Today is Monday; 29th of the Iranian month of Aban 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 1st of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1439 lunar hijri; and November 20, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1733 solar years ago, on this day in 284 AD, Diocletian was proclaimed Roman Emperor by his soldiers in Asia Minor on the sudden and suspicious death of Numerian, the son and successor of Emperor Carus, who days earlier had died of wounds in Mesopotamia during the war against Emperor Bahram of the Sassanid Persian Empire. Of low birth and a hardcore pagan, he was cruel and crafty by nature, and during his 27-year rule, earned notoriety for his massacre of tens of thousands of monotheist followers of Prophet Jesus as well as members of the creed called Christianity. In 299, taking advantage of the chaotic situation of Rome’s traditional enemy, the Iranian Empire that was gripped in a power struggle for the throne, he penetrated Iraq and sacked the Sassanid capital, Ctesiphon, forcing the ruler Narseh (son of Shapur) – who a couple of years earlier had invaded Roman Syria – to accept peace on humiliating terms. Diocletian brutally exterminated Manichaeans from Roman territories, since this creed was supported by Persia, thereby compounding religious dissent with international politics.

1439 lunar years ago, on the eve of this day when the Arabs of Mecca plotted to assassinate Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), he was commanded by God to migrate to the city of Yathreb, which subsequently became known as “Medinat an-Nabi”, which means City of the Prophet, or simply Medina, as it is known to this day. Thus on the night of 1st Rabi al-Awwal, the Prophet asked his dear ward and cousin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), to sleep on his bed so that the assassins hovering around the abode of divine revelation would think that their intended victim was still in the house, and this would enable the Prophet to leave Mecca undetected. The young Imam Ali (AS) gladly accepted the Prophet's proposal at the risk of his life and limbs. At the break of dawn when the infidel Arabs burst into the house to carry out their murderous plot, to their surprise, up sprang from the bed, the valiant Ali (AS), while the Prophet was nowhere to be found. The frustrated Meccans afraid to face the Imam, darted out in every direction hoping to find their victim, but the Prophet had safely taken refuge in the Cave of Thaur far away from the city. A party of infidels tracked his footprints to the said cave, but by the time they arrived, there was a big cobweb on its mouth while a bird had laid eggs, presenting the spectacle of an undisturbed place. They left in despair and later when the danger had subsided the Prophet continued his trek toward Medina. As all exegetes of the holy Qur'an agree, God Almighty pleased with this selfless act of Imam Ali (AS) revealed ayah 207 of Surah Baqarah in his praise, which reads:

"And among mankind is he who sells his soul seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is Most Kind to (His) servants."

Hijra or the historic migration, thus heralds the emergence of Islam from a persecuted faith to a dynamic state religion, which eventually asserted its universal nature by enlightening most of mankind. After the Prophet’s passing away, the Hijra, as per the advice of Imam Ali (AS), was fixed as the basis of the Islamic calendar, but unfortunately, the 2nd caliph chose to retain the pagan practice of Muharram I as start of the New Year instead of Rabi al-Awwal I, the actual date.

1374 lunar years ago, on this day in 65 AH, the Tawwabin or Penitents launched their heroic uprising in Iraq to avenge the innocent blood of Imam Husain (AS), who was cruelly martyred in Karbala in 61 AH (680 AD) by the bloodthirsty hordes of the Omayyad usurper, Yazid. The Tawwabin were mostly inhabitants of Kufa and its surroundings who had invited the Prophet's grandson to Iraq to free them from tyranny, but when Yazid sent the brutal Obaidullah Ibn Ziyad as governor, these people, despite numbering several thousand, lost the courage to support the Imam, and left him alone to be martyred along with 72 steadfast companions including his 6-month infant, Ali Asghar (AS). When the children and womenfolk of the Prophet's household along with the heads of the martyrs mounted on lances, were paraded in Kufa these people were shocked, and soon on the death of Yazid they rose up to drive away Ibn Ziyad. Finally on this day in 65, after visiting the grave of the martyred Imam and beseeching God for forgiveness, the penitents, clad in white shrouds and numbering about 4,000 led by the Prophet's aged 93-year companion, Sulayman bin Surad al-Khuzaie (one of the conquerors of Transoxiana or Central Asia), formally launched their uprising, swearing either to wreak vengeance upon the killers or achieve martyrdom in the process. They created awe and fear among the better armed Omayyad forces sent from Syria, and after initially routing the enemy, most of them achieved martyrdom. The remnants joined the uprising of Mokhtar Ibn Abi Obayda Thaqafi for the same purpose and succeeded in bringing to justice most of the killers of the Prophet's grandson, including Ibn Ziyad, Omar Ibn Sa'd, Shemr Ziljowshan, Harmala bin Kahel, Khouli, etc.

1355 solar years ago, on this day in 762 AD, Khaqan Bogu Khan of the Uyghur Turks, conquered Lo-Yang, capital of the Chinese Empire. During his reign the Uyghur Khaqanate reached the height of its power. Bogu met with Manichaean priests from Iran while on campaign and was converted to this creed, adopting it as the official religion of the Uyghur Empire in 763. One effect of this conversion was the increased influence of Iranian Sogdians in the Uyghur court. The Uyghur Turks created a highly civilised empire with clear Iranian influences, especially in administrative areas. A century-and-a-half later in 934, Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam under influence of Iranian Muslim missionaries, and made Kashghar his capital. Today Uyghur Muslims are concentrated in what is now Xingjian Province of China.

1050 solar years ago, on this day in 967 AD, Abu’l-Faraj Isfahani, the famous master of Arabic prose, historian, sociologist, poet, and musicologist, passed away in Baghdad at the age of 71. Born in Isfahan and named Ali by his father Hussain Ibn Mohammad, he spent most of his life in Baghdad where he settled after visiting different lands. He is best known for his encyclopedic 25-volume work “Kitab al-Aghani” that took him fifty years to compile, and which contains valuable information on poets, poetry, philology, rhythms, instruments, Arabic literature and genealogy, from the ancient times till his own days. He travelled to Aleppo, Syria to present this book to the Hamdanid Shi’ite Muslim ruler, Saif od-Dowla. In Rey, the famous Iranian statesman and scholar, Saheb Ibn Abbad Ismail Taleqani, greatly valued this book. Although a direct descendent of the last Omayyad caliph, Marwan II, he was a strong critic of his own Godless ancestors. He was a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He wrote the valuable work “Maqatel at-Talibiyeen”, comprising short biographies of the descendants of Imam Ali (AS) martyred by the Omayyad and Abbasid caliphs till the year 313 AH.

823 solar years ago, on this day in 1194 AD, Palermo, the capital of Sicily was conquered by Emperor Henry VI of the German Hohenstaufen dynasty, who styled himself as Holy Roman Emperor. He expelled tens of thousands of Muslims and turned mosques in Sicily into churches.

392 lunar years ago, on this day in 1047 AH, Iranian merchant, statesman, poet and scholar, Mir Mohammad Amin Shahristani, who held the post of Mir Jumla (prime minister/chancellor) in the Qutb Shahi kingdom of Golkandah/Hyderabad in the Deccan (southern India), died at the age of 66 in Hindustan (northern India), while in the service of Moghal Emperor Noor od-Din Jahangir. Born in a prominent Seyyed family in Isfahan, whose members, including his nephew Seyyed Razi, held senior posts at the Safavid court, he travelled to Deccan in 1013 AH (1604-05 AD) to seek fortune. The king of Golkandah, Mohammad Qoli Qotb Shah – himself of Iranian stock from Hamedan – recognized his talents and gave him an important administrative post. He finally became “vakil” (regent). After the death of the king, he was dismissed by the new monarch and moved to the neighbouring Adel-Shahi kingdom of Iranian origin of Bijapur. Unable to find a suitable post there, he returned to Iran (1614). His nephew being Sadr at that time, he was received courteously by Shah Abbas. He expected a high post, but the Shah did not offer him an important position, being only eager to cash in on the fortune Mir Mohammad had accumulated in India. After four years, he gave up his post at the Safavid court with the intent of going to Moghal India. Made aware of Mir Mohammad Amin Shahristani’s ability, Emperor Jahangir wrote him an invitation and he left Isfahan for Lahore in 1027 AH (1617-1831). Jahangir gave him command of 2,500 foot soldiers and 200 horses. Later he received important positions at court such as “Mir-Samaan” and “Mir-Bakhshi” and was promoted to the command of 5,000 foot soldiers and 2,000 horses. He died in India (1637). An ardent Shi’a Muslim, he gave, according to the book “Ẕakhirat al-Khavanin”, a great deal of money in charity for people starving as a result of a drought in the Deccan, where he had started his career in India and rose to the prime position of Mir Jumla I. At the same time, he sent two hundred thousand rupees every year to his sons and relatives in Iran to buy houses, gardens and property. He excelled in poetry, using the pen name “Rouh al-Amin”. On the model of the famous Persian poet, Nizami Ganjavi, he composed a set of “Khamsah”, totaling nearly thirty thousand couplets. His method in poetry is one that poet Kalim Kashani, has said: “he sewed the clothes of words into the meanings”. His purpose in composing the poem of “Khosrow va Shirin” was to remove the weaknesses of Khosrow and Shirin by Nizami. He had the same idea about “Laila va Majnoon” and changed the narrative style of the story. Many of the words, phrases and expressions used by Nizami have gotten new frames in Rouh al-Amin’s poetry. Mir Mohammad Amin Mir Jumla I should not be confused with his compatriot, Mir Mohammad Sa’eed Ardestani titled Mir Jumla II, who flourished in the Deccan and later at the Moghal court and Bengal, a generation later.  

267 solar years ago, on this day in 1750 AD, the Muslim king of Mysore, Fath Ali Khan, known as Tipu Sultan, was born in Devanahili, near Bangalore in southern India. Son and successor of Hyder Ali Khan, the founder of the Muslim kingdom of Mysore, like his father, Tipu was a staunch opponent of the British, and tried to form alliances with local rulers for driving them out. He also appealed for help from the rulers of Iran, Afghanistan, the Ottoman Empire and even France, to break the British hegemony. He was in personal contact with Napoleon Bonaparte, and following the latter's conquest of Egypt, the British fearing Napoleon may sail to India, attacked Mysore in violation of the peace treaties. The result was the 4th Anglo-Mysore War in which during the Battle of Seringapatnam, Tipu Sultan was martyred while defending his capital on 4th May 1799 at the age of 49. He was an enlightened ruler and patronized Arabic and Persian literature. He experimented with the manufacture of artillery rockets, which greatly alarmed the British. Among the history books of the Muslim Dynasty of Mysore is “Nishan-e Hyderi” in Persian, written by the migrant Iranian scholar, Mir Hussain Ali Khan Kirmani.

109 solar years ago, on this day in 1908 AD, the prominent religious scholar, Seyyed Jamal od-din Isfahani, was martyred at the age of 46 on the orders of the Qajarid king, Mohammad Ali Shah. He was a popular preacher and writer, and one of the founders of the Constitutional Movement in Isfahan in 1890s. He wrote for the reformist newspapers, especially for “al-Jamal”. He wrote mostly about the economy and the financial autonomy of Persia, which he compared it to jihad. He emphasized such Islamic concepts, as Justice and Oppression in his sermons which attracted a large number of tradesmen and the common people. This made the Qajar king consider him among the most dangerous of his enemies. He was the father of the famous Iranian writer Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh.

107 solar years ago, on this day in 1910 AD, Russian Author, Leo Tolstoy, died at the age of 82. He lost both his parents while still a boy and was brought up by his elder siblings. His trips to Europe and his keen observations of the social injustices, made him loathe the West’s materialistic culture. Tolstoy attached paramount importance to educating children, and actively assisted the underprivileged and vulnerable sections of the society. He has left behind numerous books, including the two famous masterpieces, titled "War and Peace"; and "Anna Karenina".

97 solar years ago, on this day in 1920 AD, the uprising of Iraq's long-oppressed Shi’a Muslim majority was crushed, and this time by the new colonial rulers, the British, who had replaced the Ottoman Turks in Mesopotamia, following the end of World War I. The uprising had started on June 30, 1920, under the leadership of senior ulema, such as Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi and Sheikh Kashef al-Gheta, for establishment of an independent ruling system, based on Islamic rules and regulations. The British martyred Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi by poisoning his food and exiled Kashef al-Gheta, before massacring a large number of Iraqi people and installing their agent, Faisal bin Hussain of Mecca, as king in Baghdad.

82 solar years ago, on this day in 1935 AD, prominent Iranian politician and prime minister of the Qajar era, Hassan Pirnia, died at the age of 63 in Tehran. He held a total of twenty-four posts during his political career, serving four times as Prime Minister of Iran to Ahmad Shah Qajar. Born to Mirza Nasrollah Khan Moshir od-Dowlah – the first prime minister of Iran after the Constitutional Revolution – he was one of the drafters of the constitution, a historian, and co-founder of the Society for the National Heritage of Iran. Hassan Pirnia became Iran's Minister to the Russian Court before returning to Iran, where he founded the Tehran School of Political Science in 1899. On his father’s death, he inherited the title Moshir od-Dowlah, and from 1907 to 1908, served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, during which time he declared the Anglo-Russian Entente, which would divide Iran into zones of imperial influence, as null and void. He later became Minister of Justice before becoming Prime Minister for the first time in 1918. He would re-assume the office later that same year, and again in 1922 and 1923. One of Pirnia's key actions during his time as Prime Minister saw him prevent the introduction of the Anglo-Persian Agreement of 1919. Following the seizure of power by Reza Khan Pahlavi, he retired from public life and published a three-volume history of pre-Islamic Iran, entitled “Tarikh-e Iran-e Bastan”. An abridged version of the same titled “Tarikh-e Mukhtasar Iran-e Qadeem”, published in 1928, became a standard textbook for students.

82 solar years ago, on this day in 1935 AD, the Muslim revolutionary, Sheikh Mohammad Izz od-Din al-Qassaam, attained martyrdom near Haifa in Palestine at the age of 53. Born in Jableh in the Latakia Governorate of the Ottoman Province of Syria, he was a follower of the Qaderi Sufi order. After studying at Egypt’s al-Azhar Academy he returned home to become prayer leader and teacher at a mosque. After Italy's seizure of Libya from the Turks in 1911, he recruited dozens of volunteers, but Turkish officials prevented him from going to Libya. He joined the Ottoman army when World War I broke out, and served as a chaplain. After the war, he organized a local defense force to fight the French occupation of Syria, but internecine fighting forced him to take refuge in the mountains to plan guerrilla warfare. He was a key figure in the 1921 Syrian uprising against the French when Faisal, a son of the British agent, Sharif Hussain, was brought from Hejaz and installed king in Damascus. Al-Qassaam was sentenced to death after the failure of the revolt. When the French occupiers besieged the city, he fled via Beirut to Haifa in British occupied Palestine. Already in his forties, he concentrated his activities on mobilizing Islamic resistance against the colonialists. His followers were mainly the landless farmers drifting in to Haifa from Upper Galilee, where land purchases by the illegal Zionist migrants from Europe was creating a crisis. He joined the Istiqlal or Independence Party and in 1929 was appointed the marriage registrar in Mufti Amin al-Hussaini's Supreme Muslim Council Sharia Court in Haifa, a role that allowed him to tour the northern villages, whose inhabitants he encouraged to set up agricultural cooperatives. In 1930 he established ‘Black Hand’, a combatant organization for fighting the British occupiers as well as the illegal Zionist migrants. He arranged military training for peasants and by 1935 had enlisted nearly 800 men. In November 1935, fearing arrest after a British constable was killed in a skirmish with some of his followers he fled with his men to the hills between Jenin and Nablus. The British cornered al-Qassaam in a cave near Ya'bad, and in the ensuing battle he was martyred. The manner of his last stand assumed legendary proportions in Palestinian and other Arab circles as the symbol of resistance. The al-Qassaam Brigades of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance were named after him for the struggle to liberate their homeland from the Zionist usurpers

67 solar years ago, on this day in 1950 AD, the US and China almost went to direct war with each other in the Korean Peninsula, because of their support for the southern and northern parts of that divided land respectively. UN mediation averted the war, but due to American intransigence, Korea remains divided at the 38th Parallel.

57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, the plan for establishment of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was ratified in Stockholm, Sweden. The members of this Association were Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden which despite being geographically located in west Europe, did not want to join the European common market.

33 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, the famous Urdu poet of the subcontinent, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, passed away in Lahore, Pakistan, at the age of 73. He was born in Karachi in undivided India and was named Faiz Ahmad Farooq. He was also politically active both before and after the founding of Pakistan. He opposed the dictatorial rule of General Zia ul-Haq and was imprisoned and exiled for his views, which he expressed through poetry and novels. Among his important works are "Naqsh-e Faryadi", "Dast-e Saba", and "Zindan-Namah". 

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, stone relief, dating back 5,000 years, was discovered in the vicinity of the western Iranian city of Hamedan. Ruins of town along with skeletons, and primitive tools of the 2nd and 3rd millennium BC were unearthed. The region was called Hegmataneh in ancient times, which the Greek invaders corrupted to Ekbatan.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, on the 30th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Children’s Rights, the UN General Assembly passed the Convention on Rights of the Child, signed by 140 countries. This day was thus designated as Day of Children’s Rights. Presently 194 countries have officially ratified the Universal Declaration of Children’s Rights, except for a handful of countries, including the US, which although a signatory has refused to ratify it.

AS/ME