Today is Sunday; 19th of the Iranian month of Azar 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 21st of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1439 lunar hijri; and December 10, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

819 solar years ago, on this day in 1198 AD, the famous Spanish Muslim philosopher and polymath, Mohammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd, known to Medieval Europe as “Averroes”, passed away at the age of 72, while on a visit to Marakesh, from where his body was brought back to Spain and buried in his birthplace Cordoba. He was an expert in the sciences of the day, including medicine, astronomy, jurisprudence, Qur’an and hadith, at a time when the Christian World was living in ignorance and darkness. At the age of 25, he conducted astronomical observations in Morocco, discovering a previously unobserved star. He gave one of the first descriptions on sunspots. Ibn Rushd made remarkable contributions to medicine. His well-known book in this field is “Kitab al-Kulliyaat fi’t-Tibb”, whose Latin translation known as “Colliget” aroused much interest in medieval Europe. He has thrown light on various aspects of medicine, including the diagnoses, cure and prevention of diseases. He was called “the jurisprudent philosopher” and as a follower of the Maliki School, he compiled a summary of edicts (fatwa) of previous jurists. His works include interpretation of Qur’anic concepts. Ibn Rushd’s most important original philosophical work is “Tahafut at-Tahafut” (Incoherence of the Incoherence), which is a refutation of the Iranian Shafei theologian, Ghazali’s “Tahafut al-Falasefa” (Incoherence of the Philosophers). Ghazali had criticized as self-contradictory and an affront to Islamic teachings, the presentation of Aristotle’s thoughts by the famous Iranian Islamic genius, Abu Ali Ibn Sina. Ibn Rushd proved Ghazali's arguments as mistaken.

507 solar years ago, on this day in 1510 AD, Portuguese invaders, led by Afonso de Albuquerque and a fleet of pirates under command of the local mercenary Timmayya (Timoji), seized the port city of Goa on the western coast of India from the Bijapur Dynasty of the Deccan, founded by the Iranian adventurer from Saveh, Yusuf Adel Khan. Earlier Goa was part of the Bahmani Empire founded in 1347 by the general of Iranian stock, Ala od-Din Hassan Bahman Shah. The Portuguese carried out large scale massacres of both Muslims and Hindus in Goa and the Konkan coast, and forced the survivors to become Christians. Several Iranian Muslim families in Goa, especially ladies, were abducted and carried off to Portugal. For 450 years the Portuguese ruled Goa until its annexation by India in 1961.

196 lunar years ago, on this day in 1243 AH, the Iranian city of Erivan and the khanate of the same name in the Caucasus, was occupied by Russia after stiff resistance by the governor Hussain Qoli Khan Qajar, during the two-year war that led to the signing of the humiliating Turkmenchay Treaty by the inefficient ruler Fath Ali Shah Qajar, resulting in the detachment from the Persian Empire of what are now the Caucasus republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, along with Nakhichevan. Erivan was renamed Yerevan and became the centre of the Russian oblast of Armenia. For more than two millenniums, most of the Caucasus, including Daghestan and the eastern section of Georgia were part of the various Persian Empires. In 1501, Shah Ismail, the Founder of the Safavid Empire, had liberated Erivan from the Aq Qoyounlu Turks. In 1736, in the waning years of the Safavid Dynasty, the area was designated as Khanate of Erivan and corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia, most of the Igdır Province and of Kagızman district of the Kars Province of present-day Turkey, and the Sharur and Sadarak districts of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. At the time of the Russian occupation, over 80 percent population of Erivan was Muslim – made up of Persians, Azeris, and Kurds – while Armenian Christians numbered only 15,000 or less than 20% of the population. The Russians forced the majority of Muslims to leave and replaced them with Christians and Armenians in the city and the countryside in order to change the demography of the region. Ḥussain Qoli Khan Qajar, who was known for his bravery, honesty and justice, refused to make any deal with the Russian occupiers, as is evident by Russia’s anger as demonstrated in Article XII of the Turkmenchay Treaty, which specifically deprived him and his brother of the right to sell or exchange their property in Erevan, a right granted to all others.

187 solar years ago, on this day in 1830 AD, American poet, Emily Dickinson, was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. She led a rather secluded life. After studying at Amherst Academy and then for one year at the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, she lived with her family and never married. Although she wrote poetry constantly, she never seriously pursued publishing her work. Only about 10 poems were published in her lifetime, and those were submitted for publication without her permission. After her death in 1886, more than 1,700 of her poems, which she had bound together in bundles, were discovered and published.

121 solar years ago, on this day in 1896 AD, Swedish chemist, Alfred Bernhard Nobel, died at the age of 63. Following years of research and experiments, in 1867 he invented dynamite for quarrying minerals and building roads in mountainous terrains. He was dismayed when his invention was diverted by European regimes for sabotage and killing of fellow humans. For this reason, he initiated the awarding of a prize every year for a person who strives most for global peace and security. After him the Trust decided to give Nobel Prize every year in the field of physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature as well, in addition to peace. Unfortunately, because of US hegemony, these prizes, especially the ‘peace prize’, have lost their meaning, and are awarded to mass murderers and agents of the West in Muslim and other countries.

116 solar years ago, on this day in 1901 AD, the Nobel Prize Awards were distributed for the first time in Stockholm, Sweden, in accordance with the will of inventor Alfred Nobel. The day was the 5th anniversary of Nobel's death. The Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics to Wilhelm Röntgen for his discovery of X-rays and the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Jacobus H. Van't Hoff for his work on rates of reaction, equilibrium and osmotic pressure. The first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given to Emil von Behring, for his work on serum therapy, particularly for its use in the treatment of diphtheria.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, the International Human Rights Declaration was ratified by the UN General Assembly. It is made up of an introduction and thirty articles, with Article I referring to the equality of all mankind. The realities, however, are different. The big powers have a selective and dualistic approach to human rights, which are practically used as tools by the West to impose political and economic pressures on independent countries.

64 solar years ago, on this day in 1953 AD, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-born Sunni Muslim scholar and translator of the holy Qur’an into English, passed away in London, and was buried at the Muslim cemetery at Brookwood, Surrey, near Woking. Born in Bombay in a merchant family, he received a religious education and went on to memorize the entire Qur'an. He learned Arabic and studied English literature during his education at several European universities. His best-known work is “The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary”, published in 1938 in Lahore. Unfortunately, in the later, revised editions of this book, the author’s notes on the exclusive God-given virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – Imam Ali (AS), Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS) – have been removed, including those pertaining to ayah 107 of Surah Saffat, where Abdullah Yusuf Ali had explicitly mentioned in his original work while explaining the term “Zibhin Azim” (Great Sacrifice) that ransomed Abraham’s offering of Ishmael: “This was the type of service which Imam Husain (AS) performed, many years later in 60 AH, as I have noted in a separate pamphlet.” This and similar remarks by the author on the merits of the Ahl al-Bayt have been erased and are not found in the distorted editions of his work that are available today.

54 solar years ago, on this day in 1963 AD, Zanzibar gained independence from Britain as a constitutional monarchy under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. Consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Africa, Zanzibar, a series of parliamentary elections resulted in the Arab-Omani minority retaining the hold on power it had inherited from Zanzibar's former existence as an overseas territory of the Sultanate of Oman. Frustrated by under-representation in Parliament despite winning 54% of the vote in the 1963 election, the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) allied itself with the left-wing Umma Party, and early on the morning of 12 January 1964 mobilised around 600–800 revolutionaries. Having overrun the island state's police force and appropriated their weaponry, the insurgents proceeded to Zanzibar Town where they overthrew the Sultan and his government. Reprisals against Arab and South Asian civilians on the island followed; the resulting death toll is disputed, with estimates ranging from several hundred to 20,000. Moderate ASP leader Obeid Karume became the new president and head of state, and positions of power were granted to Umma party members. In April the same year, the Afro-Shirazi Party joined Zanzibar with Tanganyika to form the Federal Republic of Tanzania. It is worth recalling that a thousand years ago, Islam had been brought to east Africa by Iranians from Shiraz, whose descendants are still found in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Kenya.

53 solar years ago, on this day in 1964 AD, the exegete of the holy Qur’an, Seyyed Hussain Ithna Ash’ari E’temadi, passed away in his hometown Rayy, south of Tehran, at the age of 66 and was buried in the mausoleum of Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hassani. An expert in literature, he completed his religious studies in holy Qom, and on return to Rayy, led the daily ritual prayers in the mausoleum of Seyyed Abdul-Azim. He breathed his last due to a heart attack while preaching from the pulpit. His famous work is the exegesis of the holy Qur’an titled “Tafsir Ithna Ash’ari”.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, the Nobel Peace Prize was scandalized in violation of the will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, by awarding it jointly to notorious terrorist Menachem Begin (premier of the illegal Zionist entity), and Egyptian president Anwar Saadaat, for his treason against the Palestinian cause by signing the disgraceful Camp David Accord under US auspices.

33 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, by the order of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), the High Council of Cultural Revolution was formed, made up of the heads of three branches of the government (Executive, Legislature, Judiciary), prominent ulema and cultural figures for giving direction to the country’s higher educational system and cultural centres. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, anti-social elements, communists and agents of the US and the West, had taken control of universities and higher education centres, as part of the plots against the Islamic Republic. The plot was nullified by the closing of the universities and purging of the anti-Islamic teaching staff. The universities reopened after three years and thus the High Council of Cultural Revolution was formed in order to provide guidelines to universities and cultural centres on the basis of Islamic teachings, and in line with the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, Iran announced that it has decoded all of the data from a RQ-170 Sentinel craft, an advanced CIA spy drone captured in eastern Iran earlier this month.

AS/SS