Today is Monday, 6th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1439 lunar hijri; and March 26, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1096 solar years ago, on this day in 922 AD, the Iranian Muslim mystic, Hussein ibn Mansour al-Hallaj, was executed in Baghdad by the Abbasid caliph, Muqtadar-Billah, on charges of heresy for uttering blasphemous remarks such as “there is nothing in my turban and cloak except God" and the phrase “an’al-Haq” (I am the Absolute Truth). He was a student of the two famous Iranian Sufi masters, Sahl Ibn Abdullah at-Tustari and Junayd Baghdadi, and was expelled by both of them for his weird views. Born in Fars province to a cotton-carder, as indicated by his family name “Hallaj”, he memorized the holy Qur’an at a young age and would often join other mystics in study. Initially a follower of the Hanbali school, it is said he became an Ismaili Shi’a Muslim. He performed at least three Hajj pilgrimages to Mecca, where he once stayed for a year, fasting and in total silence. He traveled widely as far as India and Central Asia, and wrote and taught along the way, gaining followers, many of whom accompanied him on his second and third trips to Mecca. He settled in the Abbasid capital Baghdad, where his weird utterances invited trouble. On refusing to renounce his beliefs, he was flogged, amputated, and hanged. His remains were burnt and thrown into the River Tigris.

1035 solar years ago, on this day in 983 AD, the greatest ruler of the Iranian Buwaiyhid dynasty of Iran-Iraq-Bahrain-Oman, Adhud od-Dowla Daylami, passed away in Baghdad and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of the Command of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) in Najaf. Born in Shiraz and named Fana Khosrow, he was the son of Amir Rukn od-Dowla, and became ruler of Fars after the death of his childless uncle, Amir Emad od-Dowla. He was sent by his father to crush a rebellion by his cousin Ezz od-Dowla, on whose defeat he claimed the emirate of Iraq for himself. On his father’s death, as senior Amir of the Buwaiyhid family, Adhud od-Dowla chose as his capital, Baghdad, which was suffering from violence and instability due to sectarian sedition by the Hanbalis. In order to bring peace and stability, he banned public demonstrations and polemics. He patronized a number of scholars such as the celebrated Shaikh Mufid, and renovated the holy shrines in Najaf and Karbala. He also undertook several scientific projects, such as the observatory in Isfahan, and the dam known till this day as “Band-e Amir” between Shiraz and Istakhr to irrigate some 300 villages. He also ordered digging of the Haffar Canal joining the Karun River to the Arvand Roud at the confluence of the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. He embellished Baghdad with several buildings including the famous public hospital known as “Bimaristan-e Adhudi”, where the great Iranian physician Zakariyya ar-Razi used to practice.

849 solar years ago, on this day in 1169 AD, the Kurdish adventurer, Salah od-Din, proclaimed himself Emir of Egypt after usurping power in Cairo from the Fatemid Shi’ite Ismaili Muslim Dynasty. Known in the western world as Saladin, he rose from obscure origins to serve as assistant to his uncle, Asad od-Din Shirkuh (Persian for Mountain Lion), who was in the service of the Turkic Zengid Dynasty of Syria. Sent to Fatemid Egypt in 1163 with his uncle by Noor od-Din Zengi, he climbed the ranks of the Ismaili Shi’ite government as a result of his military successes against Crusader assaults. When Shirkuh died in 1169, the caliph al-Adeed made the mistake of appointing Salah od-Din vizier. He now began to undermine Fatemid rule and treacherously abolished the two-and-a-half century rule of the Fatemid caliphate. Salah od-Din savagely persecuted the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt, burned libraries, and imposed the Sunni creed on the Egyptians.

806 solar years ago, on this day in 1212 AD, Sancho I, the second king of Portugal or the breakaway northwestern strip of Islamic Spain, died. He was the son of Afonso I, who had rebelled against over five-and-a-half centuries of Muslim rule to seize the emirates of Lisbon and Badajoz. Sancho was nicknamed "the Populator" for seizing the territories of Spanish Muslims, carrying out ethnic cleansing, and resettling them with Christians from France and other parts of Europe. During the later years of his reign he lost territory to the al-Muwahhid Muslim dynasty.

674 solar years ago, on this day in 1344 AD, the Siege of the Spanish Muslim region of Algeciras ended and the Christian mercenary armies assembled from other parts of Europe by kingdoms of Castile and Aragon occupied this port city, despite the use of gunpowder by the defenders – the first time in Europe.

406 lunar years ago, on this day in 1033 AH, the renowned theologian and hadith scholar, Shaikh Abu Ja’far Mohammad ibn al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn al-Hussain al-Ameli al-Mashghari, popularly known as al-Horr al-Ameli, was born in the village of Mashghara in the JabalAmel region of southern Lebanon. His early education began with a family of teachers that included his father, his paternal uncle, his maternal grandfather ShaikhAbdus-Salaam ibn Mohammad, and one of his father's maternal uncles, Shaikh Ali ibn Mahmoud. He also studied under Hussain ibn Hassan ibnYunus Zaher and Hassan ibnZain od-Din Ameli, who was the great-grandson of the Second Martyr. Husain Zaher was the first to give him the ijaza or permission to teach and transmit hadith. He remained for the first forty years of his life in his homeland, performing the Hajj to Mecca twice and pilgrimage to the holy shrines in Iraq. He eventually journeyed to Mashhad, Iran, and settled there for the rest of his life as Shaikh al-Islam at the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Before arriving in Mashhad he stayed for a while in the Safavid capital, Isfahan, where he became acquainted with the famous Allamah Mohammad BaqerMajlisi. The meeting between these two scholars left an impression on both of them and Majlisi introduced Horr al-Ameli to the Safavid Emperor, Shah Sulaiman. He passed away in Mashhad at the age of 81 and was laid to rest in one of the portals of the holy shrine, where his grave is still the site of pilgrimage. He wrote numerous books including “Wasa'el ash-Shia”, which is a vast but concise compilation and classification of Hadith that took him 18 years to complete. Among his other famous works is “al-Jawaher as-saniyafi'l-Ahadith al-Qudsiya”, and “Amal al-Amel fi UlamaJabal al-Amel”, which is a biographical dictionary of Shi'ite Muslim scholars who originated from the JabalAmel region.

248 lunar years ago, on this day in 1191 AH, the prominent Islamic scholar, Seyyed Hussain son of Seyyed Ja’far Khwansari, passed away. He groomed numerous students; some of whom became the leading ulema of their day, such as Allamah Bahr al-Oloum. He has left behind numerous books including commentaries on the Ziyarat-e Ashura of Imam Husain (AS) and the famous supplication of the month of Ramadhan, known as Dua Abu HamzaThumali that was taught by Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) to his disciple of the same name.

191 solar years ago, on this day in 1827 AD, the famous German composer and musician, Ludwig van Beethoven, died at the age of 57. He learned music under prominent musicians of his era, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Beethoven was hard of hearing and went deaf as of the age of 49. He composed nine symphonies; all of which are the most famous classical music symphonies. His 5th Symphony, because of its epical spirit, holds a special status among his works.

137 solar years ago, on this day in 1881 AD, the large Ottoman vilayet of Thessaly was seized by the breakaway province of “Yunanistan” and absorbed into what is now known as Greece, by the powerful European Christian powers, such as Britain, France, Austria and Russia. All vestiges of almost five centuries of Muslim rule were erased, mosques were destroyed or turned into churches, Turkish language was eradicated and Muslims forcibly expelled.

111 lunar years ago, on this day in 1328 AH, Ayatollah Seyyed Abdullah Behbahani, who was a leading religious figure of the Constitutional Movement, was martyred by terrorists at the age of 68. Born in holy Najaf, in Iraq, to Seyyed Ismail Mojtahed Behbahani, he completed his education there under such senior ulema as Ayatollah Sheikh Morteza Ansari, and Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi – famous for fatwa against tobacco consumption. At the age of 35, after attaining the status of ijtehad, he came to Iran and involved himself in the struggle against the despotic rule of the Qajarid Dynasty, along with Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Tabatabai. He played a pivotal role in the victory of the Constitutional Revolution, making utmost efforts to this end, which led to his martyrdom.

107 solar years ago, on this day in 1911 AD, the prominent American playwright, Tennessee Williams, was born. He skillfully expressed his ideas through the heroes of his plays, in which he mainly describes the simple Americans who face hardships and have failed to achieve their aims. Among his famous books, mention can be made of “Sweet Bird of Youth”. He died in 1983.

66 solar years ago, on this day in 1952 AD, the armed uprising of Kenyan people started against British colonial rule, under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta and his Mau Mau Group, demanding equality of Kenyans with Europeans concerning social and political rights. Independence was achieved in 1963. Kenya, situated in Eastern Africa, is spread over 580,000 sq km. Around 15 percent of its population is Muslim, the majority of whom live in the coastal provinces, and were once the rulers there.

47 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, Iranian zoologist and the first Iranian planarialogist, Behzad Qorbani was born. He graduated from the University of Tehran and Martyr Beheshti University. In 1997, he identified two new species of fish (Dugesia Iranica and Dugesia Persica), that were found in the Karaj River.

47 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, East Pakistan declared itself Bangladesh, following the military crackdown on the ethnic Bengali-speaking Muslim majority by the Punjabi-Pakhtoun armed forces of West Pakistan. India sided with the Bengalis in their armed struggle, and finally after the end of the 15-day war that erupted between India and Pakistan, Bangladesh became independent under Sheikh Mujib ur-Rahman, who was elected president, but, was later killed in a coup. Bangladesh covers an area of 144,000 sq km. It shares borders with India and Burma, and is the world's 9th most populous country. Over 90 percent of its 162 million people are Muslims.

27 solar years ago, on this day 1991 AD, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay signed the Treaty of Asunción, setting up MERCOSUR, the South Common Market, which aims to counter the economic exploitation of South America by the US.

3 solar years ago, on this day in 2015 AD, on orders of the US and the illegal Zionist entity called Israel, the Wahhabi regime of Saudi, in league with Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, and four of the Persian Gulf states – Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, and Qatar  – launched aerial attacks on Yemen, and later deployed ground troops, on the pretexts of restoring to power the fugitive Mansour Hadi, whose term as interim president had expired a year earlier. The war has entered its 4^th year, and though it has failed to break resistance of the Yemeni people, Saudi Arabia and its accomplices-in-crimes against humanity, have so far killed some 20,000 people, including around 5,000 children and 4,000-plus women, in addition to destroying almost a thousand schools and educational institutes, 130 university facilities, 400 factories, 1,820 bridges and roads, besides countless mosques, hospitals, power plants, and waterworks.

AS/MG