Today is Saturday; 9th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 2nd of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1438 lunar hijri; and April 29, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1306 solar years ago, on this day in 711 AD, the Muslim conquest of Spain formally started with the landing of a well-organized Berber-Arab army under command of Tareq ibn Ziyad on the rocky island known till this day in his memory as Gibraltar – a corruption of the Arabic “Jabal at-Tareq”. Since the 680s Muslims from North Africa had been raiding the coastal towns of the Iberian Peninsula across the Mediterranean but this was the first full-fledged expedition that led to the conquest of what are now Spain and Portugal, and which became the Province of al-Andalus. Tareq was governor of Tangiers in what is now Morocco under Musa ibn Nusayr, the conqueror and overall governor of the Province of Ifriqiya (made up of present day western Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco). Tareq was made governor of Islamic Spain but was eventually called back to Damascus by the jealous Omayyad caliph, Walid I, who also relieved Musa ibn Nusayr of the overall charge of northwest Africa, Spain and the islands off the coast of France. There are three different accounts of the origins of Tareq given by Arab historians – he was a Persian from Hamadan; he was an Arab of the Sadf tribe; he was a Berber from North Africa. Musa is also said to be the son of an Iranian Christian, according to the historian Tabari; while others say he was from the Lakhmid Arab clan who were clients of the Sassanid Dynasty.

1236 lunar years ago, Fadhl ibn Sahl ibn Zaadaan-Farrukh Sarakhsi, the powerful Iranian prime minister of Mamoun (the 7^th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime), was slain under mysterious condition while in the bathhouse of the city of Sarakhs, which today straddles the Iran-Turkmenistan border. Known for his craftiness in devising the plan to force Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), to leave Medina and come to Mamoun's capital in the Khorasani city of Merv (presently in Turkmenistan), he was entrusted with both the military command and civilian administration with the title “Dhu'r-Riyasatayn” (Possessor of Two Offices). A convert to Islam from Zoroastrianism, Sahl and his brother, Hassan, were instrumental in consolidation of the caliphate of Mamoun, whose mother was Iranian. Sahl was the de facto ruler of the caliphate until the year before his death, having played a crucial role in the civil war between Mamoun and his brother Amin. According to the historian Ibn Atheer, he was suspected of being a follower of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt and was thus murdered – probably on the orders of Mamoun. Following his death the public turned against Mamoun, who pleaded with Imam Reza (AS) to use his influence to calm down the agitators.

1042 lunar years ago, on this day in 396 AH, the renowned Iranian scholar, poet and mystic, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, was born in Herat, which is now in Afghanistan, but was then an integral part of Khorasan. He was a commentator of the holy Qur'an, a compiler of hadith, and known for his oratory and poetic talents in Arabic and Persian. He wrote several books on Islamic mysticism and philosophy. His most famous work is "Munajaat- Namah", which is considered a masterpiece of Persian literature. His exegesis on the holy Qur'an is titled "Kashf ul-Asrar", and was compiled in 10 volumes by his disciples after his death. He used to avoid the company of the rich, powerful and the influential. Abdullah Ansari was a direct descendant of the Prophet's companion and host in Medina, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. He died in 1088 in his hometown Herat.  He is the ancestor of the line of the Heravi Khwajavi in Iran, who once dominated Khorasan and eastern Iran. Some of his descendants moved to the Subcontinent. Among them was Hakim Shaikh Ilm ud-din Ansari, better known as Wazir Khan, who was a governor of the Mughal Emperors in Multan, in what is now Pakistan. He is best known for having built the famous Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore. His other prominent descendent was Qutb ud-din Ansari who founded the famous Firangi Mahal school of religious thought and education, near Lucknow in India. He passed away in 481 AH.

926 solar years ago, on this day in 1091 AD, at the Battle of Levounion in the Balkans, the Pechenegs Turks, while invading the Byzantine Empire from their homeland north of the Black Sea, were decisively defeated by Emperor Alexius I, who was afraid that a possible alliance between these non-Muslim Turks and the Muslim Turks of the Iran-based Seljuq Empire could spell the end of the Eastern Roman Empire.

728 solar years ago, on this day in 1289 AD, the principality of Tripoli, in what is now Lebanon, was freed from180 years of European Christian occupation by Sultan Qalawun of Egypt, heralding the end of the last few remaining “pocket-states” of the Crusaders in Syria. The liberation of Tripoli was preceded by that of Margat (in 1285) and Lattakhiya (in 1287), and was followed by the liberation of Acre (in 1291). The Crusaders of Tripoli had brought upon themselves the wrath of the Muslims by their alliance with the Buddhists and active participation in Hulagu Khan’s sack of Baghdad in 1258 and the Mongol invasions of Syria in 1260. The Mamluk sultan razed Tripoli to the ground and ordered the building of a new city a few km inland.

618 solar years ago, on this day in 1399 AD, Malik Ahmad Raja Faruqi, the founder of the Khandesh Sultanate in Central India – that lasted from 1382-to-1601 – died after a reign of 17 years as independent ruler, and was succeeded by his son, Nasser Khan. Son of Khan-e Jahan Faruqi, a minister in the court of Sultan Mohammad bin Tughlaq in Delhi, on separation of the Deccan in 1347, he cast his lot with Ala od-Din Hassan Bahman Shah (of Iranian origin), but in 1365 turned against his son, Mohammad Shah Bahmani, by joining the abortive rebellion of the governor of Daulatabad, Bahram Khan Mazandarani. As a result, he fled the Deccan and settled in Thalner, which later, along with Karanda, was conferred upon him as fiefdom by Sultan Ferouz Shah Tughlaq of Delhi. He soon defeated the Raja of Baglana and subdued the neighbouring chieftains, prompting Ferouz Shah to raise him to the rank of Sipah-Salar. Within a few years he mustered a force of twelve thousand cavalry, and by 1382 virtually became virtually independent. His son Nasser Khan ruled for 38 years that saw fluctuating fortunes for the kingdom because of constant warfare with Gujarat and the Bahmani Kingdom. Khandesh, with its capital, Burhanpur, was annexed by the Mughal Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar in 1601. The Sultanate was a Persianate society, with its rich contribution to Persian literature, art and architecture. Islam was also promoted through peaceful means, as is evident today by the large number of Tadvi Bhils, and Raj Gonds, who are Muslims.

163 solar years ago, on this day in 1854 AD, the French mathematician and biologist, Henri Poincare, was born. He conducted extensive studies, and his analysis on light, electricity, algebra, geometry, and possibilities calculus are important till this day. He was an authority on philosophy as well. His Poincare Conjecture holds that if any loop in a given three-dimensional space can be shrunk to a point, the space is equivalent to a sphere. It remained an unsolved problem until Grigori Perelman proved a complete proof in 2003. He wrote books in different scientific fields and died in 1912.

101 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, during World War I: The British Indian Army – 6^th Poona Division numbering 13,000 – under Major-General Charles Townshend surrendered to Ottoman Forces at the end of the 147-day Siege of Kut in southern Iraq, during which attempts by other British battalions to break the siege ended in losses in the Battles of Shaikh Sa’d, Wadi and Hanna. It was one of the largest surrenders of British forces. The survivors of the siege were marched to imprisonment at Aleppo in Syria.

89 solar years ago, on this day in 1928 AD, at the behest of West European powers, Turkey’s dictator, Mustafa Kamal, forced the Turkish Muslim people to change their centuries-old writing of the Turkish language from the Arabic-Persian alphabet to the Latin script. The goal was to deprive Turkey and the Turks of their Islamic identity and make them culturally subordinate to Europe. Mustafa Kamal, who styled himself as Ataturk (or Father of Turks), was an avowed opponent of Islam, and in addition to forcibly replacing the traditional dress of the Turkish people with the European style of dressing, he banned the recitation of the Azan or the Call to Prayer from the mosques. Although these laic measures harmed the Turkish Muslims and for several decades made them subservience to the West, they failed to undermine their strong faith in Islam.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, following a string of defeats, the almost 1-million strong Nazi German army in Italy, unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Powers. This major setback, along with the Soviet forces’ pounding of Berlin, completely unnerved Adolf Hitler.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, a deadly cyclone struck the Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around 155 miles or 249 km per hour, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Iranian lecturer, researcher, and sociologist, Dr. Gholam-Hussein Seddiqi, passed away at the age of 78.  He studied both at Islamic seminaries and at the Dar ul-Fonoun Academy in Tehran, before leaving for France, where he obtained PhD in Philosophy and Sociology. On returning to Iran, he started lecturing on the history of philosophy and sociology at Tehran University. He also played a pivotal role in foundation of National Works Association and The Institution for Social Studies. He was a member of UNESCO's National Commission for a while. He has left behind numerous compilations including his travel book on India.

18 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, the first ever session of the Islamic Urban and Rural Councils was held in Iran and the day was named “Councils’ Day” following nationwide polls to elect representatives to this body, as envisaged by Article 7 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islam calls for consultation, and in line with the dynamic teachings of Islam, Iran’s constitution guarantees people’s participation at all levels of the society, ranging from the urban and rural councils to the election of parliament members and the president. Even the Leader of the Islamic Revolution is named by the Assembly of Experts which is a body of scholars and jurisprudents, elected through the people’s direct vote, as per the unique system of popular religious rule in Iran, which is more people-oriented than the so-called democracies of the West.

18 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, Zabihollah Safa, the Iranian Persian language expert, researcher and professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at the University of Tehran, died in Lubeck, Germany, at the age of 88. Born in Shahmirzad in Mazandaran, his contribution to Iranian studies is seen in his valuable works on the history of Persian literature. His thesis, a comprehensive study of epic narratives in Iran (“Hamaseh Sarai dar Iran”) was later published as a book and illustrated his ability to synthesize a vast range of readings into a coherent manual for teaching. He focused on major literary, philosophic and scientific contributions made by Iranians to civilization at large. His talents also manifested in his journalistic activities as a young man. As early as 1933 he began contributing to the influential journal “Mehr”, and was its chief editor from 1937 to 1941. It is however, for his work as an editor of many classical texts and above all, for his monumental “History of Persian Literature” and his valuable anthology (translated into French in the UNESCO Collection as “Anthologie de la Poésie Persane”) that he is best remembered. He was also a regular contributor to Encyclopaedia Iranica.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, US occupation soldiers massacred over 30 Shi’a Muslims in Baghdad's Sadr City. During its decade-long occupation of Iraq, the US directly or indirectly killed over a million and two hundred thousand Iraqi men, women and children.

4 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, in central and southern Iraq, Takfiri terrorists  backed by Saudi Arabia and the US, triggered five car bomb blasts in predominantly Shi’ite Muslim cities and districts, martyring 36 men, women and children, and wounding scores of others.

AS/MG