Today is Saturday; 16th of the Iranian month of Tir 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 23rd of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1439 lunar hijri; and July 7, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1189 lunar years, on this day in 250 AH, the city of Amol in Mazandaran was taken by the Prophet’s venerable descendant, Hassan Ibn Zayd, known as “Da’i al-Kabeer” (Elder Missionary) and “Da’iil-al-Haq” (Inviter to Truth), who was invited earlier the same year by the people of the Caspian region of Iran to deliver them from the tyranny of the usurper Abbasid regime. Sixth in line of descent from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), he had been born in Medina and was living in Rayy as faqih or jurisprudent. After taking Amol from the Taherids, who were Abbasid governors of Khorasan, he liberated Sari and the whole Tabaristan to establish the Alawid state that included Rayy. Hassan bin Zayd enlightened the people with the teachings of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, and was known for his resolute resistance against the Abbasids and their regional agents. Historians have praised him as a just and equitable ruler, possessing rare energy as a sincerely religious man, well educated, and a patron of letters. He passed away in Amol on 3^rd Rajab 270 AH, after a twenty-year reign. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Mohammad, known as “Da’i as-Sagheer” (Younger Missionary), who during his 16 year-rule, until martyrdom while fighting the invading Samanid forces, continued his brother’s enlightened policies and rebuilt the holy shrines in Karbala and Najaf.

894 solar years ago, on this day in 1124 AD, the city of Tyre and its surrounding region fell to the Crusader hordes of Europe 25 years after these invaders had seized the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas from the Fatemid Shi’a Ismaili Muslim dynasty of Egypt. Earlier in 1111, the Muslims had beaten back the Christian Crusaders from the wall of Tyre. Called Sur in Arabic, Tyre and its adjoining areas were finally liberated in 1291 by the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt that drove back to Europe the Crusader hordes. Present-day Tyre, which is predominantly inhabited by Shi’a Muslims with a small minority of Christians and some Palestinian Sunni Muslim refugees, covers a large part of the original island and has expanded onto and covers most of the causeway, which had increased greatly in width over the centuries because of extensive silt depositions on either side. The part of the original island that is not covered by the modern city of Tyre consists mostly of an archaeological site showcasing remains of the city from ancient times. Tyre was badly damaged in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the Zionists, who nearly destroyed it through artillery bombardment. It was used by Israel as a military base, until its liberation by Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, the Hezbollah.

806 lunar years ago, on this day in 633 AH, Cordoba (Qurtuba in Arabic), the former capital of the Omayyad state of Andalusia or Islamic Spain, fell to King Ferdinand III of Castile after a 7-month siege, thus ending 520 glorious years of Muslim rule, which saw the city win worldwide acclaim as a centre of science and civilization at a time Christian Europe was immersed in darkness. Although Cordoba's political and administrative decline had begun half-a-century earlier when the al-Muwahhedin Dynasty shifted the capital to Seville after defeating the al-Murabetun Dynasty, it was still the cultural centre of Andalusia, with libraries and schools that over the centuries produced outstanding scholars in various fields such as Ibn Hazm the poet and grammarian, Ibn Saffar the mathematician, al-Bakri the historian and geographer, al-Ghafiqi the botanist, az-Zahrawi the physician, al-Qurtubi the exegete of the holy Qur'an, and Abbas ibn Firnas, the polymath who experimented with a flying machine some thousand years before the airplane was invented. The decline of Muslims in Spain was the result of fratricide and treachery. The death of Yusuf II in 621 led to a crisis of succession, providing the Christian rulers an opportunity for intervention, especially when the claimant, Abdullah al-Adel, began to ship the bulk of his forces across the straits to Morocco to contest the succession with his rival there, leaving Andalusia undefended. At this, al-Adel's cousin, Abdullah al-Bayyasi appealed to Ferdinand III for military aid and with the help of the Christian army was installed as Amir in Cordoba, in return for surrendering strategic frontier strongholds. Soon, when al-Bayyasi was killed by a popular uprising of the people of Cordoba, Ferdinand occupied more Muslim territory. In 625 AH when the al-Muwahhedin ruler in Seville, Abdul-Ala Idris I, made the fatal mistake of abandoning Spain, and left with the remnant of his forces for Morocco, Andalusia was left fragmented in the hands of local chiefs, led loosely by Mohammad ibn Yusuf ibn Houd al-Judhami. At this, the Christian kings - Ferdinand III of Castile, Alfonso IX of Leon, James I of Aragon and Sancho II of Portugal - immediately launched a series of raids. Houd's army was destroyed and the Christian armies romped through the south virtually unopposed, as Muslim cities fell one by one, with little or no prospect of rescue from North Africa. Ferdinand seized Badajoz and Mérida, followed by Cazorla, Ubeda and Cordoba, from where he continued his march over the next 12 years to occupy Murcia, Cartagena and finally Seville, the al-Muwahhedin capital, leaving only a rump Andalusian state, the Emirate of Granada, unconquered.

495 solar years ago, on this day in 1593 AD, the black African Islamic philosopher and Arabic grammarian, Mohammad Bagayogo as-Sudani al-Wangari, passed away at the age of 70 in Timbuktu in Mali. He was the Sheikh and teacher of the highly esteemed scholar, Ahmed Baba at the Sankore Madrasah, one of three philosophical schools in Mali during West Africa's Islamic golden age (the other two were Sidi Yahya University and Jingaray Ber University). A significant amount of his writings has been preserved in manuscript form in the Institute Ahmed Baba of Timbuktu. Some of the manuscripts found their way into French museums. A project is under way to digitalise these manuscripts which will lead to better understanding of the Islamic culture that flourished in Mali in the medieval period. Mohammed Bagayogo also has a place in Mali’s political history for his refusal to comply with Moroccan occupiers.

288 lunar years ago, on this day in 1151 AH, the scholar Mir Mohammad Hussain Khatoonabadi, passed away. He learned Islamic sciences under his father Mohammad Saleh and maternal grandfather the famous Allamah Mohammad Baqer Majlisi. An authority in hadith, jurisprudent and both Arabic and Persian literature, he wrote several books, including “al-Alwah as-Samawiyya” (Heavenly Tablets). The family traced its descent from Hasan al-Aftas, a grandson of the Prophet’s 4^th Infallible Heir, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), and had been invited to Iran from Medina.

248 solar years ago, on this day in 1770 AD, the Battle of Larga between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire took place. It was fought in what is now Romania on the banks of River Larga, a tributary of River Pruth, by an invading force of Russia led by Field-Marshal Rumyantsev, and a joint defence force of Crimean Muslim Tatar and Ottoman Turks, under the command of Kaplan Giray. The battle ended in victory for the Russian invaders, who two weeks later defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Kagul.

211 solar years ago, on this day in 1807 AD, the Treaty of Tilsit was signed by Alexander I of Russia and French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, in the Russian town of the same name, pledging assistance to each other in case of attack by a third country. Three years later in 1810, the treaty collapsed and in 1812, Napoleon launched his massive attack on Russia, but the frosty winter forced him to retreat from Moscow in loss and humiliation.

96 solar years ago, on this day in 1922 AD, the scholar Ayatollah Zain al-Abedin bin Ismail Marandi, passed away at the age of 72 and was laid to rest in the Wadi as-Salaam (Valley of Peace) Cemetery in Holy Najaf in Iraq. After preliminary studies in his hometown Marand in Iran’s East Azarbaijan Province, he left for Iraq to study at the Najaf Seminary under celebrated scholars such as Mirza Habibollah Rashti and Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi (famous for his fatwa against tobacco consumption to save Iran’s economy from British exploitation). He was “Marja’ Taqleed” or Source of Emulation for most Azeri people.

89 solar years ago, on this day 1929 AD, Pakistani journalist and poet, Hassan Abedi was born in Jaunpur, India and educated in Azamgarh and Allahabad. After partition of the Subcontinent in 1947, he moved to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. He became president of the Karachi Press Club and held office in both the Karachi Union of Journalists and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists. He was also an active member of the Irteqa Forum for promotion of the Urdu language and literature. His collections of poetry are “Navisht-e Nai” (1995), “Jareeda” (1998) and “Farar Hona Huroof ka” (2004). Although he wrote classical ghazals as well as poetry for children, his poetical odes are a narrative of the socio-political aspects of the society. He persistently elegizes the changing value system that he finds alien and disconcerting.

88 solar years ago, on this day in 1930 AD, Scottish physician and author, Arthur Conan Doyle, who is famous for creating the fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, died.

81 solar years ago, on this day in 1937 AD, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, signed the Treaty of Sa'dabad in the palace of the same name in Tehran, as a non-aggression pact for joint regional development. In 1943, it was extended and in 1955 it was renamed the Baghdad Pact, with Pakistan replacing Afghanistan. Later, following military coups and rise of Arab nationalism, Iraq withdrew. The Baghdad Pact was subsequently named CENTO (Central Treaty Organization) with Britain and the US as observers. A sister organization for social-cultural affairs was established in 1964 by Iran, Turkey and Pakistan under the title Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD). In 1979, following the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, Iran withdrew as a result of which both CENTO and RCD were dissolved. In 1985, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan decided to set up a new non-military body in its place, named the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which in the early 1990s turned into a 10-nation body, with the joining of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrghizstan, and Afghanistan.

81 solar years ago, on this day in 1937 AD, the jurisprudent Ayatollah Mirza Abu’l-Huda Karbasi, passed away and was laid to rest in Isfahan’s Takht-e Foulad Cemetery. A product of the holy Najaf Seminary of Iraq, he was a student of the prominent scholars, Ayatollah Akhound Mullah Mohammad Kazem Khorasani and Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Yazdi. He wrote several books such as “al-Badr at-Tamaam”.

40 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean gained independence from British rule. The Solomon Islands cover an area of almost 29,000 sq km. These Islands are situated northeast of Australia.

32 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, the Iranian poet, Seyyed Reza Hussaini, passed away at the age of 76. A devotee of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, he was known as Sa’di of the Age – in reference to the immortal Persian poet, Sheikh Sa’di of Shiraz. An outstanding elegist in Azeri language, he composed moving mournful poems on the sufferings endured by the Blessed Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He was well versed in Persian, Arabic, and Turkic, besides excellent knowledge of theology, jurisprudence, exegesis of the holy Qur’an, law, hadith, history, and logic. He has several poetical compilations to his credit such as “Lum’aat-e Hussaini”, “Nojoum-e Darakhshan” and “Bahar-e Bi-Khazaan”.

13 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, an explosion in a bus and three subway stations in downtown London killed 50 people and wounded 700 others. These attacks took place concurrent with G8 Summit in Scotland. According to political experts, London bombings took place in protest to collaboration of the British regime with the US in occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the massacre of Afghan and Iraqi people. On the other hand, these blasts showed the weakness of British intelligence system in providing security. The British blamed these blasts without any evidence on the Muslims and increased pressure on Britain’s growing Muslim community.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, terrorists backed by the US and Saudi regime, triggered a bomb blast in Armili, a farming town of mostly Shi’ite Muslims of Iraq's ethnic Turkoman minority, martyring over a 150 innocent men, women, and children, and wounding over 200 others.

AS/SS