Today is Sunday; 15th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 13th of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1438 lunar hijri; and August 6, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1267 solar years ago, on this day in 750 AD, the 13^th and last self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, Marwan II, titled “al-Hemar” or the Donkey, was caught and killed in Egypt at the age of 62 after a 6-year rule while fleeing through Syria, Palestine, and North Africa, following defeat in the Battle of Zab on the banks of the river of the same name in northern Iraq at the hands of the Abbasids on January 25 the same year. Thus ended the Godless rule of the Omayyads established in 66 on the seizure of the Islamic realm by Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan through a dubious treaty imposed upon Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Prior to the decisive Battle of Zab, the hated Omayyads had suffered a series of defeats all the way from Iran to Iraq by the combined forces of the Abbasids, Shi’ite Muslims, and Iranians. At Zab, Marwan assembled a vast army made up of many veterans of earlier Omayyad campaigns against the Byzantine Empire, but the zeal of the opponents demoralized his forces and they fled in the face of determined attack. Marwan escaped the battlefield and was relentlessly pursued by the Abbasids, who cornered him in Abusir in Nile delta and executed him.

1143 lunar years ago, on this day in 295 AH, al-Muktafi-Billah the 17^th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, died at the age of 33 after a 6-year reign. Son of the previous ruler, al-Mu'tadid, by a Turkic slave-girl, he started on a good note by abolishing his father’s secret prisons – the terror chambers of Baghdad – and gaining popularity through acts of generosity. It was during his rule that the Carmathian (Qarameta) sedition emerged, while hostilities continued with the Greeks, who were able to ravage at will the coasts of Syria, both by land and sea. The Byzantine legions led by ten golden crosses, each followed by 10,000 soldiers, left a trail of devastation and kidnapped thousands of Muslims. In Egypt, however, Muktafi met with success by ending the 37-year secessionist rule of the Tulunids –descendants of the Central Asian Turkic slave, Ahmad bin Tulun. In the last years of his reign he was immersed in pleasures and oppressed the people. As his health worsened he was confined to the sickbed for several months before his death.

930 lunar years ago, on this day in 508 AH, the Hanbali theologian Abdur-Rahman ibn Ali ibn Mohammad, known as Abu’l-Faraj Ibn Jowzi, was born in Baghdad. He claimed descent from the first caliph’s son Mohammad Ibn Abu Bakr, who was a loyal follower of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). He is famous for his theological stance against fellow Hanbalis for distortion concerning God's Attributes, and criticized them for tarnishing the image of Islam by making it synonymous with extreme anthropomorphism. His famous work in this regard is his “Daff' Shubah at-Tashbih”. He was a prolific writer and is said to have authored some 300 books and treatises, including one on the merits of Imam Ali (AS), in addition to a ten-volume history titled: “al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa’l-Umam.” He passed away in 597 AH at the age of 89.

855 lunar years ago, on this day in 583 AH, the famous Iranian poet and scholar, Abu’l-Muzaffar Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Anvari Abiverdi, passed away. His Diwan of poetry is currently available and consists of several odes, which have been reprinted on several occasions. Among his famous poems is the one depicting the sorry state of Syria and Palestine at the hands of the Crusader occupiers, and his appeal to the Muslims to unite and rise against the usurpers of Islamic lands. Here are some of his verses:

“To shed tears is a man's worst weapon when swords stir up embers of war;

“Sons of Islam behind you are battles in which heads roll at your feet.

“Dare you slumber in the blessed shade of safety, where life is soft like orchid?

“While your Syrian brothers can only sleep on the back of the chargers or in the vultures' bellies!

“Must the foreigner feed on our ignominy, while you trail behind you the train of a pleasant life?

“When sword points are red with blood and at the hammering of swords on lances the hairs of children turn white.

“This is war and the infidel's sword is naked in his hand, ready to be sheathed again in man's necks and skulls.”

672 lunar years ago, on this day in 766 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic scholar, Qotb od-Din Mohammad bin Mohammad Raazi, passed away in Damascus Syria. Born in Varamin near Rayy, south of modern Tehran, he was a student of the famous Allamah Hilli, and in turn was the teacher of the celebrated Shaheed Awwal or First Martyr, Sheikh Mohammad Jamal od-Din al-Makki al-Ameli. He wrote several books including “Sharh ash-Shamsiya”. Abu Sa’eed, the last Ilkhanid ruler of Iran, greatly respected him.

511 solar years ago, on this day in 1506 AD, the army of the Crimean Khanate led by Fateh Giray Khan lost the Battle of Kletsk to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led by Court Marshall Michael Glinski. Established in 1449 by Tatar Muslims in what is now southern Ukraine, southern Russia and Moldova, the Khanate of Crimea ruled the area for over three centuries till it fell to Russian expansionism in 1783. It was closely allied to the Ottoman Empire and became its vassal state in its last century of rule. The Crimean Khanate established a flourishing Islamic culture, used the Perso-Arabic script, and built splendid mosques, bazaars, public baths, fountains, palaces, and libraries.  

507 solar years ago, on this day in 1510 AD, Da’ud Khan of the Faruqi Dynasty of Khandesh in Central India, died after a reign of 7 years during which he was totally dependent on his two brothers, Hussain Ali and Yar Ali, with the former serving as vizier of the state. Because of ill advice, Da’ud attacked the Nizamshahi Dynasty of Ahmadnagar, but the latter’s army marched into Khandesh, almost making him lose his kingdom which was only saved by his pleas of help to the Sultan of Malwa, who forced him to become his subordinate. His son and successor, Ghazni Khan, was killed by poisoning within ten days of his death, prompting the kingdoms of Berar and Ahmadnagar to install his cousin, Alam Khan, as ruler, a move that was opposed by Mahmoud Shah, the powerful sultan of Gujarat, who instead sent an army to crown another member of the Faruqi Dynasty as Adil Khan III. Founded in 1382 by Malik Ahmad Raja Faruqi, the son of a Rajput convert to Islam who served Sultan Feroze Shah Tughlaq of Delhi, Khandesh and its capital Burhanpur, were annexed by the Mughal Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar in 1601. The Sultanate was a Persianate society, and made 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.

410 lunar years ago, on this day in 1028 AH, the prominent and pious Iranian scholar, Seyyed Mirza Mohammad Ibn Ali Astarabadi, passed away in Mecca, where he was settled, after residing for long in holy Najaf, Iraq. He was a prolific writer and among his books mention could be made of "Sharh Ayaat al-Ahkaam" on explanation of selected passages of the holy Qur'an and a book on Rijal or the science of evaluation of hadith narrators.

208 solar years ago, on this day in 1809 AD, Alfred Tennyson, British Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign and one of the most popular English poets, was born. He excelled in penning short lyrics, such as “Break, Break, Break”, “Tears Idle Tears” and “The Charge of the Light Brigade” – the last one pertaining to the abortive charge of the British Light Brigade in the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War. He also wrote some notable blank verse including “Idylls of the King” and “Ulysses”. A number of phrases from Tennyson's work have become commonplaces of the English language, including “Nature, red in tooth and claw”, “Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all”, “Theirs not to reason why/ Theirs but to do and die”, “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”, “Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers”, and “The old order changeth, yielding place to new”. He is the ninth most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Tennyson died in 1892 at the age of 83.

192 solar years ago, on this day in 1825 AD, Bolivia was liberated from Spanish colonial rule after sixteen years of seesaw struggle following the revolution launched in 1809 by the famous South American freedom-fighter, Simon Bolivar. Bolivia covers an area of almost 1.1 million sq km, and shares borders with Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. In the 2006 general elections, for the first time in its history, Bolivia saw the emergence of a member of the long-suppressed indigenous Amerindian majority population, as president. President Juan Evo Morales, ever since his victory, has been the target of propaganda and ridicule, by the US and West Europe for his independent policies.

136 solar years ago, on this day in 1881 AD, the Scottish physician and discoverer, Alexander Fleming, was born. In the company of two other scientists, Florey and Chain, he discovered Penicillin. The three scientists were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, when World War II was almost over, the US, in a blatant act of state terrorism, dropped an atomic bomb on the unsuspecting city of Hiroshima, far away from any warfront. The lethal bomb named "Little Boy" by the sadistic Americans, instantly killed over 90,000 men, women and children, and left almost a hundred thousand others injured. In addition, some tens of thousands of Japanese were to die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning from the bomb whose destructive power was equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT explosives. The destructive effects of this dastardly American atomic bombardment of Hiroshima remain to this day. A few days later, the US again resorted to yet another crime against humanity by dropping a second atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Despite calls worldwide for disarmament, the US and its dangerously armed accomplices refuse to oblige, and are testing still more lethal weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons.

55 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, the island state of Jamaica in the Caribbean Sea, gained independence from British colonial rule. European invaders, starting with the Spanish and followed by the French, in one of the most blatant acts of genocide, exterminated the indigenous people of this island. Later, on seeing the agriculture potential of Jamaica, especially in sugarcane cultivation, they kidnapped from Africa tens of thousands of black people and forced them to work as slaves. Jamaica covers an area of 10991 sq. km.

52 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, Indian troops crossed into Pakistan, and fighting spread to Punjab and the disputed Muslim-populated Himalayan land of Kashmir as Pakistanis crossed into Indian-controlled areas. The 2nd Indo-Pakistani conflict started without a formal declaration of war, which officially started towards the end of August and ended in early September, with both sides suffering heavy casualties and unable to defeat the other. The Tashkent Declaration of January 1966 under the auspices of the Soviet Union resulted in a peace meeting between Pakistan’s President Field-Marshal Mohammad Ayoub Khan and India’s Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who after talks died due to a massive heart attack.

40 solar years ago, on this day in the year 1977 AD, in a bid to avert the Iranian people's growing anger, the Pahlavi Shah dismissed his longtime Prime Minister, Amir Abbas Hovaida, who for thirteen years had carried on the US dictated repressive policies against the Muslim people of Iran. A year and a half later, following the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, Hovaida was put on trial, and executed for treason against the Iranian nation.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, the Deputy Commander of Islamic Republic of Iran Army’s Air Force, Major General Abbas Babai, was martyred at the age of 37 while on a sortie during the 8-year Iraqi imposed war. He was a committed and courageous pilot. Born in the city of Qazvin, he joined the army and graduated as a pilot. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he pledged allegiance to Imam Khomeini. When the US through Saddam imposed the 8-year war on the Islamic Republic of Iran, he flew on some of the most difficult missions with great skill and success.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a day after taking oath of allegiance as president, made it clear that the European Union’s proposal for ending the West’s politicizing of Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme was "unacceptable" because it did not give the country the right to enrich uranium as per the NPT and IAEA rules. After over a decade of illegal sanctions, assassination of Iranian scientists, and other lawless measures, the US and its two West European accomplices – France and Britain – finally acknowledged in Vienna last month, Iran’s inalienable right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

AS/ME