Today is Saturday; 10th of the Iranian month of Tir 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 6th of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1438 lunar hijri; and July 1, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1186 lunar years ago, on this day in 252 AH, the 12^th caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, al-Musta’in-Billah, was killed in the prison of Baghdad after being deposed and replaced by his cousin, Mu’taz Ibn Mutawakkel, by the Turkic guards. The executioner brought the severed head to the capital Samarra at a time when the new caliph was playing chess, and told him: “Behold your cousin's head!” The heartless Mu’taz –who two years later was to martyr through poisoning Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS), the 10th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – replied: "Lay it aside, till I have finished the game." Then having satisfied himself that it was really the head of Musta'in Ibn Mohammad, he ordered 500 gold pieces be given to the assassin as reward. Musta’in, a grandson of the infamous Mu’tasem-Billah, was propelled to power as caliph in 248 AH by the Turkic guards on the mysterious death of his cousin, Muntasir – a devotee of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt who had killed his father, the notorious Mutawakkel for showing hatred towards Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). He ruled for four years before falling out with his benefactors who chased him to Baghdad and after a skirmish following exchange of harsh words, forced him to abdicate the caliphate, and eventually killed him in prison.

1149 solar years ago, on this day in 868 AD, according to the Gregorian calendar, Imam Ali an-Naqi al-Hadi, (AS), the 10th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was martyred through poisoning in the city of Samarra in Iraq at the age of 42 by Mo’taz, the self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. The date of his martyrdom, as per the hijri calendar, is 3rd Rajab, which is annually marked as a day of mourning. Imam Hadi (AS), during his 34-year Imamate, groomed up the faithful for the crucial period of occultation of his grandson, the 12^th Imam. Besides enlightening the ummah on the genuine teachings of the Prophet, he bequeathed to humanity priceless gems of guidance in the form of “Ziyaraah” or standard salutations for the chosen of God, such as the “Ziyarat-e Jame’a” and the “Ziyarah” for the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), on the historic day of Ghadeer, when on divine commandment the Prophet proclaimed his dearest cousin and son-in-law as vicegerent.

920 solar years ago, on this day in 1097 AD, the Battle of Dorylaeum took place between the European crusader invaders and the Seljuqs, near the city of the same name in Anatolia in what is now Turkey. The Muslim army led by Khilij Arslan I and his allies, Hassan of Cappadocia, and Ghazi ibn Danishmend, was made up of Turks, Iranians, Kurds and Caucasians, who after a hard fought battle in which the crusaders were almost routed, withdrew from the battlefield. The crusader invaders were led by Bohemond of Taranto and supported by the Byzantine army.

817 solar years, on this day in 1200 AD, sunglasses were invented in China from flat panes of smoky quartz to protect the eyes from glare. Ancient documents describe the use of such crystal sunglasses by judges in ancient Chinese courts to conceal their facial expressions while questioning witnesses.

766 solar years ago, on this day in 1251 AD, Mongke Khan was crowned as the 4th Khaqaan (Great Khan) of the Mongol Empire and ruled for 8 years during which western Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia (present Turkey) were overrun and incursions made into the subcontinent (present day Pakistan). Son of Tolui and grandson of the bloodthirsty Chengiz Khan, he carried out administrative reforms of the vast empire, by employing Chinese, Muslim, and Uyghur officials. Nine of his 16 chief provincial officials were Muslims, such as Mahmud Yalavach in China, Masoud Beg in Turkestan, and Arghun Agha in Iran. He ordered his brother, Hulagu Khan to exterminate the Ismailis of Alamut in Iran (1256) and destroy Baghdad (1258). Despite his unsuccessful plan to forge an alliance with Christian Europe for attacking the Mamluk Empire of Egypt-Syria, he favoured Muslim perceptions. He and Hulagu made the people of the holy city of Najaf an autonomous tax-exempt ecclesiastical polity. He also exempted clerics, monks, churches, mosques, monasteries, and doctors from taxation.

740 solar years ago, on this day in 1277 AD, the Mamluk sultan of Egypt-Syria, az-Zahir Rukn od-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari, died in Damascus at the age of 55. He was one of the commanders of the Muslim army which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France in 1250. Ten years later he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked the first crushing defeat of the Mongol army of Buddhist and Christians, and is considered a turning point in history. A Qipchaq Turk, who as a child was sold into slavery, he rose to become the first of the Bahri Mamluk sultans, and managed to pave the way for the end of the Crusader occupation by uniting Egypt and Syria into one powerful state that was able to fend off threats from both Crusaders and Mongols. He was buried in the az-Zahiriyah Library in Damascus.

652 lunar years ago, on this day in 786 AH, the Arabic poet and hadith scholar, Ismail Ibn Mohammad Ibn Bardis, passed away. Born in Ba’lbak in what is now Lebanon, he pursued higher studies in Damascus under prominent scholars before visiting several Islamic lands. He embarked on a career of teaching, and was known for his frank views. He wrote many books including “Kashf an-Neqaab Amma Rawa ash-Shaykhaan lil-As-haab"

586 solar years ago, on this day in 1431 AD, the Battle of La Higueruela (literally: "the little fig tree") was fought beside the River Genil near Granada between the Spanish Muslim forces of Mohammad IX (15th ruler of the Nasrid Sultanate) and the Christian mercenary army of John II of Castile. The battle resulted in a temporary setback for Mohammad IX, who was forced to abdicate in favour of Yusuf IV (grandson of Mohammad VI), but was restored to the throne the next year with the death of his rival. During the next two decades until his death in 1453, except for a 3-year period when he again lost power before making another comeback in 1448, Mohammad IX actively defended Granada and liberated many of the Christian-occupied parts of the Spanish Muslim emirate.

528 solar years ago, in 1489 AD, Bahlul Khan Lodi, the founder of the Lodi Dynasty of most of Hindustan (northern subcontinent), died after a reign of 38 years, and was succeeded by his son, Sikandar. Born into a Pashtoon family of traders, he became a renowned warrior and governor of Sirhind in Punjab, under Mohammad Shah of the Seyyed Dynasty of Delhi (appointees of the Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur), who having tested his valour and loyalty during the aggression of the ruler of Malwa, conferred upon him the title of Khan-e Khanaan. He subsequently forced his benefactor’s son, Sultan Alam Shah to abdicate, and crowned himself king in Delhi on 19 April 1451 with the title Bahlul Shah Ghazi. He and his successors were patrons of Persian literature. The dynasty ended in 1526, with the defeat and death of Bahlul’s grandson, Ibrahim Shah Lodi, in the Battle of Panipat at the hands of Timur’s great grandson, Zaheer od-Din Babar, who went on to establish the famous Mughal Empire of the Subcontinent.

371 solar years ago, on this day in 1646 AD, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German mathematician, philosopher and political adviser, was born. He was both a metaphysician and a logician, and is said to have invented the differential and integral calculus, independent of Isaac Newton, although it is believed he might have had access to translations of the works of Islamic mathematicians, who had discovered various calculus several centuries earlier.

178 solar years ago, on this day in 1839 AD, Mahmood II, the 30th Ottoman sultan and the 21st self-styled Turkic caliph, died at the age of 50 after a reign of 31 years, during which he carried out administrative, fiscal and military reforms, including abolishment of the Jan-Nisari Corps, although his armies were routed in the Battle of Erzurum in 1821 by Iranian forces led by Qajarid Crown Prince, Abbas Mirza, as part of the Ottoman-Persian War of 1821-to-1823. A few years later in 1827, the combined British, French and Russian navies defeated the Ottoman Navy at the Battle of Navarino during the Greek rebellion, forcing Mahmood to recognize the independence of Greece with the Treaty of Constantinople in July 1832. Two years earlier in 1830, with France’s occupation of province of Algeria, the beginning of the gradual break-up of the Ottoman Empire had started. Non-Turkish ethnic groups living in the empire's territories, especially in Europe, started their own independence movements. Son of Abdul-Hamid I and his French concubine Naqshdil (Aimee du Buc de Rivery, cousin of Empress Josephine the wife of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte who was captured at sea by Barbary seamen and sold in Istanbul), Mahmood, who was lucky to have escaped death at the hands of his fratricidal brother, Sultan Mustafa IV before becoming sultan, was succeeded by his son Abdul-Majid I.

184 solar years ago, on this day in 1863 AD, during the US civil war, the Battle of Gettysburg began in and around the town of the same name in Pennsylvania between the Union and Confederate armies, and is the largest military conflict in North American history. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the 5-year war and is described as the war's turning point. General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army after initial success surrendered the initiative on the 3rd day to Union Major-General George Meade, and retreated to Virginia.

150 solar years ago, on this day in 1867 AD, Britain granted self- rule to Canada, over which it had fought France for 75 years as of 1689. Canada covers an area of nearly 10 million sq km, and is the world’s second largest country. It is situated between the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans, and shares borders with the US.

57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, with the unity of British controlled Somaliland and Italian-held Somalia, the Muslim country of Somalia was formed and became independent after almost 8 decades of European colonial rule. From 1901 to 1920, the Somali people had staged a memorable uprising led by Mohammad ibn Abdullah Hessan for independence of their homeland. From 1969 to 1991, Mohammad Ziyad Barre took control of Somalia and brought relative stability, despite an eight-month inconclusive war with Ethiopia over the Somali-populated Ogaden region. Somalia is situated in East Africa with coastlines on the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. It covers an area of more than 637,000 sq km and shares borders with Kenya, Djibouti, and Ethiopia.

57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, Ghana became a Republic with Kwame Nkrumah as president. Elected prime minister in 1952, while the country was still under British colonial rule, in 1957, Nkrumah declared the independence of Ghana which three years later on this day became a republic. In 1966, Nkrumah was overthrown in a coup master-minded by the US, Britain and France, while he was on a state visit abroad. Thereafter, the country has seen several coups. Ghana covers an area of more than 238,000 sq km. It has a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and shares borders with Togo, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. Of its fast growing 20-percent plus Muslim population, many are followers of the School of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

55 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, the small landlocked east African countries of Rwanda and Burundi gained independence from the UN and Belgium respectively. In 1994, a bloody war broke out between the two tribes of Hutu and Tutsi in Burundi, which claimed more than 800,000 lives.

49 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed in Washington, London and Moscow by sixty-two countries, including Iran, with the objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, promoting cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and furthering the goal of nuclear disarmament. A total of 191 states are currently its members, though North Korea, which acceded to NPT in 1985, withdrew in 2003 because of US nuclear threats. Four countries have never joined the NPT: India, Pakistan and the illegal Zionist entity, all three of which are nuclear armed powers, in addition to the five self-imposed permanent UN Security Council member states –the United States of America, Russia, China, Britain and France. Unfortunately, the NPT has failed in its objectives, as is evident by the developing of new and more lethal nuclear weapons by the officially-recognized nuclear weapons states, and the politicization of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s peaceful nuclear project in a bid to deprive Iran of its inalienable rights.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, Britain returned the strategic Island of Hong Kong to China, after occupying it for 155 years during the Opium War which was imposed on China. Hong Kong is one of major commercial hubs of the world.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2009 AD, in one of the most blatant cases of hatred of Islam in Germany, 31-year Marwa ash-Sherbini, a pregnant Muslim woman from Egypt, was stabbed to death in a Dresden courtroom in front of her son, while attending a court case against her neighbour for calling her a terrorist for wearing Hijab. Muslim-hater, 28-year old Alex Wiens stabbed her at least 16 times inside the courtroom, while the security guards, the judge and lawyers watched silently in tacit approval. But when her horrified husband, Alwi Okaz, who was in Germany on a research fellowship, leapt to her aid, he was shot by a security guard in the leg and also stabbed by Wiens.

AS/SS