Today is Tuesday; 7th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 7th of the Islamic month of Zil-Hijjah 1438 lunar hijri; and August 29, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1324 lunar years ago, on this day in 114 AH, Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), the 5th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was martyred in Medina at the age of 57, through poisoning by Hisham ibn Abdul-Malik, the self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime. His epithet "Baqer al-Uloum" means Splitter and Spreader of Sciences, and he spared no efforts to promote the pure and pristine teachings of Islam in an era when foreign ideas and thoughts were confusing the minds of Muslims. His period of imamate was 19 years, and he was descended on both sides from the Prophet. He was laid to rest in the sacred Jannat al- Baqie Cemetery of Medina.

1332 lunar years ago, on this day in 106 AH, the jurisprudent and Hadith narrator, Tawous ibn Kaysaan al-Yamani passed away in Mecca. Said to be of Persian stock from Hamedan, he resided in Yemen and is narrator of the "munajaat" (whispered supplications) to God Almighty of Imam Zayn al-Abedin (AS), the 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He is held in esteem by both Shi'a and Sunni scholars. Famous Iranian Sunni compilers such as Bukhari, Muslim Naishapuri, Tirmizi, etc. have recorded hadith on his authority.

1259 lunar years ago, on this day in 179 AH, Imam Musa Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), after being detained in Medina by the tyrannical Abbasid caliph, Haroun Rashid, was brought to the Iraqi port city of Basra and imprisoned in the palace of the governor, Eisa bin Ja'far. For a year the Imam languished here before being taken to Baghdad and imprisoned in the house of Fazl bin Rabee'. In 183 AH, on the 25th of Rajab, Imam Kazem (AS) left the mortal world, a martyr, after his food was poisoned on the orders of Haroun, who knew that as long as the Prophet's rightful successor was alive, his claim to caliphate was under question by the people.

1075 lunar years ago, on this day in 363 AH, the scholar, orator, and historian, Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Thabet, popular as Khateeb al-Baghdadi, passed away in Baghdad at the age of 73. Born near Baghdad, he was the son of a preacher of Darzidjan and studied under his father and other scholars. His primary interest was hadith. At the age of 20 he went to Basra to collect hadith. He then travelled east to Iran and made two trips to Naishapur in Khorasan, collecting in his journey more hadith in Rayy and Isfahan. Back in Baghdad, he acquired fame as a preacher and orator, and it is said that teachers and preachers of hadith would usually submit to him what they had collected before they used them in their lectures or sermons. Initially a follower of the Hanbali School of jurisprudence, he switched over to the Shafe'i school – a change that made Hanbalis his bitter enemies and heap accusations against him. This sectarian hostility forced him to leave Iraq for Syria and settle in Damascus, where he preached for 8 years, and before returning to Baghdad, spent a year in Tyre, Lebanon. He was a prolific writer and has authored several books, the most famous of which is the voluminous history titled "Tarikh al-Baghdad".  He has quoted many of the hadith on the merits of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt, especially Imam Ali and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon them).

1038 solar years ago, on this day in 979 AD, Fazlollah Abu Taghlib al-Ghazanfar, titled Uddat od-Dowla, the third ruler of the Hamdanid Shi’a Muslim Emirate of Mosul in Iraq, was killed following his defeat in battle near Damascus in Syria. Son of the famous Nasser od-Dowla, his reign was troubled, being marked by conflicts with some of his brothers, antagonism with the various branches of the Buwaiyhids of Iran for influence in Baghdad, and attacks by the Byzantine Empire. His relations with the Iranian Buwaiyhid emir of Iraq, Izz od-Dowla Bakhtiyar, were initially hostile, but the two later concluded an alliance. In 978, Jazira and the emirate of Mosul was occupied by the Buwaiyhids of Shiraz under Adhud od-Dowla, and he fled to the Fatemid-controlled parts of Syria, where he tried to secure the governorship of Damascus, and became involved in local rivalries which resulted in his defeat in battle and death.

882 solar years ago, on this day in 1135 AD, Mustarshid-Billah, the 29^th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, after a reign of 17 years, was killed by assassins, believed to be hired by the Seljuqid sultan, Mas’oud, who resented the caliph’s bid to assert independence in political affairs. When Mustarshid launched a military campaign against Mas'oud near Hamedan in western Iran, he was deserted by his troops, taken prisoner by the Sultan, but pardoned on promise not to quit the palace. Left in the royal tent, he was found murdered.

496 solar years ago, on this day in 1521 AD, the Ottoman Turks, a year after accession of Sultan Suleiman, captured Belgrade fort in Serbia and transformed it into a major city in Europe by building schools, libraries, markets, mosques, baths, and other public amenities. Belgrade was a predominantly Muslim city for over three centuries until it was occupied by Christians who destroyed its wonderful Islamic architecture and killed and expelled its mostly European Muslim population.

491 solar years ago, on this day in 1526 AD, the Ottoman Turks led by Sultan Suleiman defeated Hungary in the Battle of Mohacs, in which Louis II, the last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia, lost his life. The Muslim victory led to the partition of Hungary for several centuries between the Ottoman Empire, and the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria. Only in the 20th century would Hungary regain its political independence.

476 solar years ago, on this day in 1541 AD, the Ottoman Turks during the reign of Sultan Suleiman captured Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom, and for almost the next century-and-a-half ruled it Budin Eyalet.

413 solar years ago, the Iranian empress of Hindustan (northern India), Hamida Banu Begum, died at the age of 77 in Agra and was buried by her son, Moghal Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar, in Delhi in the mausoleum of her husband, Emperor Naseer od-Din Humayun, who had died half-a-century earlier on his return from Iran and regaining of the kingdom with assistance provided by Safavid Emperor Shah Tahmasp 1. She was the daughter of Iranian Shi’a Muslim scholar, Ali Akbar Jami, a descendent of the famous mystic Shaikh Ahmad Jaam of Khorasan. When Humayun lost the throne of Delhi to the Afghan adventurer, Sher Shah Souri, she accompanied her husband to Iran to the court of Shah Tasmasp in Qazvin, visiting on the way the tomb of her ancestor, Ahmad Jam in Torbat-e Jam, and the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad. Soon after her return to India, she was widowed, but was held in high esteem by her son and the whole court, even occasionally presiding over state matters.  

385 solar years ago, on this day in 1632 AD, the English philosopher and physician, John Locke, was born. He spent over 20 years developing the ideas he published in his most significant work, “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” in which he analysed the nature of human reason, and promoted experimentation as the basis of knowledge. He was against absolute monarchies and believed that the ruling systems should gain the approval of the majority of people. His other famous works include “Two Treatises of Government”, and “A Letter Concerning Toleration”. He died in 1704.

74 solar years ago, on this day in 1943 AD, the famous Kenyan photographer of Indian origin, Mohamed Amin was born in Eastleigh, Nairobi. He developed interest in photography at school. In 1963, he founded Camerapix Company in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and moved the company to Nairobi three years later. During the 1970s, he became one of the most relied-upon African news photographers, reporting on wars and coups all through the continent. His most influential moment came when his photos on the 1984 Ethiopian famine, brought international attention to the crisis and eventually helped start the charity wave.  Apart from Ethiopian famine, he contributed exclusive photos of the fall of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and of Ethiopia’s Mengistu Haile Mariam. He was not just active in Africa, but also in the Middle East. He covered the Palestinian Black September uprising to seize control of Jordan in September 1970. He was able to move among the Palestinian forces where Western journalists could not. In 1991, Mohammad Amin lost his left arm during an ammunition dump explosion in Ethiopia during the Ethiopian Civil War. He died in November 1996 when his flight Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked and crashed into the ocean near Grande Comore. He has authored numerous books, including “Journey through Pakistan”, and “Pilgrimage to Mecca”; and covered various themes like East African Wildlife and the Uganda Railway.

68 solar years ago, on this day in 1949 AD, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. In this manner, nuclear weapons were no longer the monopoly of the US and a “balance of terror” was established between the two superpowers. The resulting climate known as the Cold War continued between the East and the West blocs until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The nuclear weapons threat, however, continues to loom large in view of the refusal of the big powers, especially the US, to dismantle their doomsday arsenals. The other nuclear powers are Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, and the illegal Zionist entity called Israel.

65 solar years ago, on this day in 1952 AD, the Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Taqi Khwansari, passed away. Born in the central Iranian city of Khwansar, he mastered theology, jurisprudence, and philosophy at the seminary in holy Najaf in Iraq. Alongside the Iraqi people, Grand Ayatollah Khwansari participated in their war against the British forces. He was held captive by the British and was sent to exile in Singapore. After four years in exile, he returned to Iran and became a lecturer at the Qom seminary. He continued to struggle against the British colonialists in Iran, and supported the Iranian nation’s struggles for nationalization of the oil industry.

41 solar years ago, on this day in 1976, Bengali poet, writer, musician, and revolutionary, Qazi Nazr-ul-Islam, passed away at the age of 77. He was the national poet of Bangladesh. His poetry and music espoused Indo-Islamic renaissance and intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. As a result he was imprisoned several times. He was familiar with Persian language, and deeply influenced by Hafez Shirazi. His poems on Islam and social justice have been translated into Farsi.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, Palestinian cartoonist, Naji Salim al-Ali, noted for the political criticism of the Arab regimes and the illegal Zionist entity, in his works, died in hospital, after being shot in the face and wounded five weeks earlier, outside the London office of the Kuwait daily, al-Qabas, for which he drew political caricatures. He drew over 40,000 cartoons, which often reflected Palestinian and Arab public opinion and were sharply critical commentaries on Palestinian and Arab politics and political leaders. He is perhaps best known as creator of the character Handhala, pictured in his cartoons as a young witness of the satirized policy or event depicted, and who has since become an icon of Palestinian defiance.

27 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, the Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Shahab od-Din Mar'ashi Najafi, passed away at the age of 96 and was laid to rest at the doorstep of his famous library in the holy city of Qom. He mastered theology, jurisprudence, hadith, exegesis of the Holy Qur'an, philosophy, and principles of ethics at the seminaries of Kazemain and holy Najaf in Iraq. After attaining the status of Ijtehad he returned to Iran and started to lecture and research at the Qom Seminary. He was a supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, late Imam Khomeini (RA), in the struggles against the Shah’s despotic regime. He has left behind a large number of books on theology, jurisprudence, hadith, history and genealogy. Grand Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi also founded the public library in the holy city of Qom, which houses more than 300,000 books – many of them rare manuscripts collected by him.

13 solar years ago, on this day in 2003 AD, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim was martyred at the age of 64 years, along with at least 125 other Muslims, while stepping out of the holy shrine of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) in Najaf after leading the Friday Prayer in its courtyard, due to a bomb blast carried out by US-backed Salafi and Ba’thist terrorists. Son of the Late Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohsin al-Hakim, he was active against the repressive Ba’th minority regime, suffering bouts of imprisonment, before seeking asylum in 1980 in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he headed the Supreme Assembly for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SAIRI) in exile. On 12 May 2003, he had returned to Iraq after 23 years in exile, and was greeted by thousands of admirers from Basra till his hometown Najaf, where became active in the struggle against the American occupation of the country.

AS/ME