Today is Saturday; 21st of the Iranian month of Bahman 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 23rd of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1439 lunar hijri; and February 10, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1298 solar years ago, on this day in 720 AD, Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz ibn Marwan, the 8th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, died due to poisoning of food after a reign of three years during which he renounced the oppressive and un-Islamic policies of his predecessors. He had succeeded his cousin and brother-in-law (i.e. wife’s brother) Sulayman ibn Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan. One of his first acts on assuming the caliphate was to issue a decree to halt the blasphemous cursing of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), during Friday prayer sermons – a sacrilegious practice begun by the hardcore heathen Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan who through such acts intended to keep the growing neo-Muslim population ignorant of the God-given right to rule of the rightful successor of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He next returned the large tract of Fadak whose income had now swelled to 40,000 dinars to the Ahl al-Bayt, since this was the property of the Prophet’s daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her) from whom the first and second caliphs had seized. He is credited with various other reforms like abolition of drinking, forbidding public nudity, and elimination of mixed bathrooms for men and women, which the Godless Omayyad caliphs had initiated. He was succeeded by the ungodly Yazid bin Abdul-Malik, who immediately reversed the policies of Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz and again seized Fadak.

760 solar years ago, on this day in 1258 AD, Baghdad was sacked by the Buddhist army of the Mongol marauder, Hulagu Khan (grandson of the bloodthirsty Chingiz Khan), who had the 37th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, al-Musta'sem, rolled in a carpet and trampled to death under the feet of horses. The grand library of Baghdad, containing countless historical documents and books on subjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, was destroyed. It is said the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantity of books flung into the river. Death counts vary widely and cannot be easily substantiated, running into an estimated million. The Mongols looted and destroyed mosques, palaces, libraries, hospitals and buildings that had been the work of generations, since the founding of Baghdad five centuries ago. So terrible was the sack that Baghdad lay desolate for several generations. The incompetent Musta’sem, whose 16-year rule was confined to Iraq and some eastern parts of Syria, had neither raised an army to defend Baghdad nor did he attempt to negotiate with Hulagu, to whom two years earlier, he had supplied troops to conquer the Ismaili Nizari stronghold of Alamout. It seems the Abbasid ruler not just paid the price of assisting infidels against fellow Muslims, but also the far more serious treachery of his great-grandfather, the 34th self-styled caliph, an-Naser-Billah, some 40 years ago, in inviting Chengiz to attack the empire of the Khwarezm Shah, because of personal dispute, some years before the Mongol invasion actually occurred. The curtain thus came down on 524 lunar years of the Abbasid caliphate founded by Abu'l-Abbas Saffah by hijacking the sentiments of the Arab and Iranian masses for the Ahl al-Bayt, and thereby depriving once again the Prophet’s progeny of their political right to rule.

711 solar years ago, on this day in 1307 AD, Temur Khan, the second emperor of the Yuan Dynasty of China and the sixth Great Khan of the Mongols in Mongolia, died at the age of 42 after a reign of 12 years. Son of Crown Prince Zhenjin who predeceased his own father Kublai Khan, he had succeeded his grandfather and taken the title Emperor Chengzong. Although a Buddhist, he revered Confucius and had respect for all other religions and ethnicities to the extent that his administration was filled with Mongols, Han Chinese, Muslims and some Christians. Financial affairs were chiefly in Muslim hands, and the most prominent Muslim statesman was Bayan, his Minister of Finance, who was a great-grandson of Seyyed Ajal Shams od-Din, the Iranian statesman who served in the administration of the Mongol Empire of China.

263 solar years ago, on this day in 1755 AD, French philosopher, Charles de Montesquieu, died at the age of 66. His views highly influenced the French Revolution and he was the first European to present the theory of separation of the three branches of government. His important book is “The Spirit of the Laws”, published in Geneva in 1748 in which he has attempted to discuss the evolvement of different forms of government during history. His other important books include “Lettres Persanes” (Persian Letters) – a novel on the travel through France of two Iranian noblemen from Isfahan. It was used by him as a biting satire on the theories of Scottish economist, John Law.

255 solar years ago, on this day in 1763 AD, as per the Treaty of Paris – referred by the French as the Ominous Treaty – France handed to Britain Quebec and almost all its colonial holdings in Canada and India.

204 solar years ago, on this day in 1814 AD, the Battle of Champaubert ended in the defeat of the Russians and the Prussians (Germans) by the French led by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

181 solar years ago, on this day in 1837 AD, Russian poet and author, Alexander Pushkin, died at the age of 38. He catapulted to fame with publication of his collection of poems in 1820. Later, he wrote his odes in admiration of freedom which led to his exile. In his poems, he has defended freedom. His plays, stories in verse, and odes, are all considered as the prominent works in the Russian literature. Among his famous works, mention can be made of the novels “Eugene Onegin”, and “Boris Godunov”.

172 solar years ago, on this day in 1846 AD, the First Anglo-Sikh War ended with victory of the British in the Battle of Sobraon in Punjab, resulting in the death of 10,000 Sikh soldiers and the surrender of territory as well as the famous diamond “Koh-e Noor” (Mountain of Light) to the British, who took it to London to adorn the crown of their monarch. The British also took from the Sikhs the fabulous ruby “Khiraj-e Alam” (Tribute of the World) and renamed it “Timur-Ruby” since its first recorded possessor was the Central Asian conqueror, Amir Timur, as is evident by the six names inscribed on it – four of them his descendants, the Moghal emperors, Akbar, Jahangir, Aurangzeb, and Farrukhsiyar, while the last name is that of Ahmad Shah Durrani. On the fall of Delhi to the Iranians in 1739, the “Koh-e Noor” and the “Timur Ruby” along with other priceless jewels, were taken as war booty by Nader Shah, on whose assassination, these two gemstones fell to the share of his Pashto general, Ahmad Khan Abdali (Founder of Afghanistan as Ahmad Shah Durrani). In 1813 these two gems were seized from Ahmad Shah’s grandson, Shah Shuja, by the Sikh warlord, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, when the deposed Afghan ruler sought temporary refuge in Lahore.

132 lunar years ago, on this day in 1307 AH, the Islamic scholar of Northern India, Seyyed Mohammad Ibrahim, titled “Seyyed ul-Ulema” passed away. To him goes the credit of persuading the British occupiers of Lucknow to vacate the grand Asefi Mosque, the Alamgir Mosque and the magnificent Asefi Imambara (Hussainiyya), which they defiled for 27 years, using it as a gunpowder storage house, following their forcing into exile of the last King of Awadh, Wajed Ali Shah of the Naishapuri Dynasty founded by the Iranian adventurer, Seyyed Mohammad Amin Musavi entitled Sa’adat Khan Burhan ol-Mulk. After return of these religious structures to the Shi'ite Muslims Seyyed ul-Ulema revived the congregational prayers at the two mosques and the mourning ceremonies for the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS) at the Hussainiyya. Soon the Friday and Eid Prayers were revived at the Asefi Mosque. Over a century earlier, it was Seyyed ul-Ulema’s famous ancestor, Seyyed Dildar Ali Naqavi Naseerabadi, who had led the first exclusive public congregational prayers of Shi'ite Muslims in Lucknow on 13th Rajab 1200 AH, on the birth anniversary of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), followed by establishment of the weekly Friday prayers.

82 solar years ago, on this day in 1936 AD, Italian occupation troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam (also known as the Battle of Enderta) against Ethiopian defenders as part of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This battle saw attacks and counterattacks by Italian forces under Marshal Pietro Badoglio and Ethiopian general, Ras Mulugeta Yeggazu. The result was occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana) – including Somalia and Eritrea. The war exposed the inherent weakness of the League of Nations, of which both Italy and Ethiopia were members. The League was unable to stop Italy or to protect Ethiopia when Italy clearly violated the League's Article X. Ironically, Italy's Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, was lauded by other European colonial powers for his policy of aggression and expansionism in Africa. The short-lived Italian Empire crumbled in five years, with Ethiopia regaining independence during World War II, with the help of Allied forces. In North Africa, Libya, which Italy had occupied in 1911, also became independent at the end of World War 2.

68 solar years ago, on this day in 1950 AD, US Republican Senator, Joseph McCarthy, presented a list of 205 state personnel, accusing them of supporting terrorism and spying for the Soviet Union, thereby witch-hunting American intellectuals, artists and government officials. The result was the dismissal of over 2,000 government officials, incarceration of several others on baseless charges, and boycott of artists such as actor Charles Chaplin, film director Alfred Hitchcock, and the researcher Owen Lattimore. In December 1954, the Senate criticized McCarthy’s measures and termed them detrimental for the country, thus ending McCarthyism.

62 solar years ago, on this day in 1956 AD, prominent Iranian scholar Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani died in Tehran at the age of 59. He was a avid researcher and linguist who on completion of his education in Tehran, graduated from France's Sorbonne University in Paris. As a lecturer at Tehran University and as editor of a Persian magazine he was critical of the policies of the British-installed and American-supported Pahlavi regime. He wrote several books including "The Contribution of Iranians to World Civilisation", "The History of Iran from the Advent of Islam to the Mongol Period", and "The Nowbakhti Family". The last named is a valuable work on the famous Iranian scholarly family that lived in Baghdad in the 3rd and 4th centuries AH, and produced scientists, ministers, and theologians, including Husain Ibn Rouh – one of the four Nawwab or Representatives of the 12th Infallible Imam of the Prophet's Household during the Minor Occultation. He also published "Yadegar" Magazine which carried critical articles about the pathetic state of the Iranian nation during the reign of Shah's despotic regime.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, the fugitive Shah's generals extended martial law following the abortive attack of the regime's forces on an airbase in Tehran in retaliation for the pledge of allegiance of its personnel to the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). The aim of the generals was to crush the people's aspirations, to arrest the Imam and other revolutionary leaders, and if possible to assassinate them. Imam Khomeini, however, showed his foresight by calling on the people to ignore the illegal martial law and to come out in great numbers on the streets in order to thwart any mischief by the Shah's generals. Millions of Iranians took to the streets and clashed with the remnants of the tottering Pahlavi regime in Tehran and other cities. As a result the rank and file of the armed forces refused to obey the orders of the officers and many of them joined the people. In frustration, the Shah's premier, Shapour Bakhtiar, made his last attempt to save his illegal cabinet from total collapse, by presenting a bill to the unelected Senate to dissolve the dreaded SAVAK torture apparatus with promises to try its personnel, thereby admitting the widespread oppression and corruption of the British-installed and US-supported tyrannical Pahlavi regime against the Iranian nation. The next day the Islamic Revolution finally triumphed following severe clashes between the regime's forces and the masses, in what is known as the Battle of Tehran.

39 lunar years ago, on this day in 1400 AH, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer as-Sadr, and his venerable sister, Amena Haidar, known popularly as Bint al-Hoda, after days of torture in prison were martyred by Saddam, the tyrannical ruler of the Ba'th minority regime of Baghdad. Ayatollah Sadr was a brilliant scholar and studied under such immortal ulema as Grand Ayatollah Mohsin al-Hakeem and Grand Ayatollah Abu’l-Qassem Khoie. At a young age he reached the status of Ijtehad – or independent reasoning based on Holy Qur'an and Prophet's Hadith. His lectures at the Najaf Seminary, during which he used to critically evaluate the western and eastern materialistic schools of thought, were widely attended by youths and academicians. He wrote outstanding works on Islamic economic and philosophy titled “Iqtasadona” (Our Economics) and “Falsafatona” (Our Philosophy). The awareness which he instilled in the Iraqi people, especially political consciousness, greatly alarmed the oppressive Ba'thist regime, in view of his attachment to the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). Following victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the jubilation of the Iraqi people for repeating this experience in Iraq, Ayatollah Sadr and his equally learned and socially active sister, were imprisoned, tortured and brutally martyred by Saddam. Grand Ayatollah Baqer as-Sadr authored many valuable books. His religious-political legacy is alive today, since many of the statesmen in the Iraq are either his students or inspired by his thoughts.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, famous Pakistani artist and calligrapher, Syed Sadeqayn Ahmad Naqavi, known popularly as Sadeqayn Naqqash, passed away at the age of 57 in Karachi. Born in Amroha in India in a family of calligraphers, he migrated to Pakistan on the partition of the Subcontinent, and took this art to new heights. His masterpiece rendition of “Surah ar-Rahman” of the holy Qur’an has inspired many known painters of the modern era. He also painted classical literature from the poetic verses of Mirza Ghaleb, Allamah Iqbal Lahori and Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Sadeqayn's symbols are part-calligraphic strokes, part “alams” (sacred standards associated with the tragedy of Karbala, and part of mystical tributes to Imam Ali (AS).

AS/MG