Today is Wednesday; 26th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 29th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1439 lunar hijri; and May 16, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1220 lunar years ago, on this day in 219 AH, the jurisprudent and hadith authority, Fadhl bin Dukin ibn Na’eem, passed away at the age of 89. He is considered a reliable narrator of hadith by Sunni Muslims and has quoted accounts of the crimes against Islam of Khaled ibn Waleed. An expert on biography of narrators of hadith, he wrote several books and groomed many students.

1121 lunar years ago, on this day in 318 AH, acclaimed Iranian Shafe’i jurisprudent, Mohammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir Naishaburi, passed away in holy Mecca at the age of 77. Born in Naishabur in Khorasan, after mastering hadith and Qur’anic sciences, he travelled to Hejaz where he spent the rest of his life in Mecca, as Shaikh al-Haram. He was well versed with the differing opinions amongst the scholars of hadith, and wrote several books, the largest of which was titled “al-Mabsout”, which has not survived. He abridged this voluminous work as “al-Awsat”, but only a few volumes of it have been found, and even fewer printed. He further abridged this book into a still smaller version titled “al-Ishraaf”, which is regarded as the best book of its kind, since he briefly mentions in it all the different opinions regarding each topic and occasionally mentions the opinion he prefers.

516 solar years ago, on this day in 1502 AD, Honduras in Central America, which was the centre of the Mayan civilization, was occupied by Spain. Spain subsequently decimated the indigenous Mayan people. In early 19th century, due to the chaotic state of affairs in Spain, Honduras like the majority of the American colonies gained independence from Spanish colonial rule. Honduras covers an area of more than 112,000 sq km. it is a republic and shares borders with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

230 solar years ago, on this day in 1788 AD, German poet and orientalist, Friedrich Ruckert, was born in the city of Hamburg. He was a researcher on eastern languages and lectured at German universities. He has translated numerous poems from Persian, Arabic, and Chinese to German language. He is one of the German poets who have translated the Diwan of poems of renowned Iranian poet, Hafez, to German language, which has been published on several occasions.

114 lunar years ago, on this day in 1325 AH, the draft of Iran's first Constitution was signed, albeit reluctantly, by the despotic king Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar. It was hastily drafted and contained 107 articles. The constitution was tampered with and changed constantly, especially during the despotic rule of the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime. Passages pertaining to people's rule and the Islamic shari'ah were eliminated, while clauses were added to spread corruption and depravity in society for weakening the people's cultural values in order to strengthen the repressive rule of the Pahlavis. Following the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 that ended domestic despotism and foreign hegemony, the Iranian people voted for a popularly drafted constitution to replace the obsolete one.

106 lunar years ago, on this day in 1333 AH, the Gnostic Shaikh Baqer Bahari Hamedani passed away in his hometown Hamedan at the age of 58 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imamzadeh Abdullah. After preliminary studies in the village of Bahar under his father, he left for Iraq for higher studies at the Islamic seminary of Holy Najaf, and benefitted from the classes of such prominent scholars as, Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi, Muhaddith Noori, Mirza Habibollah Rashti, Akhound Khorasani, and Fazel Iravani. On attaining the status of Ijtihad, he returned to Iran to serve the people of Hamedan. A pious person, known for his simple life, he was nevertheless a strong opponent of despotism and foreign hegemony. He trained a large number of students, and wrote some 40 books and treatises, on a wide variety of subjects.  

102 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, the scandalous Sykes-Picot Accord was signed by representatives of Britain, France, and Russia in Paris for dividing up the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire and limiting the Turkish possessions to Anatolia or present day Turkey. Even before the formal defeat of the Ottomans in 1917, lines were drawn on paper to share the spoils by the two principal European colonial powers. The British took control of Iraq and the Hijaz. Shaam or Greater Syria was split up into four parts, with the British taking Jordan and Palestine, and the French taking Syria and Lebanon. The main goal of this plan was to set up in Palestine, an illegal entity called Israel as a homeland for European Jews.

43 solar years ago, on this day in 1975 AD, India annexed Sikkim and abolished the Chogyal monarchy. The Himalayan land of Sikkim was part of the British subcontinent, but in 1947 when India became independent, a popular vote rejected Sikkim's joining the Indian Union and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed to a special protectorate status for Sikkim. The land, however, came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defense, diplomacy and communications, but otherwise retained administrative autonomy. A state council was established in 1955 to allow for constitutional government under the Chogyal. Meanwhile, the Sikkim National Congress demanded fresh elections and greater representation for the Nepalese majority. In 1973, riots in front of the Chogyal palace led to a supposed request for protection from India. In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim reportedly appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India. In April, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal's palace guards. A referendum was held in which over 90 percent of the electorate allegedly voted to join the Indian Union. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim was formally declared the 22nd state of the Indian Union.

36 lunar years ago, on this day in 1403 AH, Iran’s lady jurisprudent and exegete of the Holy Qur’an, Bano Nosrat Amin, passed away in the central Iranian city of Isfahan at the age of 97. She was regarded as equivalent to a mujtahed, and groomed numerous lady students. She also wrote several books including a 15-volume exegesis of the Holy Qur’an titled “Makhzan al-Irfan” in Persian. She also authored for the moral uplifting of Iranian women the book “Ravesh Khoshbakhti va Towsiyeh beh Khaharan-e Imani” which means “Methods of Happiness and Prosperity for Sisters-in-Faith. Another of her excellent books is on the unsurpassed merits of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (AS) titled “Makhzan al-La’ali Manaqeb Mawla al-Mawali, Ali.” She was a staunch supporter of the Islamic Revolution and was held in deep respect by Imam Khomeini (RA).

21 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, the autocratic president of Congo (formerly Zaire), General Mobutu Sese Seko, fled after the united forces, led by Lauren Kabila, closed in on the city of Kinshasa. He came to power in the wake of a coup in 1965 and ruled Congo with an iron fist for 32 years. Although he was a violent and ruthless dictator, he was always supported by the Western regimes, especially the US and France. Congo has always been on the spotlight of the Western regimes, given its strategic position in Central Africa and existence of ample copper and diamond resources. A day after the escape of Sese Seko, the opposition forces captured Kinshasa; and Lauren Kabila was installed as the president. A while later, the refusal of Kabila to allow his Tutsi allies a share in the government, once again fanned the flames of civil war resulting in the assassination of Kabila on January 16, 2000, by one of his bodyguards.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD the researcher, author, and lecturer of Persian language and literature at Tehran University, Dr. Mahdi Derakhshan, passed away at the age of 75. For a while, he also researched and lectured at Turkey's Ankara University. He has left behind a large number of valuable compilations

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, philologist and grammarian of the Persian language, Professor Hassan Ahmad Givi, passed away at the age of 84. A prominent student of the famous Professor Badi oz-Zaman Farouzanfar, after obtaining PhD from Tehran University, for over four decades he taught at his alma mater as well as other universities. He actively participated as a contributor to the Dehkhoda Lexicon (Loghatnameh), accounting for over 20 percent of the voluminous project. He compiled over 50 books, including “A Comparative Study of Persian and Turkish Literature.”

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Takfiri terrorists backed by Saudi Arabia and the US detonated car bombs in the Shi’a Muslim neighbourhoods of Baghdad and Mosul, resulting in the martyrdom of dozens of men, women, and children, and injury to scores of others, as part of their failed plot to stir sectarian clashes in Iraq. Seven years earlier on this same day in 2006, Takfiri terrorists had raided a parking lot in a predominantly Shi’a Muslim neighborhood of Baghdad, shooting dead several guards, and leaving behind an explosives-rigged car that led to the martyrdom of over a score of would-be rescuers.

AS/MG