Today is Tuesday; 22nd of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 13th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1438 lunar hijri; and April11, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

As of today, the 13^th of Rajab, the three day period of "Ayyam al-Beedh" or White Days, starts, with devout Muslims observing fasts and holding the ritual known as "Etekaf" in mosques to pray, contemplate and recite the holy Qur'an. Such temporary detachment from the hustle and bustle of the material world was recommended by Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) for cleansing and polishing the soul through inculcation of spiritual values, which result in proximity to God and forgiveness of sins. These days of the lunar month are considered white because their nights are bright with the moon reaching its zenith of resplendence. 

1526 solar years ago, on this day in 491 AD, palace official, Flavius Anastasius, was placed on the throne of Byzantine or the Eastern Roman, with the title Emperor Anastasius I, by the deceased Emperor Zeno’s widow, Aelia Ariadne (daughter of Emperor Leo I), who subsequently married him to grant legitimacy to his rule. A person with one eye black and one eye blue that earned him the nickname “Dicorus” or the "Two-Pupiled", a decade later he started war against Iran’s Sassanid Empire in what is now south-central Turkey. Known as the Anastasian War, the 4-year seesaw struggle fought from 502 to 506, was the first major conflict between the two superpowers since the Peace Treaty of 442, and would be the prelude to a long series of destructive wars over the next century that would result in the weakening of both the empires and their conquest by Arab Muslim armies with the rise of Islam. The cause of war was the demand by Qobad I, the 19^th Sassanid Emperor, for money to pay his debts to the Hephthalites (eastern Iranian tribes and ancestors of the Pashtuns of Afghanistan-Pakistan). The situation between Rome and Iran was also exacerbated by recent changes in the flow of the Tigris in lower Mesopotamia (Iraq), sparking famines and flood. When Anastasius refused to pay, Qobad seized the city of Theodosiopolis, and then captured Amida (Diyarbakr in modern Turkey). The year 503 saw much warfare without decisive results: the Romans attempted an unsuccessful siege of Amida while the Iranians invaded Osroene and laid siege to Edessa with the same results. In 504 Anastasius gained the upper hand by retaking Amida, which made Qobad to agree to an armistice because of the invasion of Armenia in the Caucasus by the Huns. Fighting, however, continued until late 506 when a treaty was finally agreed and Rome had to make payment to the Iranians. Although no large-scale conflict took place during the rest of Anastasius's reign, the building of Roman defenses in Anatolia became a lasting source of controversy with the Persians, who called it violation of the Treaty of 422, by which both empires had agreed not to establish new fortifications in the frontier zone.

1461 lunar years ago, on this day, 23 years before hijra, the Leader of all True Believers, Amir al-Momineen Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) was born in Mecca inside the holy Ka'ba, following his monotheist mother Fatema bint Asad’s entry into it when a section of the wall of the symbolic House of the One and Only God, the Unseen but Omnipresent, miraculously parted and closed behind her. As the cousin, ward, son-in-law, and vicegerent of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), the Imam needs no introduction. To his valour and wisdom, Islam will always remain indebted. We hereby congratulate the auspicious birth anniversary of the Model of Magnanimity, the Paragon of Patience, the Paradigm of Piety, the Epitome of Eloquence, and the Supreme Symbol of Social Justice, who reposes in eternal peace in the golden-domed shrine in Najaf, Iraq, where for over a thousand years, seekers of knowledge from all over the world, have humbly sought guidance for true faith from the person whom the Prophet had hailed as Gateway of the City of Knowledge.

1159 lunar year ago, on this day in 279 AH, the renowned Iranian Sunni Muslim authority on hadith, Mohammad ibn Eisa Tirmizi, passed away. He was born and died in Bagh, near Tirmiz in Greater Khorasan (now in southern Uzbekistan near Afghanistan's border). He travelled widely to Kufa, Basra and Hijaz, in pursuit of knowledge. His teachers included Mohammad Bukhari, Muslim Naishaburi and Abu Dawoud Sijistani – all three of whom were renowned Iranian Sunni Muslim compilers of hadith. Tirmizi, who became blind in the last two years of his life, is the author of "al-Jame' as-Sahih", popularly called "Sunan at-Tirmizi", one of the six canonical hadith compilations of Sunni Muslims. He has included in his compendium authentic narrations on the unrivalled merits of the blessed household of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), and has said that the term "Ahl al-Bayt" as used by God in the holy Qur'an (33:33) and by the Prophet in several hadith, is exclusive for Imam, Hazrat Fatema Zahra, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace upon them), and does not include the Prophet's wives, as some allege. Tirmizi's grave is in Sherobad, 60 km north of Tirmiz, where he is popularly called Tirmiz Baba. Tirmiz is the hottest point in Uzbekistan with temperatures as high as 46 degrees centigrade, and the city traces its origin to Alexander's Greeks who called the place "thermos", meaning "hot".

803 solar years ago, on this day in 1214 AD, the English philosopher and Franciscan friar, Roger Bacon, was born. His access to the Latin translations of the Arabic works of Islamic scholars enlightened his mind, and he was greatly influenced in the field of optics by the monumental "Kitab al-Manazer" of Abul-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen). The impact of al-Kindi (Alkindus) is also evident in his writings. Moreover, Bacon's investigations of the properties of the magnifying glass show the clear influence of the Iranian Islamic scientist Ibn Sahl's research in dioptrics. His works also indicate his familiarity with the books "Kitab ad‐Dalalaat ala'l‐Ittesalaat wa‐Qiranaat al‐Kawakeb"(Book of Indications of the Planetary Conjunctions), written by the Iranian Islamic astronomer, Abu-Ma'shar Ja'far ibn Mohammad al-Balkhi.

766 solar years ago, on this day in 1241 AD, Batu Khan, the grandson of the bloodthirsty Buddhist Mongol conqueror, defeated King Bela IV of Hungary at the Battle of Muhi, laying the land waste and massacring at least 20 percent of the Christian population. Batu was the founder of the vast Golden Horde Empire or the Qipchaq Khanate that spanned most of the central parts of Eurasia for 250 years. In 1313, with the accession of Uzbeg Khan to the throne, the Golden Horde officially adopted Islam and contributed to the spread and development of Islamic religion and culture.

646 lunar years ago, this day in 792 AH, the Ottomans under the command of Sultan Murad I defeated the Serbian army led by Prince Lazar in the famous battle of Kosovo, also known as the Battle of Blackbird's Field, about 5 km northwest of modern-day Pristina. In this battle which brought the Balkans under Turkish control both Murad and Lazar lost their life.

262 solar years ago, on this day in 1755 AD, English physician and paleontologist, James Parkinson, was born. In 1805, he wrote a little known monograph “Observations on the Nature and Cure of Gout”. He was first to recognize a burst appendix as a cause of death. In his Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817, he was the first to describe the neuromuscular disease which is now known by his name as “Parkinson's Disease”. The symptoms of this disease are a generalized slowness of movement, a tremor or slight shaking on one side of the body when at rest, some stiffness of the limbs, and problems of gait or balance.

158 solar years ago, on this day in 1859 AD, a chilling machine was invented for the first time by French industrialist and chemist, Ferdinand Carre, for preservation of food and medicine, especially in warm regions. This led to the eventual invention of the refrigerator.

111 lunar years ago, on this day in 1327 AH, Ayatollah Shaikh Fazollah Noori was martyred through hanging by deviationists who had infiltrated and derailed the Constitutional Movement from its original course. He refused to endorse the unnatural separation between religion and politics, and gladly courted martyrdom by branding the so-called constitutionalists in the parliament as apostates and Godless elements. Born in Mazandaran, he was a product of the seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, where he had studied under the celebrated Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi – who had saved Iran’s economy from British exploitation by issuing the anti-Tobacco fatwa. On returning to Iran, Fazlollah Noori involved himself in the Constitutional Movement, along with Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abdullah Behbahani, to limit the powers of the Qajar dynasty. He believed that Iran needs an Islamic parliament based on the holy Qur’an and the Shari’ah. He staged a sit-in to protest against removal of religiosity in the constitution. Fazlollah Noori played a prominent role in the victory of Constitutional movement, but upon seeing its deviation he began to oppose the westernized trend. He was after a religiously legitimate constitution founded on Islamic rules and rejected imitation of European colonialism. He warned of colonial conspiracy to replace Islam with secularism in the guise of constitutionalism and strove to prevent spread of western immorality and licentiousness in the society under name of democracy and freedom.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was deposed and was given asylum in Saudi Arabia despite the fact that he was known to be a brutal murderer and cannibal who ate human flesh. Saudi Arabia is notorious for its support for dictators, such as its giving of asylum to Tunisia’s Zain al-Abedin bin Ali, who was toppled in 2011.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, during the 8-year war imposed on Iran by the US through Saddam of Iraq’s repressive Ba’th minority regime, intelligence personnel nipped in the bud a coup attempt by hypocrites and elements of the monarchic regime that had infiltrated some of the government apparatuses and intended to assassinate several leading officials, as part of an American plot to overthrow the Islamic Republic system.

32 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, Anvar Khoja’s 40-year long communist dictatorial rule over Muslim majority Albania ended with his death at the age of 77. Born in a family following the Bektashi Sufi Order founded in 13^th century Khorasan by Bektash Vali, an adherent of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), in his youth he studied in Italy and France, before travelling all over Europe and the US. He turned into a communist and on return to Albania became fierce opponent of the monarchy that had been installed by European powers on separation of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. He resisted the Fascist Italian occupation of his homeland, and became the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. He was chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania and commander-in-chief of the armed forces from 1944 until his death. His anti-religious rule was characterized by the elimination of the opposition, prolific use of the death penalty or long prison terms of his political opponents and evictions from homes. He used Stalinist methods to destroy his associates who threatened his power. During his rule, Albania became industrialized and saw rapid economic growth, as well as unprecedented progress in the areas of education and health. Khoja’s government was characterized by his adherence to anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism from the mid-1970s onwards. He broke away from Maoism in 1976, and it was only after his death that communism ended in Albania and religion, especially Islam, made a gradual return.

29 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, Iraqi warplanes chemically bombarded the western Iranian city of Marivan and a village in its vicinity, martyring and wounding a large number of civilians. This crime against humanity was carried out with the tacit approval of the US and West European regimes, which had supplied the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Saddam with internationally-banned chemical gases. Also on this day, the Ba’thist forces chemically bombarded the Faw operational zone on the southernmost tip of the Iran-Iraq border, martyring and wounding many people.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, a day after the unjust verdict of a local German court, under influence of the illegal Zionist entity, Israel, against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s high-ranking officials, member states of the European Union recalled their ambassadors from Tehran. Known as the Mykonos Case after the name of a Greek restaurant in Berlin in which an Iranian Kurdish figure was mysteriously killed, the kangaroo court was proof of the sham trial in a futile bid to pressure Iran. In response to EU’s unwarranted and highly politicized decision, Iran dismissed as baseless the allegations and claims of the German court, recalling its ambassadors from EU member states. As Islamic Iran refused to budge from its principled position, the EU ambassadors gradually returned to Tehran.

AS/ME