Today is Sunday; 18th of the Iranian month of Tir 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 14th of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1438 lunar hijri; and July 9, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1499 solar years ago, on this day in 518 AD, Emperor Anastasius Dicorus of Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire, died issueless at the age of 88 in his capital Constantinople (present day Istanbul) after a reign of 27 years, and was succeeded by his Chief of Guards, Justin.  A palace official, he was raised to the throne on the death of Emperor Zeno by the latter’s wife, Queen Aelia Ariadne (daughter of Emperor Leo 1), who subsequently married Anastasius to grant legitimacy to his rule. During his reign, a 4-year inconclusive war was fought with Sassanid Iran in the aftermath of which the Roman eastern frontier underwent extensive re-fortification, including the construction of Dara, to counter the Persian fortress of Nisibis, in what is now south-central Turkey. Fought from 502 to 506, it 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 19th 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 made some 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 on the frontier.

1354 lunar years ago, on this day in 84 AH, the 5^th caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan, died in Damascus at the age of 61 after a reign of 20 tyrannical years during which among a spate of crimes against Islam and humanity, he ordered his Godless general, Hajjaj bin Yusuf, to defile the sanctity of the holy Ka’ba with fire and brimstone in order to kill the rival caliph, Abdullah Ibn Zubayr. Born in Mecca to the despicable Marwan, who along with his pagan father Hakam, was expelled by the Prophet for ridiculing Islam, he grew up in Medina, where his father as the cousin and son-in-law of caliph Othman Ibn Affan manipulated all state affairs and was the actual cause of the latter’s murder. When Mu’awiyyah Ibn Abu Sufyan seized the caliphate from Imam Hasan Mujtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), Marwan was appointed governor of Medina, and years later in 63 AH, along with his son Abdul-Malik, was lucky to be allowed to go alive to Syria on the seizure of Arabia by Abdullah ibn Zubayr. In 64 AH he found himself propelled to the truncated caliphate in those tumultuous years following the death of the tyrant Yazid, abdication of the latter’s son Mu’awiyyah II, and his own father Marwan’s surprising rise as caliph and death in the harem nine months later. Abdul-Malik cast aside the holy Qur’an with the words “It is now separation between me and you”. He faced an uncertain future with the Omayyad caliphate shrunken to Damascus and its environs as Mokhtar Ibn Abu Obaidah, the Avenger of the Martyrs of Karbala, was all set to wipe out the Omayyads with his string of victories against the killers of the Prophet’s younger grandson, Imam Husain (AS). At this crucial juncture, Abdullah Ibn Zubayr blundered by refusing to join forces with Mokhtar and instead sent his brother to attack and kill the latter, thereby giving breathing space to Abdul-Malik and in fact allowing him to regroup and attack the divided armies of Iraq and Hijaz. What followed was revival of Omayyad supremacy and suppression of true Muslims, especially the Prophet’s progeny and their followers, while boundaries of the realm continued to rapidly expand in both the east and the west – in Central Asia and North Africa. Abdul-Malik initiated brazenly racist and chauvinistic policies against the letter and spirit of Islam that made Arabs (especially Omayyad supporters) the dominant class of the empire, hand-in-hand with rabid Arabization that deprived Syrians, Egyptians, and North Africans of their native languages and rich cultural heritage. In the eastern parts of the empire, however, these apartheid policies failed to erode the Persian language and culture of the Iranians and other Muslim peoples, who in accordance with the message of the holy Qur'an, mastered Arabic language, literature and grammar, as well as hadith and Islamic sciences, while preserving for posterity the positive aspects of the legacies of the past.

865 lunar years ago, on this day in 573 AH, the well-known Iranian Imami theologian, jurisprudent, hadith scholar, and exegete of the Holy Qur’an, Qotb od-Din Rawandi, passed away and was laid to rest in Qom in the courtyard of the holy mausoleum of Hazrat Ma’souma (SA), the daughter of Imam Musa Kazem (AS), the 7^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He was from Rawand near Kashan and spent several years acquiring knowledge under the prominent Islamic scholars of his day. He has left behind 80 compilations, including an exegesis of the Holy Qur'an, and exegesis of the “Nahj al-Balagha” and several other books including “Risalat al-Fuqaha”, and “Ayaat al-Ahkaam”.

616 solar years ago, on this day in 1401AD, the Central Asian Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur (Tamerlane) destroyed the city of Baghdad, massacring 20,000 people. He was no notorious for his barbaric erection of towers of human heads, that when his forces took Baghdad, he spared almost no one, and ordered that each of his soldiers bring back two severed human heads.

262 solar years ago, on this day in 1755 AD, the Braddock Expedition occurred in what is now Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, when British troops and colonial militiamen were ambushed and suffered a devastating defeat by French forces and their native Amerindian allies.

227 solar years ago, on this day in 1790 AD, during the Russo-Swedish War, the Second Battle of Svensksund occurred in the Baltic Sea, in which the Swedish Navy captured one third of the Russian fleet.

201 solar years ago, on this day in 1816 AD, Argentina gained independence from Spanish colonial rule following war between Spain and Britain, and the occupation of Buenos Aires by the British forces. The Argentine people stood up against the British troops and after driving them out, declared their independence. Argentina covers an area of 2,780,092 sq km. It lies on the coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean South America, sharing borders with Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

198 solar years ago, on this day in 1819 AD, Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine, was born in Spencer, Massachusetts, USA. As a machinist, he developed his sewing machine in 1843-45 and patented it in 1846. Although Howe's machine sewed only short, straight lines, tailors and seamstresses saw it as a threat to their jobs. Unable to market his machine in the US, he took it to Britain where he sold the rights to an English manufacturer in 1847. Upon his return to the United States, Howe discovered that his patent had been infringed upon by other sewing machine manufacturers, such as Isaac Singer. After a lengthy court battle, Howe's patent was upheld and royalties from sewing machine sales made him a wealthy man.

167 solar years ago, on this day in 1850 AD, the British agent, Mohammad Ali Bab was executed by a firing squad in Tabriz at the age of 31 on being found guilty of “spreading corruption on earth” for his blasphemous claim to be the imam, then a prophet and finally the divine manifestation (mazhar-e ilahi) with a new creed in replacement of Islam. Born in Shiraz to an obscure father, and initiated into the deviant Shaykhi cult, he stirred up sedition all around by first styling himself “Bab” or gateway to the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS), then the Awaited Imam himself, later the incarnation of the Prophets Elijah and John the Baptist, and eventually the godhead. After repeated renunciations of his beliefs whenever he was arrested, he reverted to his devilish designs to mislead the people, prompting the Qajarid minister Mirza Mohammad Taqi Khan Amir Kabir who strove to make Iran free of Anglo-Russian plots, to order his arrest and trial. After execution his body was thrown into the ditch near the barracks where it was eaten up by dogs.

109 solar years ago, on this day in 1908 AD, the religious scholar, philosopher, poet and outstanding orator of the subcontinent, Allamah Rasheed Turabi was born in Hyderabad. After obtaining BA from Osmania University and MA in Philosophy from Allahabad University, he learned religious sciences, and mastered Urdu, Persian and Arabic literature. On the political side, he started his career as a member of the working committee of the Hyderabad Legislative Assembly. Later on, he was nominated by the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, as a member of the working committee of All India Muslim League. In 1949, following the fall of Hyderabad-Deccan to Indian forces in 1948, a year after independence from British rule, he migrated to Pakistan, where he left active politics, and devoted himself to religious erudition, especially discourses on Imam Husain (AS) and the tragedy of Karbala. His great knowledge of hadith, jurisprudence, and exegesis of the holy Qur’an enabled him to deliver more than 5,000 religious lectures and speeches. The most sought after Urdu public speaker of his times, he was indeed a persuasive and brilliant orator. He was a prolific author as well, and among his works is the book, “Tibb-e Ma’soomeen” which is a composition of antidotes from Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the 12 Infallible Imams. He also wrote the 2-volume book "The Forests of Hyderabad" on the jungles of the Deccan. Another of his work is the idiomatic translation of Imam Ali’s (AS) famous Letter of Instructions to his governor of the then Christian-majority Egypt, Malik Ashtar. This epistle is a guiding light for just and fair governance. Turabi’s masterpiece on “Ilm Rijal” or biographical evaluation of narrators of hadith, which he titled "Wasl-e Qowl" was published after his death in Karachi.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, after a month of cessation of hostilities, fighting broke out between Arabs and the illegal Zionist entity, which was supplied modern weapons by western regimes, especially the US. The usurper state of Israel occupied 78% of Palestinian soil by uprooting 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and driving them into neighbouring states as refugees.

62 solar years ago, on this day in 1955 AD, a group of scientists met in London to issue a manifesto declaring that researchers must take responsibility for their creations, such as the atomic bomb. British philosopher Bertrand Russell, drafted the manifesto, which served as the philosophical origin for the 1957 Pugwash Conference (Nova Scotia) against nuclear arms. It was signed by ten other scientists that included as Joseph Rotblat (1995 Nobel Peace Prize Winner), Albert Einstein, Linus Pauling and Frederic Joliot-Curie.

45 solar years ago, on this day in 1972 AD, Palestinian author and activist, Ghassan Kan’ani, along with his nephew, was assassinated by the Zionist regime’s notorious spy agency, Mossad. A senior official of the People’s Front for Liberation of Palestine, he was a victim of a car bomb planted by Mossad agents in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Sixteen days later, Kan’ani’s deputy, Bassam Abu Sharif, was critically wounded in a bomb blast. The assassination of Palestinian officials around the world is pursued by the Zionist entity with the support of western regimes. These dastardly acts of terrorism have never been condemned by the US and other western regimes, despite their claim to human rights.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, following two mysterious explosions in holy Mecca, resulting in the death of a Hajj pilgrim and injury to 16 others, the Saudi regime which is in occupation of the Land of Revelation, Hijaz, blamed the Islamic Republic of Iran, and rounding up 16 innocent Kuwaiti Shi’a Muslim pilgrims brutally beheaded them. No pilgrims from Iran were participating in the Hajj during that year following the massacre of over 400 mostly Iranian Hajj pilgrims in Mecca two years earlier by the Saudi regime, because of their peaceful observing of the Islamic disavowal of disbelievers rally against the US and the illegal Zionist entity. 

15 solar years ago, on this day in 2002 AD, on the approval of African leaders during the meeting in Durban, South Africa, the African Union replaced the Organization of African Unity that was set up in 1963 to support the independence of African countries and to solve their disputes. The African Union, on the model of the European Union, has taken into consideration the setting up of a parliament, an executive committee, a central bank, a monetary fund, and a court of justice, for the collective development of African states. Based in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, it holds annual summit in a member country.

15 solar years ago, on this day in 2002 AD, Ayatollah Seyyed Kazem Akhavan Mar’ashi, passed away at the age of 83 in holy Mashhad, where he was a prominent teacher of the Islamic seminary. Despite losing his scholarly father at the age of 5, he continued his studies, and after seven years of higher learning at the Islamic seminary of holy Qom, he left for holy Najaf, Iraq, at the age of 32 for further studies. On attaining ijtehad he returned to his homeland and started teaching at the seminary in Mashhad, where his house became the centre for political gatherings and decision-making against the Pahlavi regime during the events of the Islamic Revolution. Besides publishing Lessons in Jurisprudence, he wrote several other books including Annotation and Commentary on the famous book “al-Orwat al-Wosqa” of the prominent jurisprudent, Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Tabatabaie Yazdi. 

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran test-fired nine long and medium range missiles during military maneuvers to test the defence readiness of the country.

8 solar years ago, on this day 2009 AD, the famous Iranian Children’s Author, Mahdi Azar Yazdi, passed away at the age of 81 in Tehran and was laid to rest in his hometown Yazd. In 1944 he came to live in Tehran, and although was well read and employed in a photography shop in Yazd, he did not hesitate from taking any job in the capital, working as a construction labourer, a worker in a sock-weaving factory, and finally bookshops and publishing houses, such as Amir Kabir, Ashrafi and Etella'at. He wrote his first book at the age of 35, titled “Good Stories for Good Children”. When it was sold out, the publisher asked him to write a sequel. Soon the series reached eight volumes and was based on the classics of Persian literature such as the “Golestan” (The Rose Garden) of the poet Sheikh Sa’di, the Mathnavi of Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi, the “Marzban-Nameh”, and the Sindbad-Nameh, as well as accounts from the holy Qur’an and the life of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and the Imams of his Infallible Ahl al-Bayt. He also wrote “The Naughty Cat”, “The Playful Cat”, and “Poetry of Sugar and Honey”. His most famous work “Good Stories for Good Children” won the UNESCO Prize in 1966 and was regarded as the best book of the year in 1967. Also another of his books “Adam” was chosen by UNESCO as the best book of the year in 1968.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2009 AD, in Iraq, Takfiri terrorists backed by the US and Saudi Arabia triggered bomb blasts in the Turkmen populated town of Tal Afar, in Nineveh province, resulting in the martyrdom of over 50 Shi’a Muslim men, women, and children; and wounding of some one hundred others.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, South Sudan seceded from Sudan, with western support as an independent country. The region of South Sudan, where the population is mainly Christian and animist, was involved in guerilla war with the central government of Sudan from 1955 till 1972, and again from 1983 till 2005, resulting in a large number of casualties. There are still major disputes between two countries, including the fate of oil-rich regions that overlap the joint border. South Sudan covers an area of 620,000 square km, and shares borders with Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Central Africa, and The Democratic Republic of Congo.

3 solar years ago, on this day in 2014 AD, Iraqi officials discovered 53 bodies of Shi’a Muslims, many of them blindfolded and with their hands bound, in the village of Khamissiya near the city of Hillah, 95 km south of Baghdad. They were the victims of the savage Takfiri terrorists backed by the US and Saudi Arabia.

AS/ME