Today is Thursday; 7th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 29th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1438 lunar hijri; and April 27, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1387 solar years ago, on this day in 630 AD, Ardashir III, the twenty-fourth Sassanid Emperor of Iran was killed by his general, Shahrbaraz, after a reign of 18 months. He was raised to the throne as a boy of 7 years on the suspicious death of his father, Shirawaiyh Qobad II, the killer and successor of his own father, Khosrow II and at least thirty of his own brothers. Shahrbaraz was of Parthian stock and as the victorious general of the Sassanid-Byzantine wars, had conquered Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia, right up to the walls of Constantinople, before withdrawing on learning of Emperor Khosrow’s plot to assassinate him. Shahrbaraz, after killing Ardashir III the boy emperor, usurped the throne of in Ctesiphon, but was killed forty days later by the nobles who placed on the throne, Khosrow’s daughter, Puranddokht – Iran’s first empress.

1288 lunar years ago, on this day in 150 AH, the Iranian Sunni Muslim Jurisprudent, Noman ibn Sabet ibn Zuta ibn Marzuban, known as Abu Hanifa, passed away in Baghdad at the age of 68 in the prison of the 2nd self-styled Abbasid caliph, Mansour Dawaniqi. Born in Kufa in a family of Zoroastrian origin from Kabul, he learned the holy Qur’an and hadith, and after only two years of incomplete study under Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), the 6th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), he founded a jurisprudential school of his own, known as Hanafi. Contrary to the clear definition of Ijtihad, based on the holy Qur’an and the genuine hadith of the Prophet, Abu Hanifa resorted to "qiyas" (analogy) regarding legal issues, despite warnings from Imam Sadeq (AS) that the first one to indulge in "qiyas" was Iblis the Satan.

832 lunar years ago, on this day in 606 AH, Atabek Arsalan Shah of Mosul, died. He had asserted his independence from the Iran-based Seljuq Empire, and is famous for building the Madrasa Shafe’iyyah in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

496 solar years ago, on this day in 1521 AD, the Portuguese sailor, Ferdinand Magellan, was killed at the age of 51 in the Philippines during a skirmish with the Filipino people. He started his sea voyage with five ships in 1519 and after rounding the southern tip of South America, (which waterway later became known as the Magellan Strait); he reached the Philippines. The Portuguese occupiers, followed by the Spanish, forcibly converted the Filipinos to the Catholic sect of Christianity at a time when Islam was spreading from the south.

280 solar years ago, on this day in 1737 AD, Edward Gibbon, the British historian and parliament member, was born. He authored the famous 6-volume work “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, which is acclaimed for its quality, its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open criticism of Judaism and Christianity. He traced the trajectory of Western civilization as well as the spread of Islam and the Mongol invasion from the height of the Roman Empire to the fall of Byzantium. He says about Prophet Mohammad (SAWA):

“He breathed among the faithful a spirit of charity and friendship; recommended the practice of social virtues; and checked ... the thirst of revenge, and the oppression of widows and orphans."

Gibbon notes the remarkable preservation of the holy Qur’an in its original form, from the time of the Prophet till this day, in contrast to the scriptures of the Jews and Christians that have constantly undergone changes. He says:

“It is not the propagation but the permanency of his religion that deserves our wonder, the same pure and perfect impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved after the revolutions of twelve centuries by the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes of the Qur’an.”

About Imam Ali (AS), Gibbon writes:

“The zeal and virtue of Ali were never outstripped by any recent proselyte. He united the qualifications of a poet, a soldier, and a saint; his wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral and religious sayings; and every antagonist, in the combats of the tongue or of the sword, was subdued by his eloquence and valour. From the first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral, the Apostle was never forsaken by a generous friend, whom he delighted to name his brother, his vicegerent, and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses.”

About the heartrending tragedy of Karbala, Gibbon states:

“In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Husain will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader.”

Gibbon was highly critical of the Christian Church and has written:

"If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism.”

About the Israelites, he is even more frank and forthright, writing:

“Humanity is shocked at the recital of the horrid cruelties which they (Jews) committed in the cities of Egypt, of Cyprus, and of Cyrene, where they dwelt in treacherous friendship with the unsuspecting natives;”

In his footnote Gibbon adds:

“In Cyrene, [the Jews] massacred 220,000 Greeks; in Cyprus, 240,000; in Egypt, a very great multitude... The victorious Jews devoured the flesh, licked up the blood, and twisted the entrails like a girdle around their bodies.”

223 solar years ago,  on this day in 1794 AD, Anglo-Welsh philologist and scholar of Indo-Iranian culture, William Jones, known by his Persian nom de plume “Younus Oksfardi” (یونس اوکسفردی), died in Calcutta, India, at the age of 47. Born in London, he was a linguistic prodigy, learning Greek, Latin, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew and the basics of Chinese writing at an early age. By the end of his life he knew thirteen languages thoroughly and another twenty-eight reasonably well. At the age of 23, he published “Histoire de Nader Chah” (1770) – a French translation of a work on Iranian Emperor Nader Shah Afshar which was originally written in Persian by Mirza Mahdi Khan Astarabadi. During this period he took the penname “Younus Oksfardi”. If the second half of his pen name, “Oksfardi”, is a Persian rendition of "from Oxford", and indicates his deep attachment for Oxford University, the second half is his own first name, since Jones is a derivative of Jonah the Prophet, whom the holy Qur’an calls “Younus” – a name common amongst Muslims, including Iranians. This penname can be seen on the inner front cover of his Persian Grammar published in 1771 – (and in subsequent editions as well). These were the first of his numerous works on Iran, Turkey, India, and the West, South and Central Asia in general, which made him familiar with the wisdom of the scholars of the east who shared a common linguistic and cultural heritage with Europe as well. William Jones thus became one of the first Europeans to realize the existence of relationship among Indo-European languages. His study of law in London brought him the appointment of judge at the Supreme Judicature at Fort William in Calcutta, in 1783, which would eventually lead him to his life-work in India. On 15 January 1784, along with Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed, he founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and started a journal called “Asiatic Researches”. Over the next ten years till his death, he produced a flood of works on India, launching the modern study of the subcontinent in virtually every social science. He also wrote on the local laws, music, literature, botany, and geography, and made the first English translations of several important works of Indian literature, both from Persian and Sanskrit.

204 solar years ago, on this day in 1813 AD, US troops captured from the British the capital of Upper Canada in the Battle of York (or present day Toronto). The next year the British retaliated by capturing the US capital, Washington, and burning it to the ground. The 32-month war that started in 1812 and ended in 1815, is known as the Second War of Independence and led to formal recognition by London of the independence of its former 13 New England colonies that had rebelled in 1776 and declared themselves the United States of America.

197 solar years ago, on this day in 1820 AD, Herbert Spencer, British biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher, was born in Derby. He believed that science should be learned via observation and experiment. He admitted that mankind’s mind is limited, but he denied realities such as soul. Some of his works are namely: “Principles of Sociology”, “Principles of Biology”, and “Principles of Psychology”. He died in 1903 at the age of 83.

135 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, the American author and thinker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, died. On his visit to Europe, Emerson studied continental literature and published his first book: “Nature”. He is the first American author, who became familiar with the rich Iranian literature and managed to introduce to the Western world, Persian poetry and literary figures such as Hafez, Sa’di, Mowlavi, and Khayyam.

57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, Togo in southwest Africa, gained independence from French colonial rule. For several centuries the Togo people were abducted by the Portuguese and Spanish and sold as slaves in the Americas. In 1858, Germany seized Togo and following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, France and Britain occupied and divided it between themselves. Togo covers an area of 56,000 sq km. Its Capital is Lome. It shares borders with Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. Islam, which has over 30 percent adherents, is the fastest growing religion.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1961 AD, Sierra Leone in West Africa gained independence from British colonial rule. This land was occupied by the Portuguese in the 16^th century AD and its people were kidnapped and sold as slaves in Europe and the Americas. The British seized it in late 18^th century. In 1971, ten years after independence, Sierra Leone became a republic. It has been wracked by coups and counter coups ever since. Sierra Leone has a coastline on The Atlantic Ocean and covers an area of 71,000 sq km, sharing borders with Guinea and Liberia. Some 75 percent of the population is Muslim.

55 solar years ago,  on this day in 1962 AD, the noted statesman, Abu’l-Qassem Fazl ul-Haq, known as Sher-e Bangla (Tiger of Bengal), passed away at the age of 89 in Dhaka, in what was then known East Pakistan and is Bangladesh today. He was the senior figure of the Congress Party, but as Muslim he organised the Muslim League in 1920s, later led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He played a crucial role in drafting and presenting the Lahore Resolution and had active public position in British India advocating for the Pakistan Movement in the 1940s. After establishment of Pakistan, he was appointed as Chief Minister of East Bengal in 1952, and in 1955 became the Interior Minister of Pakistan. In 1956, he was appointed Governor-General of East Pakistan and led the United Front, presided over the provisional state until 1958. Sher-e-Bangla founded several educational and technical institutions for Bengali Muslims, including Islamia College in Calcutta and Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU) in Dhaka. Today throughout Bangladesh, educational institutions (e.g., Barisal Sher-e Bangla Medical College), roads, neighborhoods (Sher-e Bangla Nagor), and stadiums (Sher-e Bangla Mirpur Stadium) have been named after him. In Islamabad, Pakistan, the Fazl ul-Haq Road is named after him.

45 solar years ago, on this day in 1972 AD, Ghanaian politician and independence leader, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, died in exile in Bucharest, Romania at the age of 62. In 1951 in the first general election held in the Gold Coast, which later became Ghana, he led the Convention People's Party to victory and was chosen prime minister. Under his leadership, Ghana gained independence in 1957 from British rule.  After Ghana became a republic in 1960, Nkrumah became President. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, he was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity. He escaped several assassination attempts and in 1966, while on a visit to China was overthrown in a military coup staged by General Joseph Ankrah on the orders of the US and Britain.

43 lunar years ago, on this day in 1395 AH, Seyyed Mohammad Hadi Milani passed away at the age of 82 in the holy city of Mashhad, Khorasan, and was laid to rest in the Towhid-Khana Aiwan of the blessed shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the 8^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Born and educated in holy Najaf, where his mother Bibi Khanum and maternal grandfather, Ayatollah Mohammad Hassan Mamaqani were among the leading scholars, he studied under Sheikh Ibrahim Hamadani, Akhund Mullah Hussain Tabrizi, Sheikh Ibrahim Salyani, and Seyyed Ja’far Ardebili. He migrated to Iran and became the leading scholar of the Mashhad Seminary, grooming scholars in various fields of Islamic sciences, such as Ayatollah Hussain Waheed Khorasani, Mohammad Taqi Ja’fari, and Seyyed Mohammad Baqer Tabatabaie. He established the Husaini Institute of Islamic Sciences, and wrote several important books, including the 10-volume “Muhadharaat fi’l-Fiqh-al-Imamiya” (Discourses on Imami Jurisprudence), “Qadutana Kaifa Ta’refahom” (How to Become Familiar with our Leaders).

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, General Abdul-Qader Dagarwal staged a coup in Afghanistan, and after killing President Mohammad Dawoud Khan, installed leader of the People’s Democratic Party, Noor Mohammad Taraki as the new head of state. Soon, power was seized in another coup by communist party chief, Hafizullah Amin, and instability gripped the country, resulting in a third coup staged by Babrak Karmal who killed Amin and seized power. In December 1979, Karmal invited the Soviet Union to occupy Afghanistan. He remained in power till 1987 with Moscow’s help before his dismissal and replacement by General Mohammad Najibollah. Following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989, the Afghan mujahideen intensified their operations to bring to its end the Najibollah regime in 1992, and setting up the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which has continued to be wracked by chaos and instability by various factions followed by the Taliban, and currently the US occupation.

22 years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, the first general democratic elections are held in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote, after end of the white racist Apartheid regime. The Interim Constitution comes into force.

AS/SS