Today is Sunday, 20th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 25th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1439 lunar hijri; and June 10, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1908 solar years ago, on this day in 110 AD, following 50 years of peace with the Parthian Empire, the Roman army under orders of Emperor Trajan attacked Armenia which was a northwestern province of the Iranian Empire. After two years, the Iranians liberated Armenia and drove out the Romans.

1264 solar years ago, on this day in 754 AD, Abu’l-Abbas al-Saffah, the first self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, died after a rule of four years, following the overthrow of the Godless Omayyad dynasty, and was succeeded by his crafty and cruel brother, Mansour Dawaniqi. Named Abdullah, he claimed descent from Abbas, an uncle of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Although he returned the vast orchard of Fadak to the Prophet's progeny, from whom it was seized by the first and second caliphs, he usurped political power of the state himself, despite the deceptive slogan of his political-military campaign to return to the Ahl al-Bayt the rule of the Islamic realm. The reason he is known as 'as-Saffah' (Shedder of blood), is because of his ruthless massacre of the Omayyads, whose male members he exterminated, almost to the last single person, except for a youth called Abdur-Rahman, who managed to flee Syria to Spain, where he seized power and set up a dynasty that ruled for a century. Saffah also dug up the graves of the Omayyads in Damascus, including that of their founder, Mu'awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, and burned their bones and skeletons.

1078 solar years ago, on this day in 940 AD, the Islamic-Iranian mathematician and astronomer, Abu'l-Wafa Mohammad ibn Mohammad ibn Yahya al-Bouzjani, was born in the northeastern Iranian town of Bouzhgan (present day Torbat-e Jam) in Khorasan. After acquiring the sciences of the day, he moved to Baghdad at the age of 19 and remained there for forty years. He made important innovations in spherical trigonometry, and his work on arithmetic for businessmen contains the first instance of using negative numbers in an Islamic text. He was the first to build a wall quadrant to observe the sky. Bouzjani participated in an experiment to determine the difference in local time between his location in Baghdad and that of his famous contemporary, Abu Rayhan al-Berouni in Kath, Khwarezm, which is now part of the Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan. The result was very close to present-day calculations, showing a difference of approximately 1 hour between the two longitudes. The 3rd Lunar Inequality (the variation) was first discovered by Bouzjani, a fact admitted by European scientist, Tycho Brahe, who often quotes this Iranian Islamic scientist's work. His "Kitab al-Majisti" (Almajest) covers numerous topics in the fields of plane and spherical trigonometry, planetary theory, and solutions to determine the direction of Qibla – the focal point of the daily ritual prayers for Muslims worldwide. The crater “Abu'l-Wafa” on the Moon is named after him. Bouzjani wrote several books that have not survived, including “Tarikh-e Ilm al-Hesab” (The History of Calculus).

898 lunar years ago, on this day in 541 AH, the renowned Spanish Muslim hadith scholar and exegete of the Holy Qur’an, Abdul-Haqq Ibn Ghaleb Ibn Abdur-Rahman, popular as Ibn Atiyyah, passed away at the age of 60. His father was a well-known scholar of Fiqh and Hadith, who traveled to the eastern parts of the Muslim world to learn under scholars of repute, and on return was appointed judge in Granada. Ibn Atiyyah studied under his father and later under other scholars. He was a meticulous scholar, and did not confine himself to Islamic studies, but read in all fields, feeling that this would give him a better understanding of the holy Qur’an. He traveled to many centers and cities of Islamic Spain, meeting scholars and learning from them. He later became a judge in Muria. Since Muslims in Spain were under attack by Christians, he joined the army and fought in several battles, in addition to writing to rulers and reminding them of their duty to Islam. Ibn Atiyyah wrote several books, including “al-Ansaab”. A short work by him titled “al-Barnamaj” contains biographies of his teachers. He wrote poetry as well, but his main and voluminous work is a commentary on the holy Qur’an, entitled “al-Muharrar Al-Wajeez”, which reflects his knowledge in a variety of disciplines.

894 lunar years ago, on this day in 544 AH, the famous Iranian Sunni Muslim theologian, exegete and polymath, Mohammad ibn Omar ibn Hussain at-Taymi at-Tabaristani, popular as Fakhr od-Din Razi, was born in the city of Rayy – presently a southern suburb of modern Tehran. Descended from the first caliph, Abu Bakr through his son, Mohammad – a staunch devotee of Imam Ali (AS) and his God-given authority – he first studied with his father, and later under Majd al-Jili, who was a student of Ghazali. His commentary on the holy Qur'an titled “Tafsir al-Kabir” is the most varied and many-sided of all extant works of the kind. He has analyzed and admitted the merits of the Ahl al-Bayt or Blessed Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and has explicitly said, on the basis of authentic hadith concerning ayah 33 of Surah Ahzaab, that the Verse of Purity relates to Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), Imam Ali (AS) and their sons Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS), and does not include the wives of the Prophet as some allege. He taught at Rayy, journeyed all over the eastern Islamic world, as far as Khwarezm and the court of Shams od-Din Aibak of northern India. He settled in Herat where he became head of an academy, and passed away in this same city. He wrote on medicine, physics, astrology, literature, history and law. Among his several compilations, mention can be made of the encyclopedic work "Jame' al-Oloum".

828 solar years ago, on this day in 1190 AD, leader of the Third Crusade against Muslims, the self-styled Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa of Germany, drowned in River Saleph, known currently as Goksu Nehri in what is now Turkey. On the instructions of Pope Urban III, he had assembled a huge army in alliance with the kings of France and England, and marched overland towards Syria through the Byzantine Empire, but before reaching his cherished goal, i.e. the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas in Palestine, Barbarossa and his horse were struck by divine wrath and swept away to a terrible death that aborted the joint military campaign against Muslims. His leaderless army lost heart and fled, and many European Christian knights, afraid of fighting Muslims, committed suicide.

805 solar years ago, on this day in 1213 AD, Iranian philosopher and Sufi writer, Fakhr od-Din Ibrahim Iraqi, was born in Hamedan, western Iran. He spent many years in Multan, (present day Pakistan) as well as in Konya and Toqat in present day Turkey. He was highly educated in both theology and literary disciplines and not only knew the Holy Qur'an, hadith and its exegesis, but also Persian and Arabic literature. In Multan he became a disciple of the Head of the Suhrawardi Sufi Order, Shaikh Baha od-Din Zakariyya, married his daughter, and stayed for twenty-five years. He then traveled first to Mecca and Medina, and later visited Konya, where he became a good friend of the famous Persian mystical poet, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Rumi. He also met Sadr od-Din Qunawi, who helped to shape him intellectually, as Shaikh Baha od-Din Zakariyya had shaped him spiritually. After Rumi's death, he moved to Toqat, at a time when there was much upheaval on the Byzantine border. The local ruler did not like him because of his influence over the people; so he fled to Cairo in Egypt. Later he settled in Damascus where he died at the age of 78. His writings include “Lama’at” (Divine Flashes). His Diwan has been published in Iran under the title “Kulliyaat-e Iraqi”. Another of his works is the “Ushshaq-Namah” written during his stay in Multan and dedicated to the vizier Shams od-Din Juwayni.

754 lunar years ago, on this day in 685 AH, the Mongols were decisively defeated at the Battle of Ayn Jalout in Palestine by the Egyptian Mamluk Sultan Saif od-Din Qutuz and his able general, Zaheer od-Din Baibars (the next Sultan). This victory over Hulagu Khan's famous Christian Turkic general, Kitbuqa Noyan, ended the threat to Egypt, a few years after the sack of Baghdad and subjugation of Syria.

744 lunar years ago, on this day in 695 AH, the scholar Abu Abdullah Mohammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Khalil al-Khu’i ash-Shafe’i ad-Dameshqi, the author of “Sharh Fosoul Ibn Ma'at”, passed away.

689 solar years ago, on this day in 1329 AD, the Battle of Pelekanon resulted in a Byzantine defeat by the rising power of the Ottoman Turks, led by Orhan I. The defeat suffered by Emperor Andronicus III meant that no Byzantine army would again attempt to attack Anatolia. The Ottomans built up a strong base from which they eventually swept away the Byzantine Empire as a whole, a century-and-a-half later.

302 lunar years ago, on this day in 1137 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic scholar, Baha od-Din Mohammad ibn Taj od-din Hassan Isfahani, popular as Faazel-e Hindi, because he had accompanied his father to India, passed away in his hometown Isfahan. He was a child prodigy, and as a student of the famous Allamah Mohammad Baqer Majlisi, he reached the level of Ijtehad at a relatively young age. He was an authority on theology and philosophy, having summarized the celebrated Iranian-Islamic genius Ibn Sina’s famous philosophical work “ash-Shifa”. After the passing away of Allamah Majlisi and Aqa Jamal Khwansari, he was known as the “Mujtahed”. Faazel-e Hindi groomed a large number of scholars and wrote almost a hundred books and treatises on various topics, including an exegesis of the Holy Qur'an and the work titled “Kashf al-Latham”. His grave in the Takht-e Foulad Cemetery is beside the grave of Mullah Mohammad Fazl, known as Faazel-e Na’ini, and therefore their graves have been commonly called as “Faazelaan” among the people.

232 solar years ago, on this day in 1786 AD, a landslide dam on the Dadu River created by an earthquake ten days earlier collapsed, killing 100,000 in China’s Sichuan province.

228 solar years ago, on this day in 1790 AD, British troops attacked and occupied Malaya. Upon the infiltration of Britain, the Dutch troops were forced to retreat from Malaya and even parts of Indonesia. In 1824, British sovereignty was firmly established in what is now Malaysia, while Indonesia remained a colony of the Netherlands called the Dutch East Indies. These two European powers wantonly looted the wealth of these two Muslim lands. Malaysia gained independence from British rule in 1956 while Indonesia gained independence in 1957.

213 solar years ago, on this day in 1805 AD, the First Barbary War ended when the Ottoman Pasha (governor) of Tripolitania (Western Libya), Yusuf Karamanli, signed a treaty ending hostilities with the United States, which was forced to pay huge war indemnity. The war occurred off the coast of Tripolitania between the North African Berber Muslim states and the intruding US fleet. The principalities of Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis, which were quasi-independent entities nominally under the Ottoman Empire, along with the semi-independent Sultanate of Morocco, defeated the US navy. The war lasted four years, and the US, as per the advice of France and Spain had to pay war indemnities in order to procure the release of its prisoners. In 1815, the US, now no longer engaged in hostilities with Britain, again attacked the North African states in the Second Barbary War. With Ottoman naval power on the wane and the Mediterranean Sea no longer the Turkish Lake of the past three centuries; the Barbary States were forced to seek peace by paying heavy damages to the US. Within decades, European powers built more sophisticated ships which the Turks and the Barbary States could not match in numbers or technology. These iron-clad warships of the late 19th century and the early 20th century ensured European dominance of the Mediterranean. As a result Algeria and Tunis were occupied by France, although the Turks continued to hold Tripolitania (Libya) till 1911, when it fell to Fascist Italy.

182 solar years ago, on this day in 1836 AD, French mathematician and physicist, Andre Marie Ampere, died. He lectured at the Paris Polytechnic and made important discoveries. He invented the electrical telegraph. He is known as the founder of electrodynamics, now known as electromagnetism. To honour his efforts, the unit of electrical current has been named after him, as Ampere.

106 solar years ago, on this day in 1912 AD, Iranian meteorologist and academic, Mohammad Hassan Ganji, was born in Birjand, in Khorasan. He is credited as being the father of modern geography in Iran. He established the Iran Meteorological Organization in 1955 and served as the head of Iran's Department General of Meteorology from 1956 to 1968. He died in Tehran at the age of one hundred years.

91 lunar years ago, on this day in 1348 AH, the prominent scholar Seyyed Mohammad Taqi Musavi Isfahani, popular as Faqih Ahmadabadi, passed away in his hometown Isfahan at the age of 47. A brilliant orator and poet, he studied under the leading ulema of his time, and in turn groomed many students. He had the honour of meeting the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS), the Prophet of Islam’s 12th and Last Infallible Heir, who will reappear in the end times to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice. He wrote several books including the famous one titled “Mikyaal al-Makarem fi Fawa’ed ad-Du’a lil-Qa’em” which has been printed many times in Iran, and contains supplications from Imam Mahdi (AS)

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1967 AD, the Six-Day War ended, a day after the illegal Zionist entity’s final offensive in Syria’s Golan Heights and Damascus’ agreeing to a ceasefire, with large parts of its territory, as well as that of Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, occupied by Israel. With military backing from the US, the Zionist entity seized Gaza and Sinai from Egypt, Bayt al-Moqaddas and the West Bank from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and southern parts of Lebanon. The Israelis violated all international norms by killing 300 Egyptian prisoners of war.

48 solar years ago, on this day in 1970 AD, Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Saeedi, attained martyrdom in the Shah's dungeons as a result of torture, at the age of 41. A student of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), he was active in the 15th of Khordad Uprising (of June 5, 1963). He believed that mosques are bastions for enlightening people, especially youths, and in his speeches exposed the crimes of the Zionists in Palestine. As a result, he was detained and tortured by the Shah's regime on several occasions. He wrote many books including "Ittehad al-Islam".

42 solar years ago, on this day in 1976 AD, Iranian Taekwondo champion, Hadi Sa’ei was born in Rayy, the southern suburb of Tehran. He became the most successful Iranian athlete in Olympic history after winning gold in the 2008 Summer Olympics. He competed in the Men's 68 kg (featherweight) at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal. In addition, he competed in the Men's 80 kg at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won his second Olympic gold. Earlier in his career, in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Sa’ei had won bronze medal.

19 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, scientists reported wintertime cloud of air pollution the size of the US over the Indian Ocean. The soot and sulfur cloud covered an area of 3.8 million sq. miles.

18 solar years ago, on this day in 2000 AD, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, passed away at the age of 70. He was instated as air force commander of Syria in 1964 and appointed defence minister in 1967 in the aftermath of the 6-day war imposed by Israel. Following a coup in 1970, he was elected leader of the Ba'th Party and was subsequently elected as president in a referendum. During his 30 years as president, he developed Syria and brought stability to a country where governments used to last not more than a year because of coups and counter-coups. He carried out reforms and played a major role in the 1973 war along with Egypt against the illegal Zionist entity, but because of massive US and western support for Israel, Syria was defeated and the Golan Heights continued to be occupied. The main feature of his foreign policy was refusal to compromise with Israel. He was a member of the Alawite Muslim sect and a firm supporter of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, a factor that made the West and Arab reactionary regimes despise him. After him, his son Bashar al-Assad was elected as president and is steadfastly serving the Syrian people despite the massive invasion of Syria by thousands of heavily armed terrorists from around the world, supported by Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and Britain.

June 10 is celebrated as World Handicraft Day worldwide under the auspices of   the World Crafts Council (WCC), affiliated to UNESCO. Iranian artists have used the occasion to draw international attention to Iran’s unique art forms, including the Persian carpet. Iran is home to one of the richest art heritages and handicrafts in world history and distinguished in many disciplines, including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking, stone masonry etc.

AS/ME