Today is Wednesday; 15th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 15th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Hijjah 1438 lunar hijri; and September 6, 2017 of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

Over 3,300 lunar years ago, on this day, Prophet Moses (AS) triumphed over the magicians assembled by the Pharaoh of Egypt at a public gathering on a day of feast to try to humiliate him through sorcery and trickery in front of the masses. Before start of the contest, Moses, addressing the magicians and the Pharaoh, renewed the invitation to monotheism, and warned them of the consequences of polytheism. He told them that their acts of sorcery, in comparison to his miracles, are nothing but attempts to forge lies against God. Prophet Moses first invited them to the worship of the One and Only God and called on them to give up the sordid practice of idol-worship. Next, when the magicians asked him as to who would start the contest, he politely told them to begin first. The magicians resorted to their tricks by casting down their special sticks and ropes in such a mesmerizing way as to deceive the people and make them think that lifeless objects have suddenly become animated creatures moving on the ground. On God's command, Moses cast down his rod and it took the form of a huge python which swallowed the tools of magic. When the magicians saw this manifest miracle, they realized that this was not some trick to deceive the eyes but a reality and a divine miracle that turned a lifeless stick into an actual animal. They thus fell down before Moses recognizing him as a Prophet of God, and openly declared their faith in the One and Only God, despite the threats of the Pharaoh to cut off their hands and feet, and nail them on trees. The holy Qur'an has mentioned these facts, and other accounts of Prophet Moses, who is considered as one of the five great Prophets – the others being: Noah (AS), Abraham (AS), Jesus (AS), and the Last and Greatest of them all, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

2065 solar years ago, on this day in 48 BC the Battle of Pharsalus broke out between two key members of The First Triumvirate ruling the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar and Pompey Magnus. Caesar emerged victorious and his former friend Pompey was killed. Born in October 101 BC, Caesar refused to be crowned as emperor, but nevertheless continued to wield dictatorial powers until he was assassinated at the Senate in Rome by several senators in a political conspiracy, including his friend Brutus.

1224 lunar years ago, on this day in 214 AH, Imam Ali an-Naqi al-Hadi (AS), the 10^th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) was born in the holy city of Medina. His period of Imamate, or divinely-decreed leadership of mankind, was 34 years, until he was martyred in the Iraqi city of Samarra through poisoning by the usurper Abbasid caliph, Mo’taz. The Imam, who was forced to come to Samarra by the previous caliph, the tyrant Motawakkil, trained many prominent scholars, including his distant cousin, Hazrat Abdul-Azeem al-Hassani, whose shrine in Rayy, a southern suburb of Tehran, is visited by pilgrims throughout the year. Despite the suffocating atmosphere of Abbasid rule, the 10th Imam strengthened the system of “wikala” (representation) throughout the Islamic realm, to serve the ummah during the imamate of his son, and especially the long occultation of his grandson, the eagerly awaited, Imam Mahdi (AS), who will reappear in the end times to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice, by weeding out oppression and corruption from the earth.

1196 lunar years ago, on this day in 242 AH, the Mu’tazalite ideologue, Yahya Ibn Aktham, died in Rabadha. He was a close confidante of Mamoun, the self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, and was hopelessly outwitted in the famous debate he held in the front of the whole court with the young Imam Mohammad Taqi (AS), the 9th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) on jurisprudential issues. Some two decades later, Yahya wrote a series of complicated questions to try to test the God-given knowledge of Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS), and was astounded by the answers provided by the Prophet’s 10th Infallible Successor to which he had no clue. Yahya was appointed as Chief Judge of Basra, but Mamoun was forced to dismiss him because of his open indulgence in the cardinal sin of sodomy, after a series of complaints from the people. The poet Ahmad Ibn Abu Na’eem wrote the following quatrain that shows the judge, the governor and the regime in their true anti-Islamic colours (Tarikh al-Baghdad):

 "Our Governor takes bribe;

“Our Judge is homosexual;

“And as long as the Abbasids rule;

“I have no confidence that tyranny will subside."

706 solar years ago, on this day in 1311 AD, Spanish physician Arnaldus de Villa Nova of Villanova, who through acquaintance with the Muslims of Spain, learned Arabic and transferred vital medical information on the heart, drugs, and health regimens to Europe, died in a shipwreck off the coast of Genoa, at the age of 76. He travelled widely and translated into Latin the works of Abu as-Salt and of the famous Iranian physician, Abu Ali ibn Sina, known to medieval Europe as Avicenna. As a result the Christian Church became his enemy and Pope Benedict XI ordered his imprisonment in Paris in 1309, while the Sorbonne University ordered the burning of his books. The inquisitor of Tarragona condemned him, and fifteen of his propositions were censured.

595 solar years ago, on this day in 1422 AD, Sultan Murad II ended the first full-scale Ottoman siege of Constantinople, in retaliation to Byzantine Emperor Manuel II's attempts to interfere in the succession of Ottoman Sultans, after the death of Mohammad I a year before. When Murad II emerged as the winning successor to his father, he marched upon the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which in fact had been reduced to a few disconnected strips of land besides the city of Constantinople itself. It was also facing grave economic problems and severely lacked soldiers. Although Murad II lifted the siege, the respite did not last long for the Byzantines, who were obliterated from history 32 years later by the next Ottoman Sultan, Mohammad II in 1453.

451 solar years ago, on this day in 1566 AD, Suleiman I, the 10^th Ottoman sultan and the 2^nd self-styled Turkish caliph, died at the age of 72 at Szigetvar, Hungary, as his troops besieged a fortress during their expansion in south central Europe. His corpse was brought to the capital Istanbul for burial. Son of Selim I and a daughter of Mengli Giray Khan of the Crimean Khanate, during his 46-year long rule, the Mediterranean Sea became a Turkish lake, as his admirals, especially Khayr od-Din Pasha (Barbarossa to the Europeans), took most of the North African coasts and successfully raided the southern European coasts of Italy, France, and Spain, and the Adriatic islands, defeating the navies of the Christian powers and the pope. In the east, Suleiman’s all three invasions of Iran’s Safavid Empire ended in failure, because of the wise policies of Shah Tahmasp I, who let the Ottomans take Baghdad by evacuating his forces, but strongly blunted their attacks in western Iran and the Caucasus, resulting in signing of the 30-year Peace of Amasya. Suleiman’s empire began a gradual decline under his slothful son, Selim II. An accomplished poet in Turkish and Persian, Suleiman was known as “Qanouni” (Lawgiver), and carried out administrative reforms that included the switch to Turkish as the state language from Persian in which all officials records had hitherto been kept for centuries. Suleiman built several monuments such as libraries, baths, and mosques, such as Suleimaniyeh Mosque, perhaps the finest mosque built by the Ottomans.

348 solar years ago, on this day in 1669 AD, the longest siege in history ended with the victory of the Ottomans who took the Venetian-ruled city of Candia (modern Heraklion in Crete) after 21 years, having begun the siege in 1648.

209 solar years ago, on this day 1808 AD, Algerian freedom fighter, Abdul-Qader ibn Mohi od-Din al-Hassani al-Jaza'iri, was born near Mascara in Oran. He claimed descent from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). In 1825, he set out for the Hajj pilgrimage. In Mecca, he met with and was impressed by Imam Shamil of Daghestan, the leader of the struggle against Russian expansion in the Caucasus which had recently been seized by the Czar from the Qajarid rulers of Iran. He also visited Syria and Iraq. After five years, he returned to his homeland in 1930 a few months before the Ottoman Turks lost it to the French invaders. He led the military struggle against France, organizing guerrilla warfare over the next decade. His failure to get support from the eastern tribes and the Berbers of the west led to the quelling of his uprising. On December 21, 1847, after being denied refuge in Morocco because of French pressure, he surrendered and was exiled to France, where he remained under detention until 1852. He was released on taking an oath never again to question French rule in Algeria. In 1855 he settled in Damascus, where he died in Damascus on 26 May 1883. Abdul-Qader had unfortunately become a member of the notorious Jewish secret organization, the Freemasons.

60 solar years ago, on this day in 1957 AD, Iranian painter, sculptor, and journalist, Ali Divandari, was born in Sabzevar in Khorasan Province. He is an excellent cartoonist, painter, graphic designer, sculptor and journalist. He studied Graphics at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Tehran University. He began his career as Graphic Designer and Cartoonist in 1975. In 1997, he directed a new International Cartoon Festival in Iran with a main theme of "Man and Nature - Only One, Share & Care". He has also presided as a jury member of several cartoon exhibitions in Iran and Turkey. His works have been published in many international newspapers and magazines and have been exhibited in over than 34 countries

60 lunar years ago, on this day in 1378 AH, Ayatollah Sheikh Ali Borhan passed away at the age of 54. A product of the Islamic seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, he studied under Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassim Khoie. On his return to Iran, he involved himself in socio-religious activities, managing seminaries and building mosques. He wrote several books including an exegesis on Surah Yusuf of the holy Qur’an and a supplication manual titled “Hadith al-Ayyam”.

52 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, the second war between India and Pakistan broke out over the disputed region of Kashmir. It ended three weeks later through ceasefire mediated by the Soviet Union. The leaders of India and Pakistan negotiated as of January 10, 1966, in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, where shortly after signing of a peace accord with Pakistani president, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, India’s Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri died of a heart attack. Kashmir remains a matter of dispute between the two sides.

43 solar years ago, on this day in 1974 AD, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hussaini Shahroudi, passed away in holy Najaf, Iraq, at the age of 91. Born near Bastaam in northeastern Iran, after studying at the seminary of holy Mashhad, he went to Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf. On attaining the status of Ijtehad, he became “Marja” or Source of Emulation for world Muslims. He wrote several books, and among his services was the revival of the traditional walk from different cities to the holy city of Karbala for pilgrimage to the shrine of Imam Husain (AS)

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, with the progress of struggles of the Iranian people against Shah's despotic regime, huge demonstrations were held nationwide. The regime scared of the people's anger banned public protests. The Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) issued a fatwa from his exile in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq, calling on the Iranian people to continue their struggles until the downfall of the oppressive regime, and terming the holding of demonstrations for attainment of Islamic goals as “a form of worship." 

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, a massive bomb explosion was triggered by MKO terrorists at peak hours in the busy Nasser Khosrow Street of central Tehran, resulting in the martyrdom of scores of innocent men, women, and children, and injury to hundreds of others. The explosion left a huge crater in the street and was heard almost all over Tehran. It was designed to demoralize the people, following a string of defeats suffered by the invading Ba’thist army at the battlefronts of the war imposed by the US through its agent, Saddam, who was openly allied with the MKO terrorists. Of the 17,000 Iranian citizens martyred by the terrorists, the MKO have claimed responsibility for killing 12,000 of them.  

15 solar years ago, on this day in 2002, the Islamic Republic of Iran successfully test fired the solid fuel surface-to-surface “Fateh 110 A” ballistic missile which has a range of around 500 km, as part of the country’s self-sufficiency drive in the field of defence, in order to deter any would-be-aggressor. 

14 solar years ago, on this day in 2003 AD, Iranian mountaineer, Mohammad Oraz, died in Islamabad, Pakistan, at the age of 34 during an attempt to climb Mount Gasherbrum in the Himalayas. Born in Naqadeh in West Azarbaijan Province, he was the second Iranian to conquer Mount Everest. An ethnic Kurd and graduate of Orumiyeh University, Oraz and his compatriot Moqbel Honarpajhouh were caught up in an avalanche. They were rescued and transferred to Shafa Hospital in Islamabad, where his colleague survived but he died 20 days later. The successful international ascents of Oraz include: Mount Rakapushi, Pakistan in 1998; Mount Everest, Nepal in1998; Mount Cho Oyu, Nepal in 2000; Mount Shishapangma, Nepal in 2000, Mount Makalu, Nepal in 2001; Mount Ararat, Turkey in 2001; Mount Lhotse, Nepal in 2002; and up to 7900-meter of Gasherbrum I, Pakistan in 2003.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran offered to send the US 20 million barrels of crude oil to help it overcome the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, as part of its Islamic and humanitarian policy of assisting the afflicted people of even a hostile state that imposed illegal sanctions upon it.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, noted Pakistani journalist, writer and a senior Urdu language poet, Hassan Abedi, passed away in Karachi at the age of 76. Born in Jaunpur, India, and educated in Azamgarh and Allahabad, he moved to Pakistan after its creation in 1947, and settled in Karachi. He was also an active member of the Irtiqa or progressive forum. His compilations of poetry are “Navisht-e Nai” (1995), “Jareeda” (1998) and “Farar Hona Huroof Ka” (2004). As a poet he mainly wrote ghazals (lyrics), as well as other poems, which are a narrative of the socio-political aspects of the society.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran unveiled its first domestically manufactured fighter plane during large-scale military exercises. The bomber “Sa’eqah” or Thunderbolt is similar to the American F-18 fighter plane, but more powerful.

AS/ME