Today is Tuesday; 9th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 4th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1438 lunar hijri; and May 30, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1385 lunar years ago, in 53 AH, the bloodthirsty Omayyad governor of Iraq and Fars, Ziyad Ibn Abihi (OR son of unknown father), died in Kufa at the age 53. Born in Ta’ef to a slave-girl, named Sumayya, used by her Arab master as a prostitute to augment his earnings, Ziyad, known as a person of doubtful paternity, became a Muslim (in name only) with the spread of Islam. His craftiness and brutal nature in handling the affairs of Fars (Iran), made Mu’awiyya, on usurping the caliphate, to procure as witness the former wine-seller of Ta’ef, Abu Maryam Sululi, and declare him as half-brother on the testimony that Ziyad was the result of the cohabitation of his father Abu Sufyan with the prostitute Sumayya while on a visit to Ta’ef. As an enemy of Household of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), Ziyad terrorized the followers of Imam Ali (AS) in Iraq, and martyred some prominent figures. On his death he was succeeded in his position as governor by his equally bloodthirsty son, Obaidullah (also born out of wedlock), who has earned lasting damnation by perpetrating the heartrending tragedy of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS).

862 lunar years ago, on this day in 576 AH, the Baghdadi grammarian, poet, and author, Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Ibn Muwaheb, famous as Ibn Khorasani, because of his origin in northeastern Iran, passed away at the age of 82. Among his works, mention could be made of a voluminous diwan of Arabic poetry.

830 lunar years ago, on this day in 608 AH, the poet and scholar Abu’l-Qasim Hibatollah bin Ja'far, known as Qazi as-Sa'eed Ibn Sana ul-Mulk, famous for the treatise "Dar at-Tiraaz" which he devoted to the genre of “muwas̲h̲s̲h̲ah” poetry, passed away in Cairo at the age of 63. He belonged to a distinguished scholarly family of Fatemid Egypt, and was well versed in hadith and the exegesis of the holy Qur'an in addition to Arabic grammar. He lived in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria as well, and for a time served as Qazi or judge in Damascus under the new Ayyoubid Dynasty, founded in Egypt and Syria by the Kurdish conqueror, Salaheddin Ayyoubi, in whose praise he composed some of his poems. His poetical compositions include an account of the Epic of Ashura (Moharram 10) and the tragic martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

765 solar years ago, on this day in 1252 AD, Ferdinand III of Castile died at the age 53 after a reign of 35 years during which he occupied one by one the Spanish Muslim cities of Badajoz, Merida, Cazorla, Ubeda, the old capital Cordoba (Qurtuba), Huelva, Murcia, Cartagena and finally Seville (Ishbiliya) the greatest of Spanish Muslim cities. Some other regions he kept as vassal states under Muslim governors, while in areas directly under his rule, Christian rule was heavy-handed on the new Muslim subjects. This eventually led to the Mudejar Uprisings of 1264-66, which resulted in mass expulsions of Spanish Muslim populations from their homeland. Ferdinand III was buried in the Mosque turned Cathedral of Seville and his tomb is inscribed in four languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and an early version of Castilian Spanish.

594 solar years ago, on this day in 1423 AD, Austrian mathematician and astronomer, Georg von Peurbach, was born near Linz. He studied the Islamic scientist, Ibn Haytham’s book “On the Configuration of the World”, and replaced the Greek scientist Ptolemy's chords in the table of sines with the Islamic Arabic numerals that were introduced 250 years earlier in place of Roman numerals and which today are in use in the whole world (e.g. 1,2,3,4,5 etc).

586 solar years ago, on this day in 1431 AD, during the Hundred Years War the 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal in Rouen, France. The Roman Catholic Church marks this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc, the French national heroine, known as Jeanne d’Arc. Also called the Maid of Orleans, she started her uprising for the liberation of parts of French territory from the occupation of England. She led the French army to several important victories, paving the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais for charges of insubordination and heterodoxy, and burned as a heretic.

424 solar years ago, on this day in 1593 AD, English poet and dramatist, Christopher Marlowe, was reportedly stabbed to death. It was later speculated that his death was faked and that he fled to Italy and continued writing plays that were produced by William Shakespeare. The mystery has never been solved. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day. He greatly influenced William Shakespeare. Among his plays are: “Dido, Queen of Carthage”, “Tamburlaine” in two parts on the fearsome Turkic conqueror Amir Timur, “The Jew of Malta”, “Doctor Faustus” and the “The Massacre at Paris”.

382 solar years ago, on this day in 1635 AD, the Thirty Years War ended with the signing of the Peace of Prague. It was principally fought in Central Europe, involving most of the countries of Europe that were once part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history, and one of the longest continuous wars in modern history. Initially, religion was a motivation for war between Protestant and Catholic states. In this general phase, the war became less specifically religious and more a continuation of the Bourbon–Habsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence, leading in turn to further warfare between France and the German powers. A major consequence of the Thirty Years' War was the devastation of entire regions, denuded by the foraging armies. Famine and disease significantly decreased the population of the German states, while Italy and most of the combatant powers were bankrupted. The result was the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

239 solar years ago, on this day in 1778 AD, French philosopher, François Voltaire, died at the age of 83. He popularized the English scientist Isaac Newton's work in France by arranging a translation of "Principia Mathematica" to which he added his own commentary. Voltaire's commentary bridged the gap between non-scientists and Newton's ideas at a time in France when the pre-Newtonian views of Descartes were still prevalent. Although a philosopher, Voltaire advocated rational analysis. He died on the eve of the French Revolution.

155 solar years ago, on this day in 1862 AD, Azarbaijani philosopher and renowned poet of the Caucasus region, Mirza Ali Akbar Zain al-Abedin Taherzadeh, known by his penname Saber, was born in the city of Shervan in what is now the Republic of Azerbaijan, which before the Russian occupation in the first half of 19th century was an integral part of Iran. He was fluent with the Azeri, Persian, Arabic, and Russian languages, and wrote many ghazals in imitations of Persian poets, particularly Nizami Ganjavi. In 1885, he embarked on a tour of several cities of Iran and Central Asia. Political satire was an important part of his work, and the butt of his satire ranged from Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany to Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar of Iran, and from the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid to the defeat of Russian armies by Japan as well as the scenes of social and domestic life at home. Part of Saber’s life coincided with the Constitutional Revolution in Iran and his vibrant and biting political satire was recited by the Constitutionalists in the trenches of Tabriz. He also made a fine verse translation of some passages of Ferdowsi’s “Shahnama” into Azeri. Many of Saber’s poems are in admiration of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Infallible Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt.

112 lunar years ago, on this day in 1325 AH, the prominent scholar Sheikh Hassan Ali ibn Haj Mahmoud Tehrani, passed away. He was a student of the scholar, Majd Shirazi.

105 solar years ago, on this day in 1912 AD, US inventor and aviator, Wilbur Wright, with his brother Orville, invented the first powered airplane, Flyer, capable of sustained, controlled flight (17 Dec 1903), died at the age of 45. Orville made the first flight, airborne for 12 seconds. Wilbur took the second flight, covering 853-ft (260-m) in 59 seconds. By 1905, they had improved the design, built and made several long flights in Flyer III, which was the first fully practical airplane (1905), able to fly up to 38-min and travel 24 miles (39-km). Their Model A was produced in 1908, capable of flight for over two hours of flight. The history of aviation is as old as Man’s quest to fly since antiquity. The earliest known record are of kite flying from China around 200 BC, when a general flew a kite over enemy territory to calculate the length of tunnel required to enter the region. It is also said, Yuan Huangtou, a Chinese prince, was briefly airborne by tying himself to a kite. In the heyday of Islamic science and civilization, there are records pertaining to the Spanish Muslim polymath, Abbas ibn Firnas, who flew from Jabal al-Arus Hill by employing a rudimentary glider in the 9th century AD. Some six centuries after Ibn Firnas, the Italian Leonardo da Vinci developed a hang glider design in which the inner parts of the wings are fixed, and some control surfaces are provided towards the tips (as in the gliding flight in birds). In 1783, with the first successful floating of a balloon with a person on board, the aviation industry was born and led to the invention of the airship, the zeppelin and the modern aircraft.

104 solar years ago, on this day in 1913 AD, the First Balkans War ended with the Treaty of London, and the emergence of Albania as an independent nation. It began in October 1912, and pitted the Balkans League, made up of Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria, against the weakened Ottoman Empire. As a result, almost all remaining European territories of the Ottoman Empire were seized by Christian powers and partitioned among them.

93 solar years ago, on this day in 1924 AD, the Iranian physician and lexicographer, Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Nafisi, titled “Nazem ol-Atibba”, passed away in Tehran. He was a product of Tehran’s famous Dar al-Fonoun Academy. In addition to his services to medicine, he also served the cause of Persian language. His important work in this domain is the 5-volume lexicon “Farhang-e Nafisi”, which took him 25 years to compile.

87 solar years ago, on this day in 1930 AD, the prominent poet and religious scholar, Seyyed Ahmad Peshawari, known as “Adib Peshawari”, passed away in Tehran. He was born near Peshawar in what is now Pakistan. He came to Iran to attend the classes of Islamic scholars such as Mullah Hadi Sabzevari. He also studied literary and philosophical books and wrote Persian poetry. His firm faith in Islam and indifference toward worldly matters are clearly evident in his poems. He has a Divan of poetry in Persian language.

70 solar years ago, on this day in 1947 AD, the jurist Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer Qazi Tabatabaei, passed away at the age of 78 in his hometown Tabriz, northwestern Iran, after forty years of scholarly pursuits, preaching and grooming of students. A product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, where he studied for 13 years under the leading scholars such as Mirza Hassan Shirazi, Seyyed Kazem Yazdi and Seyyed Abu'l-Hassan Isfahani, attained the status of Ijtehad, he authored several books including "Makhzan al-Fawa'ed fi Hashiyat-al-Fara'ed". His equally worthy son Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Ali Qazi Tabatabaei, became the first prayer leader in Iran to be martyred in the prayer niche in 1979 following the triump of the Islamic Revolution.  

57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator, died at the age of 70. His first book of poems “My Sister, Life” (published in 1917), is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language. Outside Russia, he is best known as the author of “Doctor Zhivago”, a novel written in 1957 and turned into a famous Hollywood film on a story that takes place between the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the First World War.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, President Zia ur-Rahman of Bangladesh was assassinated. A highly decorated officer of the united Pakistan army, he organized Bengali resistance against the brutal crackdown on what was then East Pakistan by the Pashtun-Punjabi army units of West Pakistan. Later he had the honour of announcing the Declaration of Independence of Bangladesh on 26 March 1971 at Kalurghat, Chittagong, and the next day repeated an edited version of the declaration on behalf of independence leader, Sheikh Mujib ur-Rahman – who was killed in a coup in 1975. On 21 April 1977, Major-General Zia ur-Rahman as Chief of Staff of the armed forces, took charge of the government, following Justice Sayem's resignation, and later in 1977 became the seventh President of Bangladesh. He issued a proclamation order amending the secular constitution drafted by Mujib ur-Rahman, by increasing the direct influence and role of Islam in state affairs. In the preamble, he inserted the salutation "Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim" (In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful). In Article 8(1) and 8(1A) the statement “absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah” was added, replacing the commitment to secularism. He further introduced provisions to allow Muslims to practice the social and legal injunctions of the Shari’ah and Sunnah. In Article 25(2), he introduced the principle that “the state shall endeavor to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic solidarity.” Islamic religious education was introduced as a compulsory subject in Bangladeshi schools, with provisions for non-Muslim students to learn of their own religions. He established a multiparty system, and also reached out to the hill tribes, the Hindu and Buddhist religious minorities, and the Urdu-speaking Bihari Muslim ethnic minority.

25 lunar years ago, on this day in 1413 AH, Ayatollah Mirza Hashem Amoli, passed away at the age of 91. Born near Amol in Mazandaran, he studied in Tehran under Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Modarres for twelve years, before moving to holy Qom. After achieving Ijtehad, he moved to holy Najaf in Iraq and stayed there for about thirty years. He moved back to Qom around 1963, and firmly supported the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless his soul) in the struggle against the despotic rule of the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime. His famous students include Mostafa Mohaqeq Damad, Mohammad Mohammadi Gilani, Ayatollah Mohammad Mofatteh, and Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi. Ayatollah Amoli was the father of Dr. Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Iranian parliament (Majlis) and of Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, the Judiciary Head.

10 lunar years ago, on this day in 1328 AH, the famous researcher, author and religious scholar, Allamah Seyyed Morteza Sharif Askari, passed away at the age 96 in Tehran and was laid to rest in the holy mausoleum of Hazrat Fatema Masouma (SA) in Qom. Born in Samarra in a family of scholars who mostly held the title of “Shaikh al-Islam” during the Safavid era and were active in Sabzevar and Saveh, guiding masses towards the School of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, after initial studies in his hometown he came to Qom for higher studies, because the British-installed dictator Reza Khan Pahlavi had stopped transfer of money to Iranian students in Iraq. He benefited from the classes of Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri, and on his return to Samarra, studied other branches of science, such as philosophy, history, and exegesis of the holy Qur’an. In Iraq, during the 1950s he found that the young generation was being attracted to the secular universities, and this made him embark on an ambitious project to establish the Islamic University in Baghdad where along with modern sciences, religious courses and exegesis of the holy Qur’an were taught. This university was closed during the 1970s by the repressive Ba’th minority regime which persecuted him, forcing him to move to Iran, where he continued his research and teaching activities till the end of his fruitful life. He authored several valuable books, shedding light on the facts of Islamic history and refuting the baseless accusations of ignorant minds against Shi’a Muslims. Some of his works are: “Abdullah ibn Saba and Other Historical Legends”, and “150 So-Called Companions”. The latter work is a thorough research of primary Islamic books of hadith and history to expose as fictitious some 150 persons who never existed but were unfortunately regarded as companions of the Prophet and spurious accounts of the Prophet’s life narrated from them, in order to mislead Muslims and keep them ignorant of the divinely-decreed rights of the Ahl al-Bayt.

AS/ME