Today is Tuesday; 22nd of the Iranian month of Esfand 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 24th of the Islamic month of Jamadi as-Sani 1439 lunar hijri; and March 13, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1394 solar years ago, on this day in 624 AD, the pagan Arabs of Mecca lost the Battle of Badr, which they had imposed as the first armed encounter upon Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). With God’s help the poorly armed Muslim defenders, numbering only 313, emerged victorious against the more than a thousand fully armed Arab aggressors. The hero of the battle was the Prophet’s dearest first cousin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), who subsequently became his son-in-law, and was later proclaimed by him as vicegerent on the express commandment of God Almighty at the historic gathering of Ghadeer-Khom.

1047 lunar years ago, on this day in 392 AH, the historian, hadith compiler and orator, Ahmad bin Ali bin Sabet, known as Khateeb al-Baghdadi, was born near Baghdad. The son of a preacher of Darzidjan, he studied under his father and other ulema, mastering the various sciences, with special interest in hadith. At the age of 20 he went to Basra to collect hadith. He then travelled east to Iran and made two trips to Naishapur in Khorasan, collecting in his journey more hadith in Rayy and Isfahan. Back in Baghdad, he acquired fame as a preacher and orator, and it is said that teachers and preachers of hadith would usually submit to him what they had collected, before they used them in their lectures or sermons. Originally a follower of the Hanbali School of jurisprudence, he switched to the Shafe'i School – a change that made Hanbalis his bitter enemies and heap accusations against him. This sectarian hostility forced him to leave Baghdad for Syria and settle in Damascus, where he preached for 8 years, and before returning to Baghdad, spent another year in Tyre, in what is now Lebanon. Khateeb al-Baghdadi was a prolific writer and has authored several books, the most famous of which is the voluminous history titled "Tarikh al-Baghdad". He has quoted many of the hadith on the merits of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt, especially Imam Ali (AS) and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA). He died in Baghdad at the age of 73.

895 lunar years ago, on this day in 544 AH, the Islamic scholar, Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Ali Baihaqi, passed away. Popularly known as "Bu Ja'farak", he was from Baihaq (Sabzevar, as it is known today) in Khorasan, northeastern Iran. He was an authority on grammar, lexicography and Qur'anic sciences. He authored several books, including "Taj al-Masader" and "al-Muhit fi Lughat-al-Qur'an".

571 solar years ago, on this day in 1447 AD, Shah Rukh Mirza, the ruler of Iran, Central Asia and what is now Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan and northwestern India, died during a journey to Rayy (near modern Tehran) at the age of 70 after a reign of 42 years. He was the son and successor of the fearsome Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur, and in contrast to his father, was a peace-loving ruler. His mother was a Tajik or a Persian-speaking lady. Although he lost Iraq to the Qara Quyunlu Turks, he hotly contested for control of Anatolia (modern Turkey) with the Ottomans, who were decisively crushed by his father. His capital was Herat in Khorasan – currently in Afghanistan. He was a great patron of arts and sciences, especially Persian architecture and literature, as well as works in Chaghatay and Arabic languages. Shah Rukh commissioned a number of historical and geographic works by the Iranian scholar Hafez-e Abru. Among them is “Tariḵh-e Shah Rukh” – a history of his reign that was later incorporated by its author into the larger "universal history" compilations “Majmu’a-e Ḥafeẓ-e Abru” (a universal history work) and “Majma’ at-Tawariḵh as-Solṭani” (section “Zobdat at-Tawarikh-e Baysonqori”). His wife, the highly refined Iranian lady, Gowhar Shad, funded the construction of two outstanding mosques and theological colleges in Mashhad and Herat. The Grand Gowhar-Shad-Mosque adjacent to the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) – the 8th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – was finished in 1418. He was succeeded in Transoxiana by his elder son, Ulugh Beg who was an accomplished astronomer and scholar, while almost all other sons had predeceased him including the famous calligrapher Baysonqor Mirza. Shah Rukh maintained diplomatic relations with the Mamluk rulers of Egypt-Syria, the Venetian Empire of the Mediterranean, China and the Muslim and Hindu rulers of the Deccan (South India). In fact, two of his ambassadors have left detailed account of their missions. The first is the detailed diary of Ghiyas od-Din Naqqash who was sent to the court of the Ming Emperor of China, and the second is the book “Matla us-Sa’dain wa Majma’ ul-Bahrain” by Abdur-Razzaq Samarqandi, the Iranian ambassador to the court of the Zamorin of Calicut (Kozikhode in Kerala), who during his 3-year stay (1442-45) in the Deccan also visited the Vijaynagar capital Hampi.

449 lunar years ago, on this day in 941 AH, Baghdad was seized from Iran and annexed to the Ottoman Empire along with most of Iraq by Sultan Suleiman, after Shah Tahmasb I withdrew his troops and did not offer resistance. Suleiman, fresh from his victories in the West that brought under his control extensive territories in south-central Europe, turned towards the east, since like his father, Sultan Selim I, he was in constant fear of Safavid influence in Anatolia and Syria. During his 46-year reign which coincided with the longer 52-year reign of Shah Tahmasp, he launched massive invasions of the Persian Empire three times by giving a sectarian Sunni-Shi'ite colour to his campaigns, but on all three occasions he failed to shatter the resolve of the Iranians, from the Caucasus in the north till the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates in the south, losing on one occasion 30,000 soldiers. In the end the two empires signed a peace treaty. The name Baghdad is Middle Persian and means “God-given”. The city was built as “Madinat as-Salaam” (City of Peace) on the banks of the River Tigris by the Abbasid caliph Mansour Dawaniqi near Ctesiphon or Mada'en, the ancient pre-Islamic capital of the Iranian Parthian and Sassanid Empires, which along with their predecessor, the Achaemenid Empire, exercised control over Iraq for over a thousand years – except for a brief interlude when Alexander of Macedonia overran the Persian Empire. After the advent of Islam, Iranians, now devout Muslims, continued to dominate Iraqi affairs, playing a significant role in the uprising of Mukhtar ibn Abi Obaidah Thaqafi to avenge the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's (SAWA) grandson, Imam Husain (AS). During Abbasid times, in addition to viziers and state officials, most of the Islamic scholars and scientists of Baghdad, were Iranians who wrote in Arabic and even perfected Arabic grammar. With the weakening of the Abbasids, Baghdad again became the seat of power of the Iranian Buwaiyhid dynasty, and in later centuries, despite Ottoman control, whenever a strong ruler emerged in Iran, such as Shah Abbas I or Nader Shah, Baghdad and most of Iraq reverted to Iranian control.

427 solar years ago, on this day in 1591 AD, Moroccan forces of the Sa’di Dynasty led by their general of Spanish origin, Judar Pasha, won Battle of Tondibi in Mali against the numerically superior forces of the Songhai Empire. In the subsequent battles the Moroccans conquered almost all major cities including Timbuktu. Founded in southern Morocco in 1509, the Sa’di Dynasty, which claimed descent from Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) through his elder grandson, Imam Hasan Mujtaba (AS), controlled all of Morocco by 1554 until its collapse in 1659. The most famous sultan was Ahmad al-Mansur (1578–1603), the builder of the famous al-Badi Palace in Marakesh. One of the most important achievements of the Sa’di Dynasty was the decisive defeat it inflicted on the Portuguese at the Battle of Qasr al-Kabir on 4 August 1578.

285 solar years ago, on this day in 1733 AD, the English chemist and physicist, Joseph Priestley, was born in the city of Fieldhead. He is supposed to be the discoverer of oxygen and nitrogen gases, and died in 1804. He is considered the first European to discover sulfur dioxide, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and silicon fluoride, which had been determined centuries earlier by Muslim scientists. His political opinions and support of the French Revolution were unpopular. After his home and laboratory were set afire in 1791 in England, he sailed for the US where he spent the rest of his life.

176 solar years ago, on this day in 1842 AD, Henry Shrapnel, English soldier and inventor of the Shrapnel shell, a spherical case designed to explode in midair, spreading its content of small lead musket balls to injure and kill people over a wide area, died at the age of 81 in Southampton, Britain. On joining the army, he spent his life in service during which time he devised and refined his shell, invented a percussion lock for small arms (patented 1834) and other improvements in fuses, ammunition and small arms. He also prepared important artillery range tables and originated the brass tangent slide to improve the sighting of guns.

70 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, armed Zionists of the terrorist outfit, Haganah, attacked the Palestinian village of “Husseiniyeh”, razing Muslim homes to the ground and massacring sixty Palestinian villagers. In a separate terrorist attack the same day, Zionists also blew up the homes of Palestinians in a district of Bayt al-Moqaddas, martyring and wounding several people. The carnage of Palestinian Muslims was a prelude to the illegitimate birth of Israel, following the withdrawal of British forces from Palestine, which took place two months after the massacre at Husseiniyeh Village.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), issued a decree for establishment of the Foundation of Martyrs to take care of the families of those who had achieved martyrdom in the struggle against the Shah's despotic regime. His message partly read: “We all know that the Islamic Movement and victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution is indebted to selflessness of different strata of people. First of all, the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution, and those, who have been disabled on this righteous path should be praised. Hence, taking care of the affairs of families of martyrs and the disabled is very essential and these families should be respected in the best possible manner.”

33 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, the Iranian author, translator and musician, Dr. Hussain Gol-e Golab, passed away at the age of 89. Son of the prominent Qajarid era painter and photographer, Mirza Mahdi Khan Mosawir ol-Molk, he was born in Tehran and after graduation taught natural sciences at the famous Dar al-Fonoun Academy for almost a decade. He wrote 12 books on natural sciences and became principal of the College of Literature and Sciences. He later served as Chief Editor of the newly established Farhangistan or Academy of Persian Language and Culture. Dr. Gol-e Golab also translated several works into Persian and was skilled in music, composing a number of musical notes.

33 lunar years ago, on this day in 1406 AH, Ayatollah Morteza Ha’iri Yazdi, passed away at the age of 72 and was laid to rest in Qom in the holy mausoleum of Hazrat Fatema al-Ma’soumah (SA), beside the grave of his esteemed father, Sheikh Abdul-Karim Ha’iri, the Reviver of the Qom seminary. Born in Arak, he moved to Qom in childhood, and after initial studies under his father, learnt jurisprudence and other branches of Islamic sciences from the leading scholars of his time. He then moved to holy Najaf in Iraq, to master various subjects including exegesis of the holy Qur’an and theology. In Iran, he became one of the founders of the Alavi Saving Bank in Qom and a member of Iran’s Constitution's Assembly of Experts following the victory of the Islamic Revolution. He paid special attention to honoring the religious rituals, including the pilgrimage to the holy shrines of the Infallible Imams, and holding mourning ceremonies to rid themselves of commemorating the tragedies befalling the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.

AS/SS