brother, Ahmad II, for his indulgence in pleasures and negligence of state affairs. In 1696, he had lost to Russia the port of Azov at the mouth of the Don River in the Crimean Peninsula in what is now Ukraine. Next year, he suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Zenta, resulting in the death of 30,000 Turkish troops, and ending his military ambitions in Europe. The subsequent Treaty of Carlowitz in 1699 forced the Ottoman Empire to lose much of its Balkan territories: Hungary and Transylvania to Austria, Morea to the Venetian Republic and Podolia to Poland.

125 lunar years ago, on this day in 1313 AH, the scholar, Mirza Mohammad Baqer Zain al-Abedin Khwansari, passed away in Isfahan. An expert in hadith and the biographies of ulema and scholars, he served as head of the Isfahan Seminary, and wrote many books, including the biographical work “Rowzaat al-Jannaat” in 8 volumes.

115 lunar years ago, on this day in 1323 AH, the Egyptian revolutionary scholar, Shaikh Mohammad Abduh, passed away in Alexandria. A product of Cairo’s famous al-Azhar Academy, he attended the classes of Iran’s pan-Islamist activist, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi in Cairo, benefiting from his thoughts and ideas. After Asadabadi’s departure from Egypt, Abduh took over the movement against British colonialist influence in Egypt, for which he was exiled to Syria, from where after a six-year stay, he went to Paris and joined Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi in publication of the newspaper, “al-Orwat al-Wosqa” or the Firmest Bond. Upon return to Egypt, he worked as a judge. Shaikh Mohammad Abduh, like Asadabadi, called for the unity of the World of Islam and Islamic denominations and believed that Muslims must close ranks against disbelievers and colonialists. He made great efforts to preach harmony between Sunnis and Shi’ite Muslims, and was highly influenced by the Nahj al-Balagha, the compilation of the sermons, letters and maxims of Imam Ali (AS), the 1st Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Abduh also wrote exegeses on the holy Qur’an and was introduced to the “Sahifat as-Sajjadiyya”, the eloquent collection of supplications from the Prophet’s 4th Infallible Heir, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS).

98 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, British women over the age of 30 got the right to vote. Women in West were never considered equal to men by the Christian society, and it was only in the late 19th century and early 20th century they got voting rights. In contrast, Islam has always emphasized on the equality of men and women. It is worth noting that when the Pledge of Allegiance was given to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) by a delegation from Medina, women were also included in it. Another glaring example is the Pledge of Allegiance at Ghadeer-Khom by women following the Prophet’s proclamation of Imam Ali (AS) as vicegerent on God’s orders. Since Islam does not permit physical contact between unrelated men and women, the Prophet ordered a tub of water to be placed, and after Imam Ali (AS) had dipped his hands in it and withdrawn, the women queued up to dip their hands as confirmation of their pledge of allegiance.

95 solar years ago, on this day in 1922 AD, a conference on restriction of arms in world countries ended in Washington, the US, with the signing of a treaty by the five participants – the US, Britain, France, Italy, and Japan. The treaty forbade use of fatal poisonous and chemical gas in wars. A few years later, on June 1925, more countries joined the pact and an additional protocol was signed in Geneva, Switzerland. Unfortunately, this has not stopped the big powers from violating it, as was the use of Agent Orange chemicals by the US in Vietnam, and the recent use in Iraq of phosphorous and depleted uranium bullets. The illegal Zionist entity is also a chief violator of chemical weapons. It is worth noting that the Islamic Republic of Iran remains the prime victim of chemical warfare, because of Saddam’s extensive use of internationally-banned chemical supplied by Germany and the US during the 8-year imposed war for use against Iranian soldiers and civilians, as well as against Iraq’s own Kurdish dissidents – the city of Halabche being the glaring example.

81 solar years ago, on this day in 1936 AD, the coldest region on Earth was identified in the Siberian City of Verkhoyansk, in northern Russia by a scientific delegation after four-year research in cold regions across the globe. Prior to collapse of the Soviet Union, this was the place of exile for political offenders as a form of torture. The temperature falls to as low as 70 degrees Celsius in winter.

54 solar years ago, on this day in 1963 AD, the Moroccan freedom fighter, Amir Abdul-Karim al-Khattabi, passed away in Cairo at the age of 80. He struggled against the Spanish and French domination of his homeland and formed a resistance core in the mountainous regions in what became known as the Berber Republic of Rif. In World War I, Spain, intent on expanding its territory massacred many Muslims. After the termination of war and the growth of the movement of Moroccan revolutionaries, France slaughtered thousands of Muslims that virtually ended the anti-colonial movement after 18 years of resistance. He was exiled to Reunion Island 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. It was his guerrilla tactics that influenced Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Mao Zedong in China, and Che Guevara in Latin America.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, people of various walks of life thronged the residence of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), to pledge allegiance to him. The same day officers of the armed forces came to the Beloved Leader, and in a moving ceremony hailed him as the “Saviour of Iran” by reciting a rhythmical anthem in his praise. In his speech to the audience the Imam insisted that the fugitive Shah be brought to justice, and once again called on Prime Minister Shapour Bahktiar to resign.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, Iranian newspaper Hamshahri announced that it would hold a competition for cartoons on the alleged Holocaust to test whether the West extends the principle of freedom of expression to this doubtful incidence, as it did to the insulting caricatures it attributed to the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2011AD, Iran opened its first centre to receive satellite images, a new stage in its space program that coincided with celebrations marking the anniversary of the triumph of the Islamic Revolution.

AS/SS