Today is Friday; 22nd of the Iranian month of Bahman 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 12th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1438 lunar hijri; and February 10, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1491 lunar years ago, on this day 53 years before Hijra, Abdullah, the father of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), passed away in Yathreb at the age of 25, after a bout of illness while returning home to Mecca from a trade trip to Syria. The year is known as “Aam al-Fil” (Year of the Elephant), since earlier that year, Yemen’s Abyssinian governor Abraha’s elephant-led abortive attempt to attack the holy Ka'ba in 570 AD had brought divine wrath upon the aggressors in the form of a flock of small birds that showered them with a hail of deathly pebbles. Abdullah was the youngest son of Abdul-Muttaleb, the custodian of the holy Ka’ba, and scion of the monotheist Hashemite clan of the Qoraish tribe, descended directly from Prophet Ishmael (AS), the firstborn son of Prophet Abraham (AS). Abdullah passed away some two months after his virtuous wife, Amena bint Wahb, gave birth to the future Prophet, whom he was not destined to see because of his journey. He was laid to rest in Dar an-Nabigha in the Banu Najjar quarters of Yathreb, which 53 years after his death became known as Medinat-an-Nabi or the City of the Prophet, following his son’s migration and transforming of the city into the capital of the first-ever Islamic state. In 1925 Wahhabi heretics of the Aal-e Saud clan destroyed his grave.

1297 solar years ago, on this day in 720 AD, Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz ibn Marwan, the 8th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, died due to poisoning of food after a reign of three years during which he renounced the oppressive and un-Islamic policies of his predecessors. He had succeeded his cousin and brother-in-law (wife’s brother) Sulayman ibn Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan. One of his first acts on assuming the caliphate was to issue a decree to halt the blasphemous cursing of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), during Friday prayer sermons – a sacrilegious practice began by the hardcore heathen Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan who through such acts intended to keep the growing neo Muslim population ignorant of the God-given right to rule of the rightful successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He next returned the large tract of Fadak whose income had now swelled to 40,000 dinars to the Ahl al-Bayt, since this was the property of the Prophet’s daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) from whom the first and second caliphs had illegally confiscated. He is also credited with various other reforms like abolition of drinking, forbidding public nudity, and elimination of mixed bathrooms for men and women, which the Godless Omayyad caliphs had initiated. He was succeeded by the ungodly Yazid bin Abdul-Malik, who immediately reversed the policies of Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz and again seized Fadak.

759 solar years ago, on this day in 1258 AD, Baghdad was sacked by the Buddhist army of the Mongol marauder, Hulagu Khan (grandson of the bloodthirsty Chingiz Khan), who had the 37th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, al-Musta'sem, rolled in a carpet and trampled to death under the feet of horses. The grand library of Baghdad, containing countless historical documents and books on subjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, was destroyed. It is said the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantity of books flung into the river. Death counts vary widely and cannot be easily substantiated, running into an estimated million. The Mongols looted and destroyed mosques, palaces, libraries, hospitals and buildings that had been the work of generations, since the founding of Baghdad five centuries ago. So terrible was the sack that Baghdad lay desolate for several generations. The incompetent Musta’sem, whose 16-year rule was confined to Iraq and some eastern parts of Syria, had neither raised an army to defend Baghdad nor did he attempt to negotiate with Hulagu, to whom two years earlier, he had supplied troops to conquer the Ismaili Nizari stronghold of Alamout. It seems the Abbasid ruler not just paid the price of assisting infidels against fellow Muslims, but also the far more serious treachery of his great-grandfather, the 34th self-styled caliph, an-Naser-Billah, some 40 years ago, in inviting Chingiz to attack the empire of the Kharazm Shah, because of personal dispute, some years before the Mongol invasion actually occurred. The curtain thus came down on 524 lunar years of the Abbasid caliphate founded by Abu'l-Abbas Saffah by hijacking the sentiments of the Arab and Iranian masses for the Ahl al-Bayt, thereby depriving once again the progeny of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) of their political right to rule.

710 solar years ago, on this day in 1307 AD, Temur Khan, the second emperor of the Yuan Dynasty of China and the sixth Great Khan of the Mongols in Mongolia, died at the age of 42 after a reign of 12 years. Son of Crown Prince Zhenjin who predeceased his own father Kublai Khan, he had succeeded his grandfather and taken the title Emperor Chengzong. Although a Buddhist, he revered Confucius and had respect for all other religions and ethnicities to the extent that his administration was filled with Mongols, Han Chinese, Muslims and some Christians. Financial affairs were chiefly in Muslim hands, and the most prominent Muslim statesman was Bayan, his Minister of Finance, who was a great-grandson of Seyyed Ajal Shams od-Din, the Iranian statesman who served in the administration of the Mongol Empire of China.

485 lunar years ago, on this day in 953 AH, the Sunni Muslim scholar Shams od-Din ibn Tuloun ad-Dimashqi, passed away in his hometown Damascus at the age of 73. He was well versed in several sciences such as jurisprudence, hadith, history, geography, medicine, literature and poetry. He wrote several books such as “Safinat-al-Tulouniya” and “Shadharaat az-Zahabiyyah”. In the last named work he has mentioned through reliable chain of authority the famous Hadith Thaqalayn, which Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) proclaimed to a huge gathering on the plain of Arafaat from atop Jabal ar-Rahmah (Mount of Mercy) on 9^th Zilhijjah during his Farewell Hajj Pilgrimage, saying:

“I am leaving behind among you the Two Precious Things (Thaqalayn), the Book of Allah (holy Qur’an) and my progeny the Ahl al-Bayt. Hold fast to them and you will never go astray, for the two never part with each other, even when they return to me at the Fountain (of Kowthar on the Day of Resurrection).”

262 solar years ago, on this day in 1755 AD, the French philosopher, Charles de Montesquieu, died at the age of 66. His views highly influenced the French Revolution and he was the first European to present the theory of separation of the three branches of government. His important book is “The Spirit of the Laws”, published in Geneva in 1748 in which he has attempted to discuss the evolvement of different forms of government during history. His other important books include “Lettres Persanes” (Persian Letters) – a novel on the travel through France of two Iranian noblemen from Isfahan. It was used by him as a biting satire on the theories of Scottish economist, John Law.

254 solar years ago, on this day in 1763 AD, as per the Treaty of Paris – referred by the French as the Ominous Treaty – France handed to Britain Quebec and almost all its colonial holdings in Canada and India.

227 lunar years ago, on this day in 1211 AH, the Iranian astronomer and mathematician, Mirza Hussein Doost Mohammad Isfahani, was born. He passed away at the age of 81 years and was laid to rest in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq.

203 solar years ago, on this day in 1814 AD, the Battle of Champaubert ended in the defeat of the Russians and the Prussians (Germans) by the French led by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

180 solar years ago, on this day in 1837 AD, Russian poet and author, Alexander Pushkin, died at the age of 38. He catapulted to fame with publication of his collection of poems in 1820. Later, he wrote his odes in admiration of freedom which led to his exile. In his poems, Pushkin has defended freedom. His plays, stories in verse, and odes, are all considered as the prominent works in the Russian literature. Among his famous works, mention can be made of the novels “Eugene Onegin”, and “Boris Godunov”.

171 solar years ago, on this day in 1846 AD, the First Anglo-Sikh War ended with the victory of the British in the Battle of Sobraon in Punjab, resulting in the loss of 10,000 Sikh soldiers, and the surrender of territory as well as the famous diamond “Koh-e Noor” (Mountain of Light) to the colonialists, who took it to London to adorn the crown of the monarch. The British also took from the Sikhs the fabulous ruby “Khiraj-e Alam” (Tribute of the World) and renamed it “Timur-Ruby” since its first recorded possessor was the Central Asian conqueror, Amir Timur, as is evident by the six names inscribed on it – four of them his descendants, the Mughal emperors, Akbar, Jahangir, Aurangzeb, and Farrukhsiyar, while the last name is that of Ahmad Shah Durrani. On the fall of Delhi to the Iranians in 1739, the “Koh-e Noor” and the “Timur Ruby” along with other priceless jewels, were taken as war booty by Nader Shah, on whose assassination, these two gemstones fell to the share of his Pashto general, Ahmad Khan Abdali (Founder of Afghanistan as Ahmad Shah Durrani). In 1813 these two gems were seized from Ahmad Shah’s grandson, Shah Shuja, by the Sikh warlord, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, when the deposed Afghan ruler sought temporary refuge in Lahore.

81 solar years ago, on this day in 1936 AD, Italian occupation troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam (also known as the Battle of Enderta) against Ethiopian defenders as part of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This battle consisted of attacks and counterattacks by Italian forces under Marshal Pietro Badoglio and Ethiopian general, Ras Mulugeta Yeggazu. The war resulted in the occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana) – including Somalia and Eritrea. The war exposed the inherent weakness of the League of Nations, of which both Italy and Ethiopia were members. The League was unable to stop Italy or to protect Ethiopia when Italy clearly violated the League's Article X. Ironically, Italy's Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, was lauded by other European colonial powers for his policy of aggression and expansionism in Africa. The short-lived Italian Empire crumbled in five years, with Ethiopia regaining independence during World War II, with the help of Allied forces. In North Africa, Libya, which Italy had occupied in 1911, also became independent at the end of World War 2.

67 solar years ago, on this day in 1950 AD, US Republican Senator, Joseph McCarthy, presented a list of 205 state personnel, accusing them of supporting terrorism and spying for the Soviet Union, thereby witch-hunting American intellectuals, artists and government officials. The result was the dismissal of over 2,000 government officials, incarceration of several others on baseless charges, and boycott of artists such as actor Charles Chaplin, film director Alfred Hitchcock, and the researcher Owen Lattimore. In December 1954, the Senate criticized McCarthy’s measures and termed them detrimental for the country, thus ending McCarthyism.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, the Islamic Revolution triumphed in Iran under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (RA). It is the day that totally transformed the history of Iran, and with the heart-soothing cries of Allah-o Akbar threw into the dustbin of history the despotic monarchial regime of the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi potentate. It is the day that every year marks culmination of the 10-Day Dawn celebrations. On this day the unarmed Muslim masses of Iran, including men, women and children, took to the streets of Tehran and other cities, in defiance of the Shah's military which tried to block their way with tanks and armored cars. During the clashes many senior officers of the military lost their lives and the revolutionary people quickly took over the important military bases. The army surrendered, while the fugitive Shah's premier, Shapour Bakhtiar and his cabinet fled the country, moments later Iran's Radio and TV stations announced the downfall of the regime and victory of the Islamic Revolution. The announcer said: "Attention please! Attention please! This is the Voice of the Revolution". The whole nation was filled with joy and Iran emerged as a truly independent Islamic State which serves as a model for the aspirations of freedom and justice of not just the Muslim countries but all the oppressed people of the world. Every year on this day, tens of millions of peoples hold rallies to renew their allegiance to the ideals of the Late Imam Khomeini and the goals of the Islamic Republic system of Iran.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, the famous Pakistani artist and calligrapher, Syed Sadeqayn Ahmad Naqavi, known popularly as Sadeqayn Naqqash, passed away at the age of 57 in Karachi. Born in Amroha in India in a family of calligraphers, he migrated to Pakistan on the partition of the Subcontinent, and took this art to new heights. His masterpiece rendition of “Surah ar-Rahman” of the holy Qur’an has inspired many known painters of the modern era. He also painted classical literature from the poetic verses of Mirza Ghaleb, Allamah Iqbal Lahori and Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Sadeqayn's symbols are part-calligraphic strokes, part “alams” (sacred standards associated with the tragedy of Karbala, and part of mystical tributes to Imam Ali (AS).

AS/ME