Today is Monday; 25thof the Iranian month of Bahman 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 15thof the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1438 lunar hijri; and February 13, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1400 lunar years ago, on this day in 38 AH, according to a narration, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was born in Medina. His parents were the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS) and Princess Shahrbano of Iran. His birthday, according to reliable sources, actually took place on 5th Sha'ban. During his 34-year Imamate (divinely-decreed leadership), he built from shreds the tattered fabric of the Islamic society. He was martyred through poisoning at the age of 57 by the Omayyad caliph Waleed bin Abdul-Malik. Among the immortal legacy of the 4th Imam is the prayer manual “Sahifat as-Sajjadiyya” (known as Psalms of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt) and the “Risalat al-Hoqouq”(Treatise of Rights), which is more perfect than the UN Charter of Human Rights.

1342 lunar years ago, on this day in 96 AH, Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, the 6th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, died in Damascus at the age of 47 after a 10-year reign, during which Arab armies conquered the Iberian Peninsula in the West and penetrated deeper into Central Asia and India, in addition to gaining territory against the Byzantines in Anatolia (modern day Turkey). He gave free rein to the tyrant Hajjaj Thaqafi, his governor of Iraq, to terrorize the people of Khorasan, Sindh and Transoxiana. Walid discouraged the conquered people to become Muslims since this would deprive him of collecting jizya (protection tax) to fill up his coffers. Fearful of the influence of the Persian language in the east and of the Coptic language in Egypt, he forbade the use of any other language except Arabic. In violation of the letter and spirit of the holy Qur’an, he promoted obscene music, singing and dancing. Walid I has earned lasting notoriety for martyring through poison, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the great grandson and 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

1075 solar years ago, on this day in 942 AD, Mohammad ibn Ra’eq, a military officer of Khazar origin who exploited the weakness of the Abbasid caliphate to become the first “Amir al-Umara” (Commander of Commanders), and has earned lasting notoriety for impairing the agriculture of Iraq for several centuries by blocking the Nahrawan Canal in his fight against a rival, was assassinated. He came into prominence in the reign of Mu’tadid-Billah (892-702) as a military officer and served the next ruler, the debauched Muqtadir-Billah (908-932), as Saheb ash-Shurta (Police Chief), before promotion as Hajeb (Chamberlain). On the deposition and murder of Muqtadir and accession of Qahir-Billah (932-934), he fell into disgrace. He nevertheless managed to be named governor of Basra, and on the accession of Radhi (934-940) returned to favour and obtained the governorship of Waset, before becoming “Amir al-Umara” in 936 – a post that entailed overall command over the army, as well as the supervision of the civil administration, hitherto the province of the vizier. Deposed by Turkic guards in 938, he regained the post in 941 under Muttaqi-Billah but was assassinated the next year – allegedly on the orders of Naser od-Dowla, the Hamdanid ruler of Mosul who succeeded him. The frequent coups and violent struggle for control of the caliphate had by this time greatly enfeebled the caliphs and reduced them to a purely symbolical role. The main pillars of support for Ibn Ra’eq were Turkish troops under Bajkam and Tuzun (former subordinates of Mardavij the Founder of the Ziyarid Dynasty of Iran), who now turned against him. In a vain bid to impede Bajkam's advance towards Baghdad, Ibn Ra’eq ordered flooding of the centuries-old irrigation system of the Sawad. The breach of the Nahrawan Canal was symbolic of the end of Abbasid power just as the breach of the Marib Dam was end of the prosperity of pre-Islamic Yemen.

791 lunar years ago, on this day in 647 AH, the prominent scholar, Taqi od-Din Hassan ibn Ali ibn Daoud al-Hilli was born in Hillah in southern Iraq. A student of the famous Seyyed Jamal od-Din Ahmad Ibn Tawous, he was an authority on several branches of Islamic sciences. He lived a fruitful life of 93 years, grooming scholars and authoring books, the most famous of which is “ar-Rijaal” on the biographical evaluation of hadith narrators.

668 solar years ago, on this day in 1349 AD, Christians expelled all Jews from Burgsdorf, Switzerland, because of the age-old enmity with the followers of Judaism for their slandering of Prophet Jesus and his mother, the Virgin Mary.

386 lunar years ago, on this day in 1052 AH, the prominent scholar, Seyyed Sadr od-Din Ali al-Hussaini, popular as Ibn Ma’soum al-Madani and Seyyed Ali Khan Shirazi, was born in Medina in a scholarly Iranian Dashtaki family. While he was a child, his father Seyyed Ahmad Nizam od-Din – the nephew (sister’s son) of the Safavid emperor of Iran, Shah Abbas I – migrated to the court of the Qotb Shahi dynasty of Iranian origin of the Deccan (southern India), where he married thedaughter of the king,Sultan Abdullah Qotb Shah, and was considered the heir-apparent. When Sadr od-din was fourteen years old, he was called to the Deccan by his father and settled in Golknadah-Haiderabad, where in addition to his father, he studied under prominent ulema such as Mohammad bin Ali ash-Shami al-Ameli and Sheikh Ja’far bin Kamal od-Din Bahrani. He soon mastered various branches of sciences, including Arabic and Persian literature. He started writing books and established his own scholarly reputation.With the death of Abdullah Qotb Shah, however, the fortunes of the family fell, when the minister, Seyyed Mozaffar Mazandarani, imprisoned Seyyed Ahmad Nizam od-Din, and placed on the throne Abu’l-Hassan Tana Shah – another son-in-law of the late king. Seyyed Sadr od-Din was also placed under house arrest, but with the death of his father in imprisonment, as well as the sudden death of his own 18-year old son, he sensed danger to his life and planned a successful escape. Immediately he moved to Burhanpur to the court of the Moghal Emperor Mohammad Aurangzeb, who welcomed him, conferred on him the title of ‘Khan’ and placed him in charge of the administration of Lahore in what is now Pakistan. Despite his administrative duties, he continued to write books, and in 1113 AH, after almost fifty years of stay in India, returned to his homeland Hijaz for performing the Hajj and pilgrimage to the shrines of the Prophet and the Infallible Imams. He then went to Iraq for pilgrimage to the holy shrines, and after travelling to Khorasan to the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad, he visited the Safavid capital Isfahan, where he was accorded a warm welcome by Shah Sultan Hussain and the leading scholars of Iran. Seyyed Sadr od-Din finally settled in the city of his ancestors, Shiraz, where he passed away in 1120 AH and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Seyyed Ahmad Shah Cheragh (AS). He trained many scholars and wrote several books, such as the 5-volume “Riyadh as-Salikin”, which is a commentary on “Sahifat-as-Sajjadiyah”, the famous collection of the supplications of the Prophet’s 4^th Infallible Heir, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS).His other works include a diwan of Arabic poetry, his travelogue titled “Rehla Ibn Ma’soum”, the prayer manual “Kalemat-at-Tayyeb”, and biography poets “Salafat-al-Asr”.

278 solar years ago, on this day in 1739 AD, the historic Battle of Karnaal was fought near a village of the same name, some 110 km north of Delhi, between the Iranian army of Nader Shah Afshar and the army of the Indian Mughal ruler, Mohammad Shah, known as “Rangeeleh” or colourful, because of his patronizing of singers and dancers, at the expense of negligence of state affairs. The Iranians won a decisive victory losing only 2500 soldiers, while the death toll of the Indian army was over 20,000. The cause of the invasion was the failure and inability of Mohammad Shah to prevent the entry into Mughal-controlled Kabul and the eastern areas of Afghanistan and Punjab, of Hotaki and Ghilzai rebel leaders who were driven out from Iran by Nader Shah, following his ending of the Afghan occupation of the country. When a series of letters from Nader Shah did not entail any positive result or response from Mohammad Shah, the Iranian army began its invasion from Qandahar, and after taking Kabul and Peshawar, marched unopposed all the way till Karnaal, where the Indian army was defeated in little more than three hours. The battle began after one o'clock in the afternoon, with a discharge of arrows from both sides. The superior artillery power of the Persians that continued for two hours threw the Mughals and their war elephants into disarray. Mughal forces began to disintegrate and of their commanders, Khan-e Dowraan was killed, while Sa’adat Khan Burhan ol-Molk was taken prisoner. The Persian cavalry was swifter and out-maneuvered the Mughals. As the Indian morale plummeted, soldiers started to flee while Indian camp followers looted their own camps. Mohammad Shah was taken prisoner but was treated with respect by Nader Shah, who entered Delhi along with him and after a stay of some weeks, returned to Iran by restoring the Mughal ruler his rule, but taking with him the fabulous Koh-e Noor Diamond, the Darya-e Noor Diamond, the famous Peacock Throne, the Tent of Pearls and other jewels.

252 solar years ago, on this day in 1766 AD, Thomas Robert Malthus, English economist and demographer, was born in Westcott, Surrey. Although an Anglican Christian priest, his theories, as is evident from his work “An Essay on the Principle of Population”, betrayed his lack of belief in the Infinite Power of the Almighty Creator. He wrote “population would always outrun the food supply and would result in famine, disease or war to reduce the number of people.” His views became controversial, across economic, political, social and scientific thoughts, while his reputation as economist dropped for the rest of his life. He died in 1834.

208 lunar years ago, on this day in 1230 AH, Grand Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Hassan Shirazi, was born in Shiraz.He travelled to Iraq to study at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where he mastered various branches of Islamic sciencesunder such great scholars as Ayatollah Sheikh Morteza Ansari Dezfuli. In his later years he moved to the holy city of Samarra, where he established the Islamic seminary and from where he issued his historic fatwa against tobacco consumption in Iran in order to save the Iranian economy from exploitation by the British colonialists. He initially sent telegrams to Naser od-Din Shah Qajar in Tehran to cancel the contract with the British, but when the Iranian king who had personally granted a 50-year contact to Major Talbot, failed to heed the warnings, Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi had no other choice but issue a Fatwa prohibiting use of tobacco, with the words: “Any use of tobacco from now onwards would be considered war against the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS) – the 12^th and Last Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).” Immediately, the people of Iran obeyed the edict, and throughout the country refrained from buying, selling and using tobacco.The ban even spread to the royal palace, where the queen ordered the breaking of all tobacco pipes and the traditional huqqas. When Naser od-Din Shah asked her, on whose orders she had done such a thing, she promptly replied: “On the orders of the person who has legalized husband-and-wife relations between me and you.”The Shah had no other choice but to cancel the tobacco concession.

This erudite scholar who passed away in Samarra at the age of 84 and was laid to rest in Najaf, also championed the rights of Shi’a Muslims in Afghanistan, and sent missionaries to India, Kashmir, the Caucasus, and other parts of the Muslim World. He trained a great number of scholars such as the Ayatollahs Sheikh Fazlollah Noori, Mirza Husain Noori Tabarsi, Ismail as-Sadr, Mohammad Hussain Na’ini, Mohammed Kazem Yazdi,Abdul-Karim Ha'eri Yazdi (Reviver of the Qom Seminary), and Mirza Mohammad Taqi Golshani Shirazi (leader of the 1920 revolution of Iraq against British rule).

137 lunar years ago, on this day in 1301 AH, the first edition of the newspaper, “al-Urwat al-Wusqa” was published in Paris, under management of Iran's pan-Islamic activist Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi and Egypt's Shaikh Mohammad Abduh. In order to materialize the unity of the ummah, it was distributed in Europe, India, Egypt, Iran, and some other countries. It was banned under the political pressure of Britain and other colonial powers.

134 solar years ago, on this day in 1883 AD, the German songwriter and musician, Richard Wagner, died at the age of 70. He started writing operas and composing songs as of a young age. During the political developments of the late 1850s in Germany, he joined the revolutionaries, but their failure forced him to leave Germany and live in exile for 13 years.

106 solar years ago, on this day in 1911, the famous Urdu poet of the subcontinent, Faiz Ahmed Farooq, popular by his penname “Faiz”, was born in Karachi in undivided India. He learned Arabic, Persian, Urdu languages and the holy Qur’an, but because of the social injustice, turned towards Marxism. He was politically active both before and after the founding of Pakistan. He opposed the dictatorial rule of General Zia ul-Haq and was imprisoned and exiled for his views, which he expressed through poetry and novels. He passed away in Lahore at the age of 73.  Among his important works are "Naqsh-e Faryadi", "Dast-e Saba", and "Zindan-Namah".

86 solar years ago, on this day in 1931 AD, British Viceroy, Lord Irwin, inaugurated the new capital of British India, which four years earlier in 1927 was officially named “New Delhi”, since it was built on the outskirts of the old Indian Muslim capital Delhi. The foundation stone of the city was laid on 15th December 1911 and it was planned by two leading British architects, Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, who in their designs incorporated Iranian styles including Persian paintings on the ceiling of what is now called Rashtrapathi Bhavan or Presidential Palace. New Delhi houses the national government and administrative buildings, and has a population of 250,000, while Old Delhi, which is a national heritage of over six-and-a-half centuries of Muslim rule, and where Persian was the dominant language for over 600 years, has a population of 16 million. The previous capital of the British colonialists, who had entered Moghal-ruled Subcontinent as traders, before gradually occupying it through deceit and wars, was Calcutta in Bengal.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, during the closing months of World War 2 warplanes of the Allied forces began bombing the German city of Dresden. The British used 873 heavy bombers in Operation Thunderclap to firebomb the city, killing 135,000 people. A look at aerial maps of the city before and after the terror attacks clearly shows the large white oil tanks owned by British-controlled Shell Oil. These tanks remained entirely untouched by the bombardment.

46 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, during the Vietnam War, a frustrated US unable to defeat the Vietnamese people, ordered troops of the artificial South Vietnamese state to invade neighbouring Laos by providing them air and artillery support, on the pretext that Vietcong freedom fighters were operating from Laotian soil. US stratagems ended in failure and American troops had to disgracefully withdraw from Vietnam in April 1975, thereby ending the 20-year disastrous war.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, the Río Negro massacre took place in Guatemala, resulting in the killing of more than 5,000 Amerindians of the Maya Achi tribe in and around the village of Río Negro alone, because of the refusal of the natives to vacate their ancestral lands.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), issued the historic death verdict against the Indian-born British apostate, Salman Rushdie, for writing the blasphemous book 'The Satanic Verses', days after the devilish novel drew Muslim blood in India and Pakistan. Rushdie, who was commissioned by the Zionists and certain western regimes for writing this sacrilegious book to insult Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), Prophet Abraham (AS), and the sanctities of Islam, has been hiding ever since under protection of Britain to escape execution. World Muslims and all conscientious people hailed the Imam's dynamic fatwa, while the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) endorsed it. As per divine laws the Late Imam's fatwa is irrevocable since it concerns an unrepentant apostate born of Muslim parents.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, during the Persian Gulf War, US warplanes fired two laser-guided smart bombs to destroy the Amiriyah civilian shelter in Baghdad, killing over 400 men, women and children on the pretext of targeting a military communications outpost. The US is the most blatant violator of human rights and known for its wanton killing of world people.

4 solar years ago, Azizollah Joweini, prominent Persian language scholar and an authority on the classical Iranian poet, Abu’l-Qasem Ferdowi’s epic “Shahnameh” and its various manuspcripts, passed away in Tehran at the of 87. Born in Isfaraen, he devoted his life to literary pursuits writing and editing some 80 books and articles on Persian and Arabic masterpieces, especially the “Shahnameh”. 

AS/SS