Today is Saturday; 5th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 10th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1439 lunar hijri; and May 26, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1567 solar years ago, on this day in 451 AD, the Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire took place in what is now the Republic of Armenia in the Caucasus. The Iranians led by Yazdegerd II defeated the Armenians militarily, but were unable to reconvert them to Zoroastrianism. In 484, Emperor Peroz I, as per the Treaty of Nvarsak, granted the Armenians freedom to openly practice Christianity, after the Armenian Church formally separated from the Latin Catholic Church of Rome and the Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople.

1442 lunar years ago, on this day, three years before Hijra, the First Lady of Islam, Omm al-Momineen or Mother of all True Believers, Hazrat Khadija (SA), passed away in Mecca. She spent 25 years of marital bliss with Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and as long as she was alive, the Prophet never took another spouse. A staunch monotheist, following the creed of Prophet Abraham, when 15 years after her marriage God formally entrusted her husband with the universal message of Islam, she promptly believed in his mission. As the richest lady of Arabia, she spent all her wealth for the promotion of Islam, and to feed, clothe and shelter the persecuted neo Muslim community, to the extent that when she breathed her last there was no monetary or property inheritance left for her orphaned daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA). Since within a year of the passing away of Hazrat Khadijah (SA), the Prophet lost to the cold hands of death his loving uncle and guardian, Hazrat Abu Taleb (AS), the year has become famous in Islamic history as “Aam al-Hozn" (Year of Grief). The Prophet cherished the memory of the faithful Khadija (SA) till the end of his life, despite marrying several women out of social necessity in the last ten years of his life.

1379 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3^rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), received the first batch of letters in Mecca from the notables of Kufa inviting him to Iraq for deliverance of the Islamic realm from the Godless rule of Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah. In due course, the number of these letters reached 12,000, and the Imam sent his cousin, Muslim ibn Aqeel, to Iraq to probe the situation. When the tyrant Yazid sent assassins in the garb of pilgrims to assassinate him, the Imam, in order to safeguard the inviolable sanctity of the holy Ka’ba and its surroundings from any spilling of blood, left for Iraq, where those who had ardently invited him, not just turned their backs upon him, but ganged up with the brutal Omayyad hordes to cruelly martyr him, his family members, and his companions, on the plain of Karbala.

1190 solar years ago, on this day in 818 AD, as per the Gregorian Calendar, Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Reza (AS), the 8^th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was martyred, through poisoning in the city of Toos, Khorasan, northeastern Iran, by the crafty Abbasid caliph, Mamoun. The 8^th Imam, whose blessings are evident to all, needs no introduction. Today Toos is known as Mashhad – short form of "Mashhad-ar-Reza" or Martyrdom Place of Imam Reza (AS). The sprawling golden-domed shrine of the Imam draws millions of pilgrims from all over Iran and the world, while there is no trace of even the graves of the Abbasid or Omayyad caliphs, anywhere in any Muslim land.

954 lunar years ago, on this day in 485 AH, the renowned vizier of the Seljuqid Dynasty, Hassan Ibn Ali Ibn Ishaq Tusi, titled Khwajah Nizam ul-Mulk, was assassinated near Nahavand at the age of 75 while on his way to Baghdad from the capital Isfahan. Born in the northeastern city of Tous, he initially served the Ghaznavid sultans as chief administrator of Khorasan Province. Four years later with the rise of the Seljuqs, he served as vizier to the Sultans, Alp Arslan and Malik Shah I. He set up schools of higher education in several cities, which were named after him as Nizamiyyah and turned out to be models of universities that were later established in Europe. Nizam ul-Mulk is also widely known for his treatise on kingship titled "Siyasat-Nama" or "Siyar al-Molouk" (Book of Government). Although it is claimed he was stabbed by a member of the Assassins (corruption of Hashshashin) sent by his former friend, Hassan Sabbah of Alamut, his son-in-law Muqatel Ibn Atiyyah, has said he was assassinated in the same year as Malik Shah I after a debate between Sunni and Shi'a Muslim scholars that led to his and the Sultan’s conversion to the Creed of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.

725 solar years ago, on this day in 1293 AD, an earthquake struck Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 30,000.

597 solar years ago, on this day in 1421 AD, the 5^th Ottoman Sultan, Mohammad I Chalabi, died after a reign of 8 years, at the age of 31 and was buried at Bursa. He was a son of Bayezid I, while his mother was Dowlat Khatun, was a daughter of Yaqoub Shah, the ruler of the principality of Germiyan and a descendant of the famous Iranian mystic and Persian poet, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi. Although his 8-year reign as sultan started with his victory at the Battle of Jamurlu over Musa Chalabi, his brother, Mohammad I as the most powerful brother contending for the throne, was the de facto ruler of most of the empire for nearly the whole preceding period of 11 years of the Ottoman Interregnum since his father's defeat and capture at Ankara by Amir Timur.

506 solar years ago, on this day in 1512 AD, the 8^th Ottoman sultan, Bayezid II, died after a 31-year reign, a month after being forced to abdicate the throne by his rebellious son, Selim I. Bayezid II, who brutally suppressed several popular uprisings by the Qizilbash or Shi’a Muslims of Anatolia that were influenced by the Safavid Empire of Iran, is notable for resettling tens of thousands of Jews from Spain throughout the Ottoman Empire after proclamation of the Alhambra Decree by the Christian rulers of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. Bayezid II engaged in numerous campaigns to conquer the Venetian possessions in Morea. The last of these wars ended in 1501 with his gaining control of the whole Peloponnese Peninsula or present day southern Greece.

381 solar years ago, on this day in 1637 AD, A combined Protestant and Mohegan force under the English Captain John Mason attacked a Pequot village in Connecticut, massacring over 500 Native Americans. The white settlers from Europe were notorious for their genocide of the so-called Red Indians, and their enslavement of the black people kidnapped from Africa and made to toil as slaves in the New World.

365 solar years ago, on this day in 1653 AD, Robert Filmer, the English political theorist who irrationally defended the divine right of kings, died at the age of 65. His best known work, “Patriarcha”, published posthumously in 1680, was the target of numerous Whig attempts at rebuttal, including Algernon Sidney's “Discourses Concerning Government”, James Tyrrell's “Patriarcha Non Monarcha” and John Locke's “Two Treatises of Government”. Filmer also wrote critiques of Thomas Hobbes, John Milton, Hugo Grotius and Aristotle, but he failed to prove his divine right theory.

315 solar years ago, on this day in 1703 AD, British naval administrator and Member of Parliament, Samuel Pepys, who is now most famous for the detailed diary of important events he kept for a decade, died at the age of 70. Through hard work and talent for administration, he rose to be Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and subsequently King James II. The detailed private diary Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published in the 19^th century and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of such important events, as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London.  Often regarded as the most celebrated diary, it contains over a million words, and the author’s frankness in writing his own weaknesses, has made historians ascertain the accuracy of his record of daily British life and major events in the 17^th century.

164 lunar years ago, on this day in 1275 AH, the prominent scholar of Iraq, Sheikh Hussain ibn Shaikh Radhi ibn Sheikh Nasar an-Najafi, passed away.

135 solar years ago, on this day in 1883 AD, Algerian freedom fighter, Seyyed Abdul-Qader ibn Mohi od-Din al-Hassani al-Jaza'iri, died in Damascus, Syria at the age of 75, and was buried near the tomb of the famous Spanish Muslim Gnostic, Sheikh Mohi od-Din Ibn Arabi. Born near Mascara in Oran in Algeria, he claimed descent from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). In 1825, he set out for the Hajj pilgrimage. In Mecca, he met with and was impressed by Imam Shamil of Daghestan, the leader of the struggle against Russian expansion in the Caucasus which had recently been seized by the Czar from the Qajarid rulers of Iran. He also visited Syria and Iraq. After five years, he returned to his homeland in 1830 a few months before the Ottoman Turks lost it to the French invaders. He led the military struggle against France, organizing guerrilla warfare over the next decade. His failure to get support from the eastern tribes and the Berbers of the west led to the quelling of his uprising. On December 21, 1847, after being denied refuge in Morocco because of French pressure, he surrendered and was exiled to France, where he remained under detention until 1852. He was released on taking an oath never again to question French rule in Algeria. In 1855 he settled in Damascus, where he died this day. During the Druze-Christian riots of 1860 in Damascus, he had sheltered a large number of Christians, earning praise and awards from European states and the USA. Unfortunately, Abdul-Qader had became a member of the notorious Jewish secret organization, the Freemasons in 1864. Among the books he wrote, the “Call to the Intelligent, Warning to the Indifferent” and “The Arabian Horse” could be mentioned.

110 solar years ago, on this day in 1908 AD, oil was recovered for the first time in Iran in the Masjid Suleiman area in the southwest, at a 60-meter depth, with oil gushing up to a height of 25 meters. The Masjid Suleiman area is of paramount importance in regard to its mines and hydrocarbons and up to now more than 250 oil wells have been drilled. Iran also possesses the world’s second largest natural gas reserves as well. Oil seepages had been noted for centuries in Iran, where the oozing was used for such purposes as the caulking of boats and the binding of bricks.

52 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, Guyana became independent from centuries of British rule, and four years later became a republic. Guyana was occupied by the Spanish in late 15^th century and seized by Britain in the 17^th century. Situated in South America with a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, Guyana’s indigenous people are the Arawak-speaking Lucayan, part of the Taino people, who are now a minority in their own homeland. The country has a population of 10 percent Muslims, while a slight majority of the national population is made up of Guyanese of Indian origin.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the 6-nation Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), was set up by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman. The goals were given as economic, political, and military coordination to deter foreign threats to the region, but the PGCC has turned out to be an instrument of US neo-colonialist policies in the Persian Gulf, and indulges in sowing seeds of discord and fanning ethnic tensions among Muslims of the region.

37 lunar years ago, on this day in 1402 AH, prominent Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Mohammad Sadouqi, was martyred by MKO terrorists while leading the Friday Prayer in his hometown Yazd. Born in a scholarly family tracing its descent from the famous jurisprudent, Abu Ja’far Mohammad ibn Ali Ibn Bab, popular as Shaikh Sadouq, after initial studies in Yazd and Isfahan, he studied Islamic sciences and theology in holy Qom for 21 years. His teachers included Ayatollah Shaikh Abdul-Karim Ha’iri Yazdi, Ayatollah Seyyed Sadr od-Din as-Sadr, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Taqi Khwansari, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi, and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him). He was politically active against the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime, beginning from the famous 15^th of Khordad Uprising. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was elected to the Assembly of Experts, and played a valuable role in preparation of Islamic Iran’s Constitution. As a representative of Imam Khomeini, and the Friday Prayer leader of Yazd, he spared no efforts to develop the region, and also visited the frontlines of the war imposed by the US through Saddam.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, Dr. Ali Akbar Siyasi, the Father of Modern Iranian Psychology, passed away in his hometown Tehran at the age of 92. He was a notable and important Iranian intellectual, psychologist and politician during the 1930s and 1960s, serving as the country's Foreign Minister, Minister of Education, Chancellor of University of Tehran, and Minister of State without portfolio. He drafted bill and law for National Compulsory Free Education, and took necessary measures for its enforcement. Besides he was a permanent member of the Persian Academy, president of Iranian Psychological Association; and co-founder of the Iranian Youth Association. Among the books he wrote are “Introduction to Philosophy” (1947), “Logic and Methodology” (1948), “Mind and Body” (1953), “The Psychology of Avicenna and its similarities with Modern Psychology” (1954), “Logic and Philosophy” (1958), “Intelligence and Reason” (1962), “Criminal Psychology” (1964), and “Psychology of Personality” (1975).

13 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, Iran’s celebrated Mo’azzen or Caller to Prayer, Rahim Mo’azzen Zadeh Ardabili, passed away in Tehran at the age of 80. Born in Ardabil in a religious family; his father Abdul-Karim Mo’azzen-Zadeh Ardabili was himself a Mo’azzen, whose Azan was broadcast on line by the radio, every morning from 1943 to1947, from Tehran’s Grand Imam Mosque in the Main Bazaar. In 1947, on his death, he was succeeded by his son, Rahim Mo’azaen-Zadeh, both at the mosque and on radio. His famous prayer call (Azan) is in Bayat Turk Style (a style in Persian music), and it was performed on the radio station located in 15^th Khordad Square in 1955. This Azan is still broadcast by the radio and the TV. He used to say: “During the last years, a spiritual pride had been along with me for recording this prayer call, and this spiritual wealth is enough for me.”

AS/SS