Today is Wednesday; 8th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Zil-Hijjah 1438 lunar hijri; and August 30, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1378 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3rd Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), left Mecca via the plain of Arafaat for Iraq, since he was loathe to see this inviolable land desecrated by bloodshed, as the tyrant Yazid had sent assassins disguised in pilgrim garb to attack him. Four months earlier, the Imam had left his hometown, Medina, to take up residence in Mecca along with family members after refusing to acknowledge the illegitimate rule of Yazid as caliph. Here in Mecca, the Imam informed people of the corrupt and oppressive nature of the Godless Omayyads. The reason he left for Iraq was the repeated invitation of the people of Kufa to come and resolve their affairs. A month later, Imam Husain (AS), along with almost all male members of his family and loyal companions was cruelly martyred in Karbala on the 10th of Moharram by the ungodly Omayyad forces. During his stay in Mecca, the Imam had apprised the people of the critical situation of the Muslim world, while his departure without completing the Hajj, made the Muslims further aware of the anti-Islamic policies of Yazid.

1121 lunar years ago, on this day in 317 AH, Abu Taher al-Jannabi, the chief of the Ismaili sub-sect called “Qarameta”, in an attack on the holy city of Mecca during the Hajj, massacred pilgrims, desecrated the Well of Zamzam by throwing corpses into it, sacrilegiously ripped apart the Hajar al-Aswad (Sacred Black Stone) from the holy Ka'ba, and took it to his base in the eastern parts of Arabia. The Islamic world was shocked. Some 22 years later, the Hajar al-Aswad was returned to the holy Ka'ba by paying a heavy ransom through the mediation of the Ismaili Fatemid caliph of North Africa.

654 solar years ago, on this day in 1363 AD, start of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders, Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang, were pitted against each other in what is one of the largest naval battles in history, during the last decade of the ailing, Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. Following this victory, Zhu emerged as the strongest of warlords fighting for supremacy in China, and in 1367 he defeated Zhang Shicheng's Kingdom of Dazhou, which granted him authority over the lands north and south of the Yangtze River. The other major warlords surrendered to him and on 20 January 1368, Zhu proclaimed himself the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing and adopted the title "Hongwu". His dynasty's mission was to drive away the Mongols and restore Han Chinese rule in China. The Hongwu Emperor ruled for 30 years, and although born a Buddhist, he embraced the Confucian doctrine and showed inclination towards Islam. He ordered the construction of several mosques in Nanjing, Yunnan, Guangdong, Xijing and Fujian, and had inscriptions placed in them in praises of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He rebuilt the Jinjue Mosque in his capital Nanjing, and large numbers of the Muslim Hui people moved to the city during his rule. He had some ten Muslim generals in his military, including Chang Yuchun, Lan Yu, Ding Dexing, Mu Ying, Feng Sheng and Hu Dahai. He personally wrote the 100-word praise known as ‘baizizan’ on Islam, Allah and the Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

448 solar years ago, on this day in 1569 AD, the 4th Moghul Emperor of the Northern Subcontinent and Eastern Afghanistan, Noor od-Din "Jahangir" (World Grasper), was born in Fatehpur Sikri near Agra, to Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar and one of his Rajput wives. He ascended the throne in 1605 and died in Lahore in what is now Pakistan, after a reign of 22 years, during which he ruled mostly with the assistance of his Iranian wife, Noor Jahan, the daughter of the minister, Mirza Ghiyas Beg Tehrani E'temad od-Dowla. Named Mohammad Salim at his birth, he maintained excellent relations with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. He was also a poet and writer in both Persian and his native Chaghtai Turkic. The bleak record of his rule, however, was the execution of the prominent Iranian Islamic scholar in Agra, Qazi Seyyed Noorollah Shushtari, the author of such famous books as “Majalis al-Momineen” and “Ehqaaq al-Haq”. The king was under the influence of alcohol when he signed the decree drafted by jealous court mullahs. Later he rued his decision and with the help of his wife, he executed the perpetrators of the murder of Qazi Shushtari, who is famous in India as Shaheed-e Thalis (Third Martyr).

220 solar years ago, on this day in 1797 AD, Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley, the writer of "Frankenstein," or the Modern Prometheus, was born in London. She took the surname ‘Shelly’ after marrying her paramour, the poet Percy Shelly. In 1818, she anonymously published the novel as an attack on industrialization. This famous tale of a flawed artificial life experiment that produced a monster grew out of a visit at Lord Byron's villa with her husband. There, she shared in a discussion of galvanism, the possibility of reanimating dead matter, and even bringing life to a corpse. Byron suggested writing on the fantasy. Mary completed a full novel. Byron wrote briefly about the vampire legend he had learned about while in the Balkans, expanded by John Polidoni in “The Vampyre” (1819). Two classic horror subjects were thus born together.

204 solar years ago, on this day in 1813 AD, over 500 US troops lost their life in Fort Mims, north of Mobile in what is now Alabama State when Creek Amerindians had no other choice but to defend their land, properties and honour during one of those genocidal battles imposed on the natives by the White rulers.

110 solar years ago, on this day in 1907, following triumph of the constitutional movement in Iran, the country became target of a fresh colonial plot when Britain and Russia, without informing the weak Qajarid Dynasty, chalked up their spheres of influence, with the Russians taking control of the north and some western parts, and the British taking control of the south, while Tehran and the remaining parts were left under the rule of the central government. The Majlis strongly protested this move, but was helpless. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 made the Russians withdraw from Iran leaving the entire country to British influence.     

95 solar years ago, on this day in 1922 AD, the final battle of the 4-year Greek War against Turkey was fought at Dumlupinar, resulting in a victory for the Turks and end of ambitions of British-backed Greece to occupy Asia Minor and seize Istanbul – on the flimsy claims of ancient Greek rule over the areas.

75 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD, the great gnostic scholar, Ayatollah Shaikh Hassan Ali Nokhoudaki Isfahani, passed away in holy Mashhad and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imam Reza (AS). A pious person since his youth, after completion of preliminary studies in Isfahan under such scholars as Mullah Mohammad Kashi and Jahangir Khan Qashqai, he left for Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary in holy Najaf. Among his teachers were Seyyed Mohammad Fesharaki, Seyyed Morteza Kashmiri, and Mullah Ismail Qaradaghi. On return to Iran, he settled in Mashhad, where in addition to research and teaching, he was engaged in charitable activities for the poor. Ayatollah Nokhoudaki’s asceticism resulted in his acquiring of certain extraordinary spiritual powers which he used for the benefit of the downtrodden people, without letting anybody know it. These anecdotes have been mentioned in the book “Nishan az Binishanha” (Traces of the Untraceable).  

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, Iranian President Mohammad Ali Rajai, and Prime Minister Hojjat al-Islam Mohammad Javad Bahonar, were martyred in a bomb blast carried out by the MKO terrorist outfit at the premier’s office in Tehran. Rajai, a teacher by profession, was imprisoned and tortured on several occasions by the Shah’s regime for his Islamic political activities. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he was elected to the parliament, was named minister of education, became prime minister, and finally chosen as president in the nationwide elections. He named courageous and committed religious scholar Dr. Mohammad Javad Bahonar, as the premier. In view of the impeccable credentials of these two faithful and modest persons, who were committed to the lofty ideals of the Islamic Revolution, the MKO terrorist outfit martyred them this day on the orders of Global Arrogance.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Republic of Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union. This land has been integral part of Iran since pre-history, and was occupied by the Russians in the early 19th century. Following the Russian revolution, Azerbaijan became independent as a republic as of the year 1918. But, this independence was short-lived and only lasted for two years. In late 1980s, on the verge of Soviet Union’s collapse, the independence-seeking activities increased in Azerbaijan Republic. The Republic of Azerbaijan officially declared its independence on August 30, 1991, while it was at loggerheads with its neighbor, Armenia, about the Qarabagh region, which continues to this day. The Republic of Azerbaijan is situated in West Asia and lies on the coastlines of the Caspian Sea. It covers an area of almost 86600 sq km and shares borders with Iran, Armenia, Georgia, and Russia.

18 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, the people of East Timor, in Southeast Asia, in a referendum, voted for independence from Indonesia. The East Timor Island, in addition to other Indonesian Islands was occupied by Portugal, in the year 1511 AD. However, after the domination of Indonesia by Holland in mid-19th Century, only East Timor remained under the rule of Portugal. Indonesia gained its independence in the year 1945. But, Portugal continued to occupy East Timor till 1976. On this year, the Indonesian troops replaced Portuguese forces and East Timor came under the rule of Indonesia. Following the fall of General Suharto in the year 1998, and emergence of a political crisis in Indonesia, the independence-seeking movement in East Timor developed and this territory became independent with the support of the UN and Western governments.

3 solar years ago, on this day in 2014 AD, Iraqi security forces, along with the popular forces of Shi’a Muslims and Kurdish fighters, and with timely military help provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched a major operation to break the more than two-month siege of Amerli, a Turkmen-majority town in northern Iraq, which was surrounded by the Godless Takfiri terrorists. The next day the siege was completely broken as Takfiri terrorists fled after suffering heavy losses. Thousands of men, women, and children trapped for more than two months with dwindling food and water supplies were liberated and offered prayers of gratitude to God Almighty.

8 Shahrivar of the Iranian Calendar: is commemorated every year as “Day of Campaign against Terrorism” in memory of the tragic martyrdom on July 30, 1981, of Iranian President Mohammad Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Hojjat al-Islam Mohammad Jawad Bahanor, and the support of western regimes for the MKO terrorists who carried out this dastardly bomb blast and then shamelessly claimed responsibility for it.

AS/ME