Today is Saturday; 18th of the Iranian month of Azar 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 20th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1439 lunar hijri; and December 9, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

Over 3100 lunar years ago, on this day, the young Prophet David (AS) killed in combat Goliath, the fearsome warlord of the idol-worshipping Philistines, who broke ranks and fled. Almighty Allah has referred to this historic event towards the end of Surah Baqarah, which informs us of the weak faith of the monotheist Israelites; most of whom, except for 313 men of firm faith, deserted the army of King Saul when faced by an invading force of the Philistines led by the veritable giant, Goliath. Even Saul despite his strength and stature avoided combat with Goliath by ignoring the assurances of divine help by Prophet Samuel (AS). At this stage, David, still a young lad without any battle experience and only with a sling in his hand with which he used to chase away wild beasts attacking his flock of sheep, decided to accept the challenge of the heavily armed and armour-clad Goliath. Goliath laughed at the sight of the slim unarmed youth, but before the infidel had time to use his sword or bow, David, taking aim at his opponent’s forehead, flung a stone or two by means of his sling, piercing the area below the helmet. Goliath cried loudly in pain and fell dead on the ground. At this, fear seized the hearts of the Philistines, who began to flee. Ayah 246 of Surah Baqarah says in this regard:

“Thus they routed them with Allah’s will, and David killed Goliath, and Allah gave him the kingdom and wisdom, and taught him whatever He liked. Were it not for Allah’s repelling the people by means of one another, the earth would surely have been corrupted; but Allah is gracious to the world’s creatures.”

A similar event took place in the early days of the founding of the Islamic state by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) when a 12,000 strong joint Arab-Israelite army besieged Medina in a bid to kill Muslims and wipe out Islam. The infidel warlord Amr ibn Abd Wudd, who was a giant like Goliath, leapt over the ditch which the Muslim defenders had dug as means of defence and challenged them to fight. Fear prevailed everywhere and no one heeded the Prophet’s call to face Amr, except the young Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). In a heroic combat during which the Imam allowed his fearsome opponent respite to renew the life-and-death fight when the fallen infidel had dared to spit at him, he made short work of Amr, making the Arab-Israelite force disperse in fear and ensuring victory of Islam. The Prophet stated: “The stroke of Ali on the Day of the Ditch is superior to the worship of mankind and jinn.” This event is known in the annals of history as Battle of Khandaq or Ditch, and also Battle of Ahzaab, i.e. Confederates, since the Arabs and Israelites had joined together to try to kill the Prophet and wipe out Islam.

1287 solar years ago, on this day in 730 AD, in the Battle of Marj as-Sabalan on the outskirts of Ardabil in northwestern Iran, the army of Hisham ibn Abdul-Malik, the 10th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, was annihilated by Khazar Turkic nomads led by Barjik, the son of the Khaqan. The Omayyad commander, Jarrah Ibn Abdullah al-Hakami, was among the 20,000 Arab forces killed along with their Iranian allies including the Zoroastrian Dehqan of Azarbaijan, Mardan Shah. The Khazars then mercilessly plundered Ardabil and other towns and cities, carrying off immense loot as well as over 40,000 men, women and children as captives. The next year Barjik penetrated as far as Mosul in northern Iraq, where he was defeated and forced to retreat to the northern Caucasus. Earlier, Jarrah Ibn Abdullah, known as "Farres ahl ash-Sham" (Chief Cavalier) of the Syrians, who had served at various times as governor of Basra, Sistan, Khorasan, Armenia, Azarbaijan and Arran, had penetrated the northern Caucasus to attack the Khazar capital. The Omayyad setback in the Caucasus and northwestern Iran was accompanied by defeats in the subsequent years on all fronts, including France, Central Asia, India, and finally Khorasan, from where the Abbasids launched their revolution under their Iranian general, Abu Muslim Khorasani, to seize the caliphate.

1269 solar years ago, on this day in 748 AD, Nasr Ibn Sayyar, the last Omayyad governor of Khorasan, who as an anti-Islamic Arab nationalist terrorized the people of northeastern Iran and Central Asia for decades, died at the age of 85 in Saveh (southwest of Tehran) while fleeing, after a string of defeats suffered by his Syrian-North Arabian army at the hands of the Arab-Iranian Muslim revolutionaries determined to overthrow the Omayyads and replace them with members of Prophet Mohammad's (SAWA) family. The uprising was hijacked by the Abbasids, who seized the caliphate and once again deprived the Ahl al-Bayt of their political rights. Nasr ibn Sayyar earned lasting damnation for killing the Prophet’s venerable descendent, Yahya ibn Zaid – Imam Zain al-Abedin’s (AS) grandson – whom he martyred in battle in Jowzajan (in today’s Afghanistan) and sent the head to the Omayyad court in Damascus. Nasr’s policy, like that of other Omayyad governors in Spain, France, the Caucasus, and Sindh, was to prevent the masses from becoming Muslims, since this would deprive the self-styled caliphs in Damascus of the revenues they reaped by levying heavy taxes on non-Muslims.

989 lunar years ago, on this day in 450 AH, the Iranian Shafei jurisprudent and scholar, Taher ibn Abdullah Abu Tayyeb at-Tabari, died in Baghdad at the age of 102. Born in Amol, in the Caspian Sea region of Mazandaran, he traveled widely to acquire knowledge, before settling in Iraq, where he was Chief Judge of Baghdad until his death. His books include "Jawab fi's-Sama" and the ten-volume work titled "al-Ghena wa't-Ta'liqat al-Kubra fi'l-Furu".

932 lunar years ago, on this day in 507 AH, the famous Iranian Arabic scholar and poet, Abu'l-Muzaffar Mohammad bin Ahmad Abiwardi, died in Isfahan. He was well-versed in history, hadith, lexicography, and calligraphy and wrote on various topics. Among his books are "Tabaqat al-Ilm", "Tarikh-e Abiward", and a critical work on genealogy titled "Qabsat al-Ajlan fi-Nasab Aal-e Abi Sufiyan", which deals with the dubious paternity of Abu Sufyan, Mu'awiyya and other Omayyads. He wrote a moving ode in Arabic on the plight of Muslims in Syria and Palestine during the occupation of these lands by Europe’s Crusader invaders, who had unleashed a bloody holocaust on the people. Here are some of his verses:

"We have mingled blood with flowing tears,

And there is no room left for pity

To shed tears is a man's worst weapon

When the swords stir up the embers of war,

Sons of Islam, behind you are battles in which heads rolled at your feet.

Dare you slumber in the blessed shade of safety!

Where life is soft as an orchard flower?

How can the eye sleep between the lids?

At a time of disasters that would awaken any sleeper!

While your Syrian brothers can only sleep,

On the backs of their chargers or in vultures' bellies!

Must the foreigners feed on our ignominy, while you trail behind!

The train of a pleasant life, like men whose world is at peace?

When blood has been spilt, when sweet girls must for shame 

Hide their lovely faces in their hands!

When the white swords' points are red with blood, and the iron

Of the brown lances is stained with gore!

At the sound of sword hammering on lance

Young children's hair turn white, 

This is war, and the infidel's sword is naked in his hand,

Ready to be sheathed in men's necks and skulls,

This is war, and he who lies in the tomb at Medina seems

To raise his voice and cry: O sons of Hashem!

I see my people slow to raise the lance against the enemy:

I see the Faith resting on feeble pillars.

For fear of death the Muslims are evading the fire of battle,

Refusing to believe that death will surely strike them. 

Must the Arab champions then suffer with resignation? 

While the gallant Persians shut their eyes to their dishonour!

725 solar years ago, on this day in 1292 AD, the world-acclaimed Persian poet of Iran, Shaikh Mosleh od-Din Sa’di, passed away in his hometown Shiraz. He left at a young age for Baghdad where he studied at the famous Nizamiyah Academy, excelling in Islamic Sciences, law, governance, history, Arabic literature and theology. The unsettled conditions following the Mongol invasion of Iran led him to wander for 30 years through Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and Anatolia or what is now Turkey. He also refers in his works about his travels in Sindh or present day Pakistan, as well as India and Central Asia. Sa'di performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. Even during his travels he composed beautiful Persian and Arabic poems. On return to his hometown, Shiraz, he composed his two famous masterpieces, “Bustan” (the Orchard) and “Golestan” (Rose Garden). The poems in “Bustan” speak of such topics as justice, love, kindness, modesty, contentment, education, repentance, and prayers. The next year he completed “Golestan”, which is in prose, and also contains his Arabic and Persian poems, in addition to moral and social anecdotes in 8 chapters. His collection of poems also includes odes and quatrains. The tomb of Sa’di in Shiraz is a frequently visited site.

409 solar years ago, on this day in 1608 AD, English poet and polemical pamphleteer, John Milton, was born in London. Among his important works are “Paradise Lost”, and “Paradise Regained” which are epic poems. An opponent of monarchy and a supporter of religious freedom (but only for Christian sects), in 1644, at the height of the civil war in England, he wrote “Areopagitica”, a pamphlet decrying censorship. It is considered an influential philosophical defence of the principle of a right to freedom of speech and expression. At the age of 36 he lost one eye and at 44 went completely blind. After overthrow of the monarchy he served under Oliver Cromwell in the Commonwealth of England as Secretary of Foreign Tongues to handle correspondence with European states as well as propaganda for the regime. On restoration of the monarchy, Milton retired from public life and died at the age of 66.

275 solar years ago, on this day in 1742 AD, the Swedish chemist and one of the pioneers of modern chemistry, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, was born in Stockholm. After years of experiments he discovered gas chlorine, which is an important chemical element and has numerous applications in the industrial sector. He also discovered magnesium and glycerin. Scheele died in 1786.

259 solar years ago, on this day in 1758 AD, the 13-month long Madras War between Britain and France started in southern India, following the French attack on Fort St. George on the Bay of Bengal. The 3,000 French forces were heavily outnumbered by the 22,000-strong British-led troops of local sepoys (corruption of the Persian word “sipahi” for soldier). The surrender of the French in January 1761, paved the way for the rise of the British in India, where infighting among the various Muslim successor states of the Mughal Empire, enabled them to establish their rule as the paramount colonial power.

161 solar years ago, on this day in 1856 AD, the Iranian city of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf was seized by the invading British forces after long battles lasting several years with the local Iranian defenders. The British plan was to stop Iran from liberating the Khorasani city of Herat from joint Afghan-British occupation. The British, taking advantage of the weakness of the Qajarid dynasty, soon spread their control over all of southern Iran. This situation lasted till 1913, when Iranian resistance started and continued during World War I under the leadership of Raees Ali Delvari, forcing Britain to move its diplomatic, commercial, and military headquarters to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain, which had been earlier seized from Iran.

100 solar years ago, on this day in 1917 AD during World War I, the British forces, made up of Arab and Indian contingents under Field Marshal Edmund Allenby, defeated the Ottoman troops in Palestine, and occupied the Islamic holy city of Bayt al-Moqaddas, which houses the former qibla (or focal point of prayers) of Muslims. By October 1918 when the war ended, the British forces inflicted more defeats on the Turks and driving them out of Syria and Iraq, occupied more lands in West Asia. The seizure of Palestine was a step toward materialization of the notorious Balfour Declaration of the then British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, who had called for setting up of a Jewish state in the heart of the Muslim World by illegally settling European Jews in Palestine.

70 solar years ago, on this day in 1947 AD, in western Java up to 430 Indonesian Muslim men were rounded up and shot by Dutch colonial troops in the village of Rawagedeh. The Dutch called the incident a "police action" to quell an uprising. In 1995, the Dutch government admitted that summary executions had taken place in Rawagedeh (now known as Balongsari), but said prosecutions were no longer possible. In September, 2011, a court ordered the government to compensate the widows of Indonesian villagers, to apologize for the killings and to give each of the 10 plaintiffs $27,000. The money was never properly distributed among the families of the victims.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, the first Intefadha or Islamic uprising of the Palestinian people against the usurper entity, Israel, started in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Muslims were inspired by the Islamic Revolution of Iran, and were disillusioned by the nationalist and socialist parties like the PLO, which in collaboration with the US and Europe entered into the infamous Oslo Accord with Israel, in a vain bid to offset the Islamic movement.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the UN, in a report, declared the Iraqi Ba’th minority regime as aggressor of the 8-year war-imposed on Iran on September 22, 1980 on the orders of the US. UN Secretary General, Ecuador's Javier Perez de Cuellar also emphasized in his report that based on UN Charter, and international rules and regulations, Saddam should accept responsibility for his unjustified aggression. On September 22, 1980, Iraq launched unprovoked air and ground attacks on Iran, and during the invasion, which was fully backed by the capitalist west and the socialist east, several Iranian frontier cities and towns were occupied and innocent women, children, and men were martyred. The Iranian combatants rallied under the guidance of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), and staged epics of resistance during the holy defence to blunt the Ba'thist aggressors and liberate Iranian territory until the acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 598 in July 1988.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, the Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Reza Golpayegani, passed away. Born in the central Iranian city of Golpayegan, he studied Islamic sciences under prominent ulema including Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri the reviver of the Qom Seminary, which later Grand Ayatollah Golpayegani made his base and for years, groomed a large number of scholars. On the victory of Islamic Revolution, he firmly supported the Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini (RA) and always defended him and his ideals through statements. He founded numerous schools and hospitals in Iran and abroad, and has left behind numerous books on Islamic sciences.

AS/ME