Today is Saturday; 6th of the Iranian month of Aban 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Safar 1439 lunar hijri; and October 28, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1404 lunar years ago, on this day in 35 AH, the loyal Iranian disciple of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), Salman Farsi, or the Persian, passed away in Mada’en in Iraq, where his mausoleum still stands today, with the Prophet’s famous hadith inscribed in bold letters on its walls, reading “Salman minna Ahl al-Bayt” (Salman is from us the People of the Blessed Household), an honour that was not bestowed on any Arab companion of the Prophet. Salman, whose name was Rouzbeh, fed up with the weird rites of the Zoroastrians, left his hometown Shiraz in search of the true religion after becoming acquainted with Nestorian Christians. He travelled widely and learned the tenets of monotheism from several hermits in Syria, who had retreated into isolated desert monasteries in order to preserve the monotheist teachings of Prophet Jesus (PBUH), after Paul the Hellenized Jew had distorted the Gospels to coin the absurd belief of trinity. When death approached the last such hermit, he advised Salman to travel to Arabia and await the advent of the Last and Greatest of Prophets. On arrival in Arabia, he was kidnapped by Jews and sold into slavery. For long years he toiled in cultivating date-palms, until one day he encountered enlightened visages speaking of monotheism and divine justice. A spark lit Salman’s heart, and in order to test the visitors, he offered them some dates as "sadaqa" (charity), since he had read in the scriptures that alms and charity are forbidden for the Last Prophet and his progeny. The Prophet gave the charity dates to his companions to eat, while he himself, along with his cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali (AS), politely declined the offer. Salman beamed with joy at finding the ultimate goal of his quest, and this time took some dates and offered the Prophet and the Imam as gifts, which they accepted. Salman immediately recited the two-fold testimony of faith: "ash-hado an la ilaha il-Allah; wa ash-hado anna Muhammadan Rasoul-Allah” (I testify there is no god but Allah; and I testify Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), thus becoming a Muslim. The Prophet paid a big amount of money and met other conditions of the miserly Jew to procure the release of Salman, who thereafter loyally served the cause of Islam. It was on the advice of this faithful Iranian Sahabi that the Muslims dug the “khandaq” (trench) around the most vulnerable part of Medina, when a 10,000 plus force of pagan Arabs and Israelites tried to attack the Prophet and obliterate Islam. After the Prophet’s passing away, Salman was among the few Muslims who were loyal and steadfast to Islam and the divinely-decreed right of Imam Ali (AS). In his last days he served as governor of Mada’en (Ctesiphon, the former Sassanid capital).

1048 solar years ago, on this day in 969 AD, Byzantine general Michael Bourtzes seized part of the fortifications of the Muslim Syrian city of Antakiyya (Antioch) and three days later completed the conquest of the entire city by driving away the Abbasid forces. It had been liberated by Muslims three centuries and 31 years earlier in 637 from the yoke of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1084 Antakiyya and its surroundings were retaken by Muslims under Sulaiman ibn Qutulmish Seljuqi who had rebelled against his overlord Malik Shah I of the Isfahan-based Great Seljuq Empire. In 1094, two years after the death of Malik Shah, Antakiyya was lost by Qilij-Arsalan Seljuqi ibn Sulaiman to the Crusader invaders from Europe, who held it under fluctuating fortunes for the next 174 years until May 1268 when it was liberated Sultan Zahir od-Din Baibars of the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt-Syria. Ever since, Antakiyya, which in 1937 was illegally transferred to Turkey by the French occupiers of Syria, has been part of the Muslim World.

525 solar years ago, on this day in 1492 AD, Christopher Columbus landed on the eastern coast of Cuba with the help of Muslim navigators from Spain who were familiar with the sea routes of the Atlantic Ocean to what later became known as the American continent. The Spanish slaughtered and enslaved the local people of Cuba and plundered its natural resources. The Cubans deeply resented colonial rule, which centuries later was replaced by US imperialism, following Spain's defeat in the 1898-1902 war. Cuba became truly independent in 1959 under Fidel Castro, who started a revolution in 1956 to end the US exploitation of his country.

501 solar years ago, on this day in 1516 AD, the Battle of Khan Yunis occurred in Gaza, resulting in the defeat of the Turkic Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty of Egypt-Syria by Sinan Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I. The wars between the two Turkic powers had started in 1485 in southern Anatolia, when Bayazid II instead of concentrating on European campaigns turned eastwards to annex the lands of fellow Muslims, much to the relief of Spanish Christians besieging the Emirate of Granada, the last stronghold of Muslims in Iberia or Andalus, which fell in 1492 and whose ruler had appealed to the Mamluks for help. Thus in August 1516, Selim, two years after his narrow victory at Chaldiran in Azerbaijan over the Shah of Persia, Ismail I, invaded Syria, since he greatly feared that the Iranians might reorganize and counterattack in view of the widespread influence of the Safavids in Syria and Anatolia (modern day Turkey), and their recent sending of an embassy to the Republic of Venice, through Mamluk ports in the Levant. The invading Ottoman forces soon swept into Egypt where in January 1517 at the decisive Battle of Ridhania near Cairo, they defeated and killed the Mamluk Sultan, Tuman Bay.  As a consequence, the Ottoman state, from a realm at the margin of Islamic lands mainly located in Asia Minor and south-eastern Europe, was transformed into a huge empire encompassing the historical cities of Cairo, Damascus, Bayt al-Moqaddas and Aleppo, as well as the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, since the Sharif of Hejaz, pledged allegiance to Sultan Selim. Although this marked the end of the 267-year Mamluk sovereignty over Egypt, the Ottomans contented themselves with the appointment of a viceroy, leaving the internal Mamluk apparatus intact.

486 solar years ago, on this day in 1531 AD, in the Battle of Amba Sel, Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi of the Adal Sultanate of the Horn of Africa again defeated the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia. The southern part of Ethiopia fell under Muslim control.

390 solar years ago, on this day in 1627 AD, the 4th Moghul Emperor of the Northern Subcontinent and Eastern Afghanistan, Noor od-Din "Jahangir" (World Grasper), 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. Born in Fatehpur Sikri near Agra, to Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar and one of his Rajput wives, he ascended the throne in 1605. 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).

313 solar years ago, on this day in 1704 AD, English philosopher-physician, John Locke, died at the age of 72. He spent over 20 years developing the ideas he published in 1690 in his most significant work “Essay Concerning Human Understanding”, which analysed the nature of human reason, and promoted experimentation as the basis of knowledge. He established primary qualities (solidity, extension, number) as distinct from secondary qualities identified by the sense organs (colour, sound). Thus the world is otherwise silent and without colour. Locke recognised that science is made possible when the primary world mechanically affects the sense organs, thereby creating ideas that faithfully represent reality.

271 solar years ago, on this day in 1746 AD, the Peruvian cities of Lima and Callao were demolished by a severe earthquake that claimed 18,000 victims, in addition to leaving thousands of people homeless.

183 solar years ago, on this day in 1834 AD, the Battle of Pinjarra was fought in the Swan River Colony in present-day Pinjarra, Western Australia, resulting in the cold-blooded massacre of 40 Aborigines by British soldiers.

99 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, following the end of World War 1, Czechoslovakia was founded as one of the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as per the Treaty of Versailles. It consisted of the present day territories of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia. Its territory included some of the most industrialized regions of the former Austria-Hungary. After World War 2, it became a socialist satellite state of the Soviet Union. In 1990, the word "socialist" was removed and replaced by "federal". In 1992, because of growing nationalist tensions, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved by parliament. On 1 January 1993 it formally separated into two completely independent countries: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,860 sq km and shares borders with Slovakia, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Austria. Slovakia is made up of 49,000 sq km and shares borders with the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, and Poland.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, during the first war of the usurper state of Israel against Arabs, Zionist troops mass murdered the residents of ad-Dawayima Village in occupied Palestine. The attack on the village's mosque alone, martyred 75 Muslims in the state of prayer. The Zionists also slaughtered 35 Palestinian families, who had sought shelter in a cave, outside this village. They then razed to the ground the entire village. In 1984, when UN officials asked Israel's representative at the General Assembly about the incidents, he even denied the existence of such a village in a bid to conceal the crimes of the Zionist entity.

55 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, on the orders of Soviet Leader, Nikita Khrushchev, who agreed to call back ships carrying atomic weapons, the Cuban missile crisis ended. Cuba lies around 90 kilometers from the US soil and constantly exposed to US pressures.

44 solar years ago, on this day in 1873 AD, the prominent literary figure and rather controversial author of Egypt, Dr. Taha Hussein, died at the age of 84. He went blind in childhood, but given his high intelligence, studied hard and obtained PhDs at Egyptian universities and later in France at the universities of Montpellier and Sorbonne. Thereafter, he became engaged in cultural activities and rendered valuable services in the fields of literature and culture, including the foundation of the University of Alexandria. He was appointed to senior cultural posts and briefly served as Egypt’s minister of education. He authored several books such as “History of Arabic Literature” “Ibn Khaldoun’s Philosophy” and “al-Fitnat-al-Kubra” – The Great Sedition that deals with the sorry state of affairs of the caliphate after the passing away of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He also wrote “Hafez and Shawqi”, which is a comparison between two great poets of the Persian and Arabic language – Iran’s Khwaja Hafez Shirazi and Egypt’s Poet Laureate, Ahmad Shawqi.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), rejected outright the proposal of the then Saudi Heir Apparent, Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz, to try to legitimize the illegal existence of the Zionist entity under guise of a so-called peace plan. The Imam said: “It is incumbent upon us and on every Muslim to reject plans like those of Fahd and Saadaat (Egypt’s notorious president who signed the scandalous Camp David Accord). It is obligatory for us to condemn such plans that are against the interests of the oppressed people. These days the most dangerous ploys are the Camp David Accord and the Fahd Plan which condone Israel and its crimes. These plans are causes of discord and provide outlets for Israel.”

Imam Khomeini’s timely and decisive stand that was hailed by Muslims worldwide made many Muslim countries reject the Fahd Plan. The Imam’s foresight was proved true years later when the Zionist entity continued to violate the agreements it had reached with the compromising faction of the Palestinians who despite giving more and more concessions to Israel remain isolated and deprived of their basic birthrights.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1413 AH, the Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abul-Qasem Musavi Khoyi, passed away at the age of 96 in Kufa, a year and some five months after the brutally crushed popular uprising of the Iraqi people against the repressive Ba’th minority regime, during which he was forcibly taken to Baghdad and made to appear on TV with the bloodthirsty dictator, Saddam. It is believed the regime martyred him through poisoning. Born in the northwestern Iranian city of Khoy, after preliminary studies in Tabriz, he left for holy Najaf in Iraq at the age of 13 years to continue his studies. Here, his piety and knowledge attracted the attention of the Indian-based Iranian religious scholar, Mirza Ahmad Najafi-Tabrizi, who gave his daughter in marriage to him and lodged him in his own house. Mirza Ahmad used to frequent the semi-independent state of Banganapalle in south India, ruled by a Seyyed family of Iranian origin, who were patrons of scholars and learning. Soon Ayatollah Khoyi mastered various sciences such as logic, rhetoric, theology, jurisprudence and philosophy, and in the process attained the status of Ijtehad. In 1971, he succeeded Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohsin al-Hakim as the leading Marja’ of the Islamic world and thereafter groomed a large number of scholars from Iran, Iraq, the Subcontinent, Bahrain and Lebanon. Among his valuable books, mention can be made of “Lectures in the Principles of Jurisprudence”, in 10 volumes, “Islamic Law” in 18 volumes, and "Mu'jam Rijal al-Hadith" in 24 volumes. The last named is an authoritative work on evaluation of narrators of hadith. He was also politically conscious of the issues of the World of Islam, and in regard to the Palestinian cause, he issued a fatwa, emphasizing the need to defend Palestine and to liberate Holy Qods. During the 8-year war imposed on Iran in the 1980s by the US through Saddam, he refused to yield to the Ba’thist regime’s pressures to denounce the Islamic Republic, even though his house was frequently subjected to water and electricity cuts on Saddam’s orders.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, Iran launched its Sina-1 satellite from the Plesetsk launch pad in northern Russia, a major step in the country's space programme. Sina-1 gave Iran space reconnaissance capability over the entire Middle East. Soon Iran built its own satellite launching pads and has since taken giant steps in space technology.

One solar year ago, on this day in 2016 AD, Source of Emulation, Ayatollah Seyyed Taqi Tabatabai Qomi, passed away at the age of 94 in holy Karbala, while on pilgrimage to the blessed shrines in Iraq. Born in Mashhad to Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Tabatabai Qomi, he completed his religious studies in holy Najaf where his father lived in exile because of the repressive policies of the Pahlavi regime. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Saddam expelled him from Iraq, and he returned to Iran to teach at the Qom seminary.

AS/ME