Today is Tuesday; 3rd of the Iranian month of Mordad 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 1st of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1438 lunar hijri; and July 25, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1265 lunar years ago, on this day in 173 AH, Hazrat Fatema al-Ma’sumah (SA), the venerable daughter of Imam Musa al-Kazem (SA), the 7^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was born in Medina. She was a child prodigy and acquired higher status of knowledge while less than 8 years of age, to the extent she could provide satisfactory answers to some of the most complicated issues for which grey-bearded scholars had no clue. She grew up into a paragon of piety, and till she passed away in Iran at the age of 29 years she remained a spinster since no man of her times was worthy of her hand. The reason that she journeyed to Iran was to visit her dear brother, Imam Reza (AS), who was forcibly brought to Khorasan by the crafty Abbasid caliph, Mamoun, fearful of the popularity of the Ahl al-Bayt among the ummah. Near Saveh, southwest of present-day Tehran, her caravan was attacked by Abbasid agents, making her seek the safety of the nearby city of Qom, which was a sanctuary for the Prophet’s blessed household. After seventeen days of sojourn, her soul departed for the ethereal heavens from this city, where today her grand golden-domed mausoleum stands for pilgrims from all over the globe, while Qom has been transformed into the world’s spiritual capital with students coming from the four corners of the Planet to acquire Islamic knowledge.

1261 lunar years ago, on this day in 177 AH, Shurraiy Ibn Abdullah Ibn Sinan an-Nakha’i, the hadith scholar who ended up a turncoat and betrayed his profession of a judge, died at the age of 82. Born into an Arab family of Yemeni origin in the Iranian city of Bukhara in what is now the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, he used to be a follower of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, until he made the fatal mistake of contaminating his body and soul by agreeing to eat the rich food prepared through foul and unlawful means at the table of Mahdi al-Abbasi, the 3^rd self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. Thereafter he was made a judge in Kufa, and used to give dubious verdicts, in addition to forging hadith.

878 solar years ago, on this day in 1139 AD, the Battle of Ourique took place in Spain resulting in the defeat of the al-Murabetoun army of Spanish Muslims led by Ali ibn Yusuf, against a large mercenary force of Christians assembled from various parts of Europe led by Prince Afonso Henriques, who subsequently separated the region of Portugal and crowned himself as its first king, under the title Afonso I. It was disunity in the ranks of Spanish Muslims coupled with pride following their recent victory in the Battle of Valdevez over Alfonso VII of Leon that resulted in their defeat, and the emergence of Portugal as an independent country.

852 solar years ago, on this day in 1165 AD, the famous Spanish Muslim Gnostic, Mohammad Ibn Ali Muhy od-Din Ibn Arabi, was born in Murcia, Islamic Spain. He was a child prodigy who mastered the sciences of the day in Seville, where his family had settled and where he met the famous philosopher, Ibn Rushd (Averroes). At the age of 30 he migrated to Fez in Morocco, from where after making several trips to Spain over the next five years to collect his works and other Islamic manuscripts in order to save them from the Christian vandals who were destroying the heritage of mankind, he finally left for the Levant through Egypt. The next half of his life was spent in Mecca, Medina, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and what is now Turkey, before he settled in Damascus where he passed away on 8 November 1240 AD at the age of 75. During the last twenty years of his life his close companion was the Iranian mystic, Awhad od-Din Hameed Kirmani, who transmitted to him teachings of many of the great spiritual masters of the Islamic East. Ibn Arabi, whose school of mystical thought had a profound impact for several centuries, was a prolific writer and the author of many books and treatises, including "Fusous al-Hekam" (Bezels of Wisdom), and "Futuhaat al-Makkiyya" (The Meccan Illuminations). In Chapter 366 of the voluminous "Futuhaat", he has described the characteristics of the Awaited Saviour of mankind, saying that Imam Mahdi (AS), the namesake and offspring of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), is from the direct line of descent of the Immaculate Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), and when he reappears the world will be filled with the global government of justice.

794 lunar years ago, on this day in 644 AH, Sultan Naseer od-Din Mahmoud Shah of the Slave Dynasty of Northern India, crossed the Ravi River, a branch of the Indus River in Punjab, while his minister Ghiyas od-Din Balban, separating from the main army, led an expedition into the Joud Hills against the Rana who had guided the Mongol invaders in the previous year to ravage parts of the Sultanate. The Rana was duly chastised. Balban, who later married the Sultan’s daughter and succeeded him to the throne, ruling ably for twenty years, introduced the Persian etiquette at his court to control the turbulent Turkic Amirs.

739 solar years ago, on this day in 1278 AD, Spanish Muslims led by the Emirate of Granada and the Maranid Dynasty won the naval Battle of Algeciras in the Strait of Gibraltar over the Kingdom of Castile.  The Muslim navy was commanded by Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr, whose superior tactics led to the destruction of almost the entire Christian fleet of over 100 ships.

234 solar years ago, on this day 1783 AD, the British were forced to lift the siege of the port city of Cuddalore on the Arabian Sea coast of southern India during the Second Anglo- Mysore War (lasting from 1779-1784) against Haider Ali Khan of the Muslim Sultanate of Mysore, when confronted with a combined army of French and Indians.

218 solar years ago, on this day in 1799 AD, Napoleon Bonaparte of France, during his invasion of Egypt, defeated an Ottoman army of 10,000 led by Mustafa Pasha at Abu Qir. Napoleon, who undertook the invasion of Egypt in 1798 as part of his plan to protect French trade interests and undermine Britain's access to India, had boasted prior to his campaign: “Having occupied and fortified Egypt, we shall send a force of 15,000 men from Suez to the Sultanate of Mysore (in India), to join the forces of Tipu Sultan and drive away the English.” Three years later in 1801, despite several victories, he was eventually forced to withdraw after unsuccessful attempts to pose as liberator from Ottoman rule or win the confidence of the Egyptians, even though he participated at al-Azhar in the birth anniversary celebrations of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), clad in Arab clothes and turban, and telling the congregation that he has changed his name to “Ali Bonaparte”. His abortive expedition into Syria, mounting political disharmony in France, conflict in Europe, and the defeat of the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile by the British, made him end the occupation of Egypt.

183 solar years ago, on this day in 1834 AD, English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, died at the age of 62. He and his friend William Wordsworth were among the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and later identified, along with Robert Southey, as the Lake School of poets. Coleridge’s work included "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," "Frost at Midnight" and "Kubla Khan." In his later life he authored the "Bibliographia Literaria", a work of literary theory.

123 solar years ago, on this day in 1894 AD, a battle broke out between China and Japan following Japan’s attack for seizure of large parts of the Korean Peninsula. Japan's well-equipped army won the battle and forced the Treaty of Shimonoseki upon China, according to which the Korean Peninsula apparently gained its independence, but in practice became Japan’s protectorate. China was forced to hand over a number of islands to Japan. The Japan-China war set the stage for war between Japan and Russia, because during the Japanese offensive on China a number of Russian bases and positions in China were raided by Japanese forces.

79 solar years ago, on this day in 1938 AD, two separate explosions in green grocery markets in Palestine martyred 62 Palestinians and wounded almost 100 others. Zionist terrorist outfits had planted the two bombs to terrorize and drive away Palestinians from their homes and hearths, as part of the plan to set up the illegal state called Israel.

74 solar years ago, on this day in 1943 AD, during World War II, after 21 years of totalitarian rule, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was forced out of office by his own Italian Grand Council and replaced by Pietro Badoglio, for having brought disaster and defeat upon the country because of his alliance with German Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler. Two years later in 1945 he was detained while trying to flee Italy and summarily executed.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, the prominent Iranian author and translator, Dr. Hamid Enayat, passed away. After getting his BA in Iran, he left for Britain, obtaining a PhD in economics and political studies at London University. After returning to Iran, he lectured and conducted extensive research at Tehran University. He compiled and translated several books on philosophy and political ideology. Among his works is the book: “Islam and Socialism”.

33 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, Russian cosmonaut, Svetlana Savitskaya, became the first woman to perform a spacewalk, as she carried out more than three hours of experiments outside the orbiting space station "Salyut Seven." She became the second woman in space in 1982 seven months after Sally Ride became the first American female astronaut in space.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, Iranian researcher, Dr Mrs Ismat Sattarzadeh, passed away at the age of 82. Born in Tabriz, she was well versed in Turkish language beside her mother tongue Azeri and obtained PhD in Persian language and literature. She translated from Turkish into Persian such works as “Soodi’s Commentary on the Divan of Hafez”, and “Anqaravi’s Commentary on Mowlana’s Mathnavi”.  She won the award for Iran’s Best Book of the Year.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, the usurper state of Israel launched a barbaric attack on southern Lebanon, martyring 128 civilians and wounding 500 others, in addition to making more than 400,000 people homeless. Moreover, major losses and damages were inflicted upon Lebanon’s economic installations and farms. The resistance of the Lebanese people forced the Zionist entity to end its attacks. Finally in May 2000, Zionist occupation troops were forced to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

16 solar years ago, on this day in 2001 AD, Phoolan Devi, a sitting Member of the Indian Parliament in the 13th Lok Sabha, was assassinated outside her in home in New Delhi by three so-called upper-caste men. The former Bandit Queen had led a campaign against the abuse of the supposedly low-class women by the self-styled high caste men, and got elected to the parliament in two successive elections. Born to a low-caste family in Uttar Pradesh, her adolescent years were marred by numerous incidents of sexual abuse that forced her to take to a criminal career to seek revenge. At the age of 18, Devi was gang-raped by high-caste bandits. As a result of this incident, she became a gang-leader in her own right and sought revenge. In 1981 she and her gang returned to the village where she had been raped to round up and execute 22 high caste men, including two of her rapists. She later voluntarily surrendered to the law enforcement authorities, was imprisoned for 11 years, and after release in 1994 contested and won the 1995 general elections. A movie was made on her life after her assassination.

15 solar years ago, on this day in 2002, Egyptian philosopher and poet, Abdur-Rahman Badawi, passed away at the age of 85 in Cairo. Born in the village of Sharabas, some 150 km from Cairo, he has been called the "Master of Arab Existentialism." and authored more than 150 works. He wrote fluently in his native Arabic, English, Spanish, French and German; and read Greek, Latin and Persian. From 1950 to 1956 he taught at Ibrahim Pasha University. As a member of a 1954 committee to draft a new Egyptian constitution, he clashed with President Jamal Abdun-Nasser, who dissolved the committee in 1956. From 1956 to 1958 he was a cultural attaché in Switzerland. He described leaving Nasser's Egypt to teach at Sorbonne University in Paris as escaping from "the big jail". He later moved to Libya as university professor, and in 1973 when his students demanded freedom of expression, he was imprisoned by Mu’ammar Qadhafi, who publicly burned his personal library. After release he taught in Kuwait from 1975 to 1982.

AS/ME