Today is Monday; 20th of the Iranian month of Azar 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 22nd of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1439 lunar hijri; and December 11, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1435 lunar years ago, on this day in 4 AH, the Muslims started the campaign against the Israelite tribe of Bani Nadheer around Medina by besieging their forts when the Jews, in alliance with the Arab infidels and hypocrites, refused to leave, despite their breach of the covenant of Medina for peaceful co-existence. They had incited Meccan polytheists to attack Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), in addition to their own attempts on his life. God Almighty revealed the ayahs of Surah Hashr, allowing the Prophet to take action. The Prophet entrusted the standard to his cousin and vicegerent, Imam Ali (AS), to launch the campaign. In a few days, the rebellious Israelites sued for peace, and were allowed to leave on 600 camels along with their women, children, livestock and riches. Some settled in Khaybar while others left for Syria. Centuries earlier, Israelite tribes had migrated to Hijaz from Palestine to await the advent among the Arabs of the Last and Greatest Messenger foretold by God in the Torah and other heavenly scriptures. But when Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) proclaimed his mission, the Israelites denied him, even though they recognized him as the one prophesied by Moses and other prophets. The Prophet, as per divine commandment, offered peace and truce to the Jews, as the People of the Book, but despite their pledges the Israelites never kept their words and always plotted against Islam and the Prophet.

1156 solar years ago, on this day in 861 AD, the Godless tyrant Mutawakkil, who styled himself as the 10^th caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was murdered while drunk and asleep, by his son, Muntasir, with the help of the Turkish guards, at the age of 39 after a reign of 14 years. Born to Qaratis, a Greek concubine of Mu’tasim, he became caliph on the suspicious death of his brother Watheq, whose body lay neglected with mice eating away his eyes, while Mutawakkil held festivities for several days. Immediately he unleashed a reign of terror, especially on the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He persecuted the Prophet’s progeny, instructed judges to always give the verdict against them, forbade them to ride horses in Egypt, forcibly brought the Prophet’s 10^th Infallible Heir, Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS), to Samarra to be placed under house arrest, and destroyed the holy shrine of Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala.

1048 solar years ago, on this day in 969 AD, Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, who had seized the throne and married Empress Theophano, the wife of deceased Emperor Romonos II after bypassing the latter’s young sons, was assassinated by this same wife and her lover – his own nephew (sister’s son), John I Tzimiskes, who now styled himself emperor. A notorious enemy of Muslims, Nikephoros Phokas, during his 6-year reign and before that as an army commander, seized the Muslim emirate of the island of Crete, and led frequent raids into Syria against Sayf od-Dowla of the Hamdanid Shi’ite Muslim dynasty of Aleppo. Several times he was beaten with heavy losses. On the western front, after renouncing his payments of tribute to the Shi’ite Muslim Fatemid dynasty of North Africa, he attacked, but was forced by defeats on land and sea to evacuate the island completely. In 967 he had to make peace with the Fatemids.

896 solar years ago, on this day in 1121 AD, al-Afzal Shahanshah, the famous vizier of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'ite Dynasty of Egypt-North Africa-Syria-Hijaz, who brought about the split into the Musta'li and Nizari sects that still persists, was assassinated at the age of 55. Born in Acre in Palestine, he was the son of Badr al-Jamali, an Armenian convert to Islam who was vizier of the Fatemids for 20 years until his death in 1094, when Afzal succeeded him. The 8^th ruler and 18^th self-styled caliph, Ma'ad al-Mustansir-Billah, died soon afterwards, and Afzal by-passing the elder son Nizar, installed as caliph, the younger son al-Musta'li, who was a child. Nizar revolted and was defeated in 1095. His supporters fled eastwards. In Iran, the Cairo-trained Iranian Ismaili missionary, Hassan Sabbah (close confidant of Nizar during his stay in Egypt), established in mountainous Alamout the Nizari community – whose present leader is Karim Agha Khan who lives in Europe and styles himself the 49^th Imam. At this time Fatemid power in the Levant had been reduced by the arrival of the Seljuq Turks. In 1097, Afzal captured Tyre from the Seljuqs and in 1098 retook Bayt al-Moqaddas, thus restoring most of Palestine to Fatemid control. A year later in 1099 the Fatemids lost Bayt al-Moqaddas to the Crusader invaders from Europe, whom Afzal Shahanshah misunderstood to be Byzantine mercenaries. This misperception, coupled with his slow march from Cairo with a large army of Egyptians, Berbers, Iranians, Turks, Armenians, Kurds, and Ethiopians, resulted in the loss of the Battle of Asqalan, although the Fatemids continued to hold this city, which is near Gaza. The death of Afzal Shahanshah started the decline of the Fatemid Empire, which fifty years later, was seized by the Kurdish adventurer Salah od-Din Ayyubi. The Musta’li religious leadership which moved to Yemen split into the Sulaymani and Dawoudi sub-sects; the former is based in the Yemeni region of Najran (currently under Saudi occupation), and the latter is based in Mumbai, India.

703 lunar years ago, on this day in 736 AH, the great scholar and founder of the Sarbadaran Movement, Shaikh Khalifa Mazandarani, was martyred in Sabzevar, Khorasan. Born in Amol in Mazandaran near the Caspian Sea, after mastering various branches of Islamic sciences, he came to Khorasan where in Sabzevar he launched the Sarbadar Movement against the repressive rule of the Ilkhanid Mongols, especially the local governor Togha Timur, who was notorious for his cruelty and high taxation of the people. The movement, which was mostly made up of the downtrodden, spread to neighboring cities. Its charismatic leaders included Shaikh Khalifa’s successor, Hassan Juri, and later Ali Mu’ayyad, all of whom revived the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). For the next 50 years, the Sarbadar – a Persian term which means, heads bound on gallows, to signify their readiness for martyrdom – ruled most of Khorasan, although not on dynastic basis. They regarded as their spiritual leader, Shaikh Mohammad Jamal od-Din al-Makki al-Ameli of what is now Lebanon, who was later martyred in his homeland by the enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt, and earned immortality as Shaheed al-Awwal (or First Martyr).

298 solar years ago, on this day in 1719 AD, the first recorded sighting of the Aurora Borealis took place in New England in what is now the USA. The report said a mysterious face seemed to appear in the atmosphere. It caused considerable alarm, as being regarded by many as a precursor of the Last Judgment. Most aurora borealis displays occur in September and October and again in March and April. The green, red, and frost-white light displays occur most frequently when there is a great deal of sunspot activity. An eyewitness account says: "This evening, about eight o'clock, there arose a bright and red light in the east of northeast like the light which arises from a house on fire ... which soon spread itself through the heavens from east to west, reaching about 43 or 44 degrees in height, and was equally broad."

185 solar years ago, on this day in 1832 AD, during the Egyptian–Ottoman War, Turkish forces were decisively defeated in the Battle of Konya, just outside the city of the same name in modern-day Turkey. The Egyptians were led by Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mohammad Ali Pasha, the Ottoman appointed Albanian Khedive of Egypt. The Egyptians after rapidly taking Bayt al-Moqaddas and the coastal regions of Palestine and Lebanon, overran Syria and advanced into Anatolia. Konya was Ibrahim's greatest victory. He lost 262 dead and 530 wounded, while the Ottomans lost 3,000 dead and over 5,000 taken prisoner, including many senior officers. Nothing remained between Ibrahim's army and the Turkish capital, Istanbul, after the battle. Political parleys, however, led to the signing of the Peace Treaty of Kutahiya, whereby the Ottoman Sultan ceded Greater Syria to Mohammad Ali for his lifetime, and ceded Egypt's rule to Mohammad Ali's dynasty in perpetuity, with nominal allegiance to the self-styled Turkish caliph. Seven years later, the Ottoman Sultan Mahmoud abrogated the Treaty of Kutahiya and attacked the Egyptian forces, but was again routed by the Egyptians at the Battle of Nizib, on the frontier between the Ottoman Empire and Syria, on June 24, 1839. Ibrahim Pasha had earlier distinguished himself in Arabia, where he penetrated into the Najd to nab the Wahhabi desert brigand, Abdullah ibn Saud, and sent him to Istanbul for public execution, for having desecrating the holy shrine of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) grandson, Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala.

174 solar years ago, on this day in 1843 AD, German bacteriologist and discoverer of the cause of tuberculosis, Robert Koch, was born in Clausthal, Hanover. He conducted research on the reasons behind cholera and anthrax as well. He visited South Africa, Egypt, and India for researches on ailments such as malaria. In 1905, he was awarded the Nobel Prize and died in 1910.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1946 AD, UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Education Fund), was set up in New York to take care of children afflicted by World War II. Its duties were expanded to meet the needs of, and educate, disadvantaged children across the globe.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the prominent religious scholar and Friday Prayer Leader of Shiraz, Ayatollah Seyyed Abdul-Hussain Dastghaib, was martyred by a MKO terrorist while on his way to the weekly Friday Prayer. A product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq where he attained the status of Ijtehad, in addition to teaching Islamic sciences, he strove against the despotic regime of the British-installed and US-supported Shah, braving detention several times. Following victory of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Dastghaib was elected to the Assembly of Experts from Shiraz, and was assigned to lead the Friday Prayer in this city by the Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini (RA). He has left behind a large number of valuable writings, including an exegesis of several surahs of the holy Qur'an.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, Ayatollah Sheikh Abdul-Hussain Gharavi passed away at the age of 84. A product of the seminaries of Qom and Najaf, he was a staunch opponent of the despotic Pahlavi regime and rallied the people of Tabriz. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the people of East Azarbaijan Province elected him as representative to the Assembly of Experts. 

22 solar years ago, on this day in 1995 AD, the prominent jurisprudent, Ayatollah Mirza Kazem Tabrizi, passed away in holy Qom at the age of 75. A product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, where for twenty years he was the student of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassim Khoei, An authority on exegesis of the holy Qur’an, theology, hadith, history, jurisprudence, literature, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and logic, he was fluent in four languages: Persian, Arabic, French, and English, besides his native Azeri Turkic. In 1971 he settled in Qom and his classes were widely attended by ulema and students. He was a prolific writer and authored several books including the 50-volume “Qawa’ed al-Fiqhiyya” (Ruler of Jurisprudence) and the 20 volume annotation of Shaikh Horr-e Ameli’s “Wasa’el ash-Shi’a”.  

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, the 55-member Organization of the Islamic Conference ended its meeting in Iran with the declaration that “the killing of innocents is strictly forbidden in Islam.” The group also called for full respect for the dignity and rights of Muslim women and criticized Israel for “state terrorism.”

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, Russian forces attacked the Muslim Republic of Chechen in the Caucasus for its declaration of independence. The Russians were forced to retreat after a war lasting a year and a half, and an accord was signed to postpone the autonomy of the Chechen Republic till the year 2001. In the second half of 1999, the Russians again attacked Chechen and occupied it. Although war has long ended, activities of Chechen independence seekers shows Russia is yet to completely control the situation in this oil rich Muslim region, which along with Daghestan, Armenia and the eastern parts of Georgia, used to be a part of the Safavid Empire of Iran and was seized by the Czars from the weak Qajarid dynasty.

4 years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Hojjat-ul-Islam Shaikh Mohammad Musa Sharifi, passed away at the age of 71 in Chanchik in Kargil District of the Jammu & Kashmir State of India, and was laid to rest in Chutumail the day after. More than 25,000 people attended his funeral. Sharifi, on completion of basic religious courses in Kargil, left for holy Najaf in Iraq for higher studies. He stayed in Najaf for 20 years and served there as a religious teacher (mudarris). He returned to India in 1971 and continued his religious services as a teacher. He was associated with the Islamia School Kargil and was principal of the seminary for about a decade, serving at the same time as Imam of Kargil’s Jamia Masjid. Owing to his scholarly repute, he commanded respect from people all over the Ladakh region, where he was popular for the usage of the local Balti language for delivering sermons, especially in the mourning months of Moharram and Safar for the immortal martyrs of Karbala.

AS/ME