Today is Sunday; 21st of the Iranian month of Mordad 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 29th of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1439 lunar hijri; and August 12, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

Several millennia ago, after the descent of Adam (AS) and Eve (SA) on Planet Earth, the Almighty Creator showered one of His permanent blessings on the first human pair and their offspring that would multiply and spread around the globe, by sending the structure of the holy Ka’ba on the very spot that ages before had emerged as the first piece of dry land from under waters, in what is now Mecca. Thus Adam (AS) built the cubic-shaped edifice as the first-ever model of a house and dedicated it to the worship of the Unseen but Omnipresent God. It was rebuilt by Prophet Abraham (AS), after the damage it had suffered in the Great Deluge of the day of Prophet Noah (AS), while the rituals of its pilgrimage, the Hajj, were finalized by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). It is the focal point of worship for Muslims all over the world, and not a single moment passes as the earth rotates on its axis while revolving around the sun to determine minutes, hours, days and nights, when people around the globe are not bowing towards it. The only person ever born in the holy Ka’ba, by the Will of God, is the Prophet’s divinely-decreed vicegerent Imam Ali (AS).

2048 solar years ago, on this day in 30 BC, Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, committed suicide, by means of an asp bite, twelve days after her lover, the Roman general, Marcus Antonius (Mark Anthony), killed himself in cowardly manner following his defeat in the Battle of Actium against Octavian – later Emperor Augustus Caesar. The 39-year old queen was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes – descendant of Alexander of Macedonia’s Greek general, Ptolemy Soter, who following end of the Iranian Achaemenid Empire’s almost 150-year rule over Egypt, turned it into the Ptolemaic kingdom. A promiscuous woman, she successively married – as per the pagan Pharaonic Egyptian custom – her two brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, before becoming sole ruler of Egypt. When Roman dictator Julius Caesar entered Egypt she seduced him, becoming his mistress and giving birth to a son outside wedlock, named Caesarion, whom Caesar never acknowledged as his child. On Caesar’s assassination she seduced Mark Anthony who fathered three of her children without marrying her. Cleopatra funded Anthony’s invasion of Iran’s Parthian Empire that ended in disastrous defeats for him in the Levant and in what is now Turkey in 34 BC, when Emperor Farhad IV (Phrates) launched counter attacks, although in Jerusalem, Anthony managed to install Herod as puppet king of Judaea by replacing the Parthian appointee Antigonus. With Cleopatra’s death, the three-century rule of the Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty ended and Egypt became a Roman province for the next six-and-a-half centuries – except for a brief 8-year period from 621 to 629 when it was occupied by Iran’s Sassanid Emperor, Khosrow II – until the advent of Islam in 641 and its total transformation into an Arab land. 

1433 lunar years ago, on this day in 6 AH, God granted Islam and Muslims a Great Victory over the pagan Arabs with the signing of the Treaty of Hodaibiyya by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). The holy Qur'an says, in the opening ayah of Surah Fath, says in this regard: "Indeed, We have opened for you a Manifest Victory." The Prophet, along with some 1,400 unarmed Muslims, set out from Medina to perform the Umrah or the minor pilgrimage and reached within 20 km of the city of Mecca, when the pagan Arabs breached their word and blocked his way at a place called Hodaibiyya. Negotiations took place between the two parties and it was decided that the Muslims would return to Medina for now, but would be allowed to perform the pilgrimage next year. A treaty was drafted specifying the terms of truce between the two sides and their allies, provided the clauses were not violated. Imam Ali (AS) acted as the scribe of the Prophet, who placed his seal and signature on the document despite the opposition to its contents by some of his companions. The Prophet insisted on honouring the letter and spirit of the treaty, which was indeed a new and dynamic development in Arabia, and established the rapidly increasing Muslim community as the paramount power. The terms of the Treaty of Hodaibiyya were violated by the Arabs, and two years later in 8 AH, the Prophet was commanded by God to march peacefully upon Mecca, which surrendered without bloodshed to the Muslims. This was another milestone in the history of monotheism and led to the cleansing of the holy Ka'ba of the idols that the pagan Arabs had installed in Prophet Abraham's edifice to the One and Only God.

1219 lunar years ago, on this day in 220 AH, Imam Mohammad Taqi (AS) the 9^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) attained martyrdom in Baghdad as a result of a fatal dose of poison administered by Mu'tasim, the 8^th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. Known as Jawad (Generous), because of his generosity in both spiritual and material matters, he was only 25 years old on this day, having been entrusted with the Imamate by God Almighty 17 years earlier at the tender age of 8, following the martyrdom of his father, Imam Reza (AS) in distant Khorasan. Like the Prophets Jesus and John the Baptist, who since childhood displayed their God-given wisdom, Imam Jawad (AS) enlightened all those who came into contact with him. His memorable debates with scholars, while yet a boy, are recorded in books of history and hadith.

1143 solar years ago, on this day in 875 AD, Louis II (the Younger), who was King of Italy and later Roman Emperor – from 855 – died at the age of 50. He was notorious for his enmity towards Italian Muslims, whom he frequently massacred. In 871 he ended the Emirate of Bari in southern Italy, forcing Muslims into slavery, turning mosques into churches and burning libraries.

919 solar years ago, in 1099 AD, the army of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'a Muslim rulers of Egypt-North Africa-Syria lost the Battle of Ascalon to the European Crusader invaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon. The Fatemid vizier, al-Afzal Shahanshah, who personally led a large force of Turks, Arabs, Persians, Armenians, Kurds, and Ethiopians, had earlier misunderstood the Crusaders as Byzantine mercenaries. This misperception and his slow march from Cairo had brought about the fall of Bayt al-Moqaddas a month earlier to the Crusaders. At Ascalon (Asqalan in Arabic), this same lethargy led to the defeat of the Muslim forces, although the Fatemids continued to hold this city, which is near Gaza in Palestine, for another 54 years. The Crusaders mercilessly killed Muslims in the captured territories.

897 solar years ago, on this day in 1121 AD, taking advantage of the weakening of the Iran-based Great Seljuq Empire to which Georgia or Gorjestan in the Caucasus was a tributary, King David IV triumphed in the Battle of Didgori, 40 km west of Tiflis (modern Tbilisi) over the forces of Najm od-Din Ilghazi the Turkic Artuqid ruler of the Mardin emirate in southeastern Turkey. As a result, the ancient city of Tiflis was lost after four centuries of Muslim rule, and became the capital of the emergent Christian kingdom of Georgia. The modern Republic of Georgia continues to remember the event as an annual September festival known as Didgoroba or the Day of Didgori.

854 solar years ago, on this day in 1164 AD, in the Battle of Harim, the Turkic ruler of Syria, Noor od-Din Zangi, defeated the Crusader occupiers of the Lebanese port city of Tripoli and of the Principality of Antioch, which historically has been a part of Syria, until the occupation by Turkey in 1937. He also went on to liberate Banias and other coastal areas from Crusader occupation.

594 solar years ago, on this day in 1424 AD, Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty of China, known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, died at the age of 64 after a reign of 22 years. Though he favoured Confucianism, he called for the construction and repair of Islamic mosques during his reign. Two mosques were built by him; one in Nanjing and the other in Xi'an and they still stand today. Repairs were encouraged and the mosques were not allowed to be converted to any other use. As part of his desire to expand Chinese influence throughout the known world, the Yongle Emperor sponsored the massive and long term expeditions led by his Muslim Admiral of Iranian origin, Shams od-Din, who was known in China as Zheng He. These expeditions were China's only major sea-going explorations of the world, although the Chinese may have been sailing to Arabia, East Africa, and Egypt since the Tang Dynasty or earlier. Zheng, who was great-great-great-grandson of Seyyed Ajjal Shams od-Din – a Persian from Bukhara who served the Mongol Empire and was the Governor of Yunnan – launched his first expedition in 1405 (18 years before Henry the Navigator began Portugal's voyages of discovery). Seven expeditions were launched between 1405 and 1433, reaching major trade centers of Asia – as far as Hormuz and Aden – and Malindi in north-eastern Africa. Relations between the Yongle Emperor's China and Shakhrukh's empire in Persia and Transoxania considerably improved after the death of Amir Timur, who intended to invade China. The two empires exchanged large official delegations on a number of occasions. Both the Chinese envoy to Samarkand and Herat, Chen Cheng, and his opposite party, Ghiyas od-Din Naqqash left detailed accounts of their visits to each other's country. The Persians spent 5 months at the court of the Yongle Emperor. According to Naqqash, their main handler at the Yongle Emperor court was one Mowlana Haji Yusuf Qazi, who occupied an important office in the emperor's government, and knew Arabic, Mongolian, Persian, and Chinese languages. Ghiyas od-Din Naqqash kept a diary of his travels throughout China, where he wrote about China's wealthy economy and huge urban markets, its efficient courier system as compared to that in Persia, the hospitality of his hosts at the courier stations in providing comfortable lodging and food, and the fine luxurious goods and craftsmanship of the Chinese.

576 solar years ago, on this day in 1442 AD, Sultan Ahmad Shah I of Gujarat, the founder of the city of Ahmadabad, died after a reign of 31 years – during which he consolidated his kingdom in the face of rebellions and invasions – and was succeeded by his son Moiz od-Din Mohammad Karim Shah. He was the second king of the Muzaffarid Dynasty founded by his father, Zafar Khan (son of a Rajput chief who embraced the truth of Islam), who took the title Muzaffar Shah on declaring independence from the Delhi Sultanate. Ahmad Shah embellished Ahmadabad with mosques, libraries, bridges and other public places, built in a unique Indo-Persian style. The Ahmad Shah Mosque and the sprawling Jame’ Masjid are two of the architectural masterpieces built by him, along with his mausoleum. The court language was Persian and the Muzaffarid Dynasty ruled for almost 200 years until the conquest of Gujarat by the Mughal Empire. Soon after his accession, Ahmad Shah was faced with a rebellion of his uncles, led by his eldest uncle Firuz Khan, who declared himself king. Ultimately his uncles surrendered to him. During this rebellion Sultan Hoshang Shah of Malwa invaded Gujarat, but was repelled. He invaded again in 1417 along with Nasir Khan, the Faruqi dynasty ruler of Khandesh and occupied Sultanpur and Nandurbar, but was again defeated. Ahmad Shah in retaliation led four expeditions into Malwa in 1419, 1420, 1422 and 1438. In 1429, Kanha Raja of Jhalawar with the help of the Bahmani Sultan ravaged Nandurbar, but was defeated by Ahmad Shah, who annexed Thana and Mahim (near modern Mumbai) from the Bahmani kingdom of Iranian origin of the Deccan (southern India).

538 solar years ago, on this day in 1480 AD, the fortress of Otranto in southeastern Italy was taken by a Turkish army sent by the Ottoman Sultan, Mohammad II, a few centuries after the end of Muslim rule in parts of southern Italy. Since it was only 27 years after the fall of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, there was fear that Rome, the seat of the Catholic sect of Christianity, would suffer the same fate. Plans were made for the Pope to evacuate the city, and in a bid to incite Christians against Muslims, lies were spread of the massacre of Italians by the Turks. However, following the death of Mohammad II, the Ottoman forces concluded a treaty with the Kingdom of Naples and withdrew to Albania from Otranto on 11 September 1481. In 1537, the famous Ottoman admiral Khair od-Din Pasha (Barbarossa) again captured Otranto and the Fortress of Castro, but later the Muslims were eventually forced to withdraw from this Italian city and the rest of Puglia. All traces of Muslim rule, including mosques and public baths, were removed by the Italians.

337 solar years ago, on this day in 1681 AD, Danish-Russian navigator, Vitus Jonassen Bering, was born in the Netherlands. He was commissioned by Czar Peter the Great to travel the coast of Asia to see if it was connected to North America. He sailed through the Bering Strait in 1728. He discovered Alaska on his second voyage in 1741, with several scientists on board, explored its coast, and discovered the Aleutian Islands. He died stranded during the winter following a shipwreck. The Bering Sea and Bering Island (where he died) are named for him.

331 solar years ago, on this day in 1687 AD, the Second Battle of Mohacs, also known as the Battle of 'Berg Harsany' (Harsany Mountain), was fought between the forces of Ottoman Sultan Mohammad IV, commanded by the Grand-Vizier Sari Suleyman Pasha, and the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, commanded by Charles of Lorraine. The result was a defeat for the Turks. After the battle, the Ottoman Empire fell into deep crisis. There was a mutiny among the troops. Suleyman Pasha became frightened that he would be killed by his own troops and fled from his command, first to Belgrade and then to Istanbul. When the news of the defeat and the mutiny arrived in Istanbul in early September, Abaza Siyavush Pasha was appointed as the commander and soon as the Grand Vizier. However, before he could take over his command, the whole Ottoman Army had disintegrated and the Ottoman household troops (Janissaries and Sipahis) started to return to their base in Istanbul under their own lower-rank officers, as the Christian troops occupied large parts of southeastern Europe. Though Suleyman Pasha was executed, leading Ottoman statesmen decided to depose Sultan Mohammad IV on 8 November 1687 after a 39-year reign and replace with his younger brother Suleyman II.

217 solar years ago, on this day in 1801 AD, French orientalist, Eugene Burnouf, who made significant contributions to the deciphering of Old Persian cuneiform, was born in Paris to a scholarly father. He studied Sanskrit at the Collège de France; and in 1826 in collaboration with the Norwegian Orientalist Christian Lassen, he published “Essai sur le Pali” (Essay on Pali), on one of the languages of Indian Buddhism. He next turned to deciphering the Zoroastrian manuscripts first brought to France in the early 1760s by the French Orientalist A.H. Anquetil-Duperron. Through his research of the Avestan language, he caused the “Vendidad Sade” (the ritual prescriptions for the Zoroastrian priesthood) to be lithographed with the utmost care from the manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale, and published it in folio parts, 1829–1843. From 1833 to 1835 he published his “Commentaire sur le Yacna, l'un des livres liturgiques des Parses” (Commentary on the “Yasna”). In 1836, he discovered that the first of the inscriptions contained a list of the satrapies of Darius I, the Achaemenian Emperor of Iran. With this clue in his hand, he was able to identify and publish an alphabet of thirty letters, most of which he had correctly deciphered. His constant reference to Vedic Sanskrit inspired Burnouf with the intuition of what would later be labeled the “Indo-Iranian” branch of the Indo-European languages. In addition to his Sanskrit edition and French translation of an important Hindu text, “Le Bhagavata Puraṇa” in 3 volumes in 1840, he published a “History of Buddhism” in 1845. He died in 1852.

173 lunar years ago, on this day in 1266 AH, the prominent jurisprudent Mullah Mohammad Hussain Fesharaki, was born in Isfahan. After initial studies under his elder brother Shaikh Mohammad Baqer Fesharaki, he left for Iraq for higher religious studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where his teachers included Ayatollah Mirza Habibollah Rashti, Ayatollah Shaikh Zain al-Abedin Mazandarani, and Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi (famous for the fatwa against tobacco consumption in order to save Iranian economy from British exploitation). On his return to Iran, he taught at the seminary of Isfahan, and was active both socially and politically, in order to counter un-Islamic trends and laws creeping into the Iranian society. He formed a council of ulema in Isfahan in support of the ulema of Tehran who were active against the despotic policies of the Qajarid monarchy, and in order to safeguard Iranian economy, issued a 5-point declaration specifying that the ulema will not attest any document written on imported paper, and will not perform the funeral prayer of any deceased person whose shroud is made of imported cloth instead of Iranian cloth. The British installed Pahlavi dictator, Reza Khan, despite his disdain and maltreatment of the ulema, was afraid of Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Fesharaki. He passed away in his hometown at the age of 87

170 solar years ago, on this day in 1848 AD, English inventor of Locomotive, George Stephenson, died at the age of 67. The maximum speed of his locomotive was 20 kilometers per hour and its capacity stood at 90 tons. Later, locomotives gradually improved, while their speed and transportation capacity were enhanced.

146 solar years ago, on this day in 1872 AD, German Orientalist, Fritz Johann Heinrich Krenkow, was born. He moved to England aged 12, earned a living with a hosiery firm in Leicester, and later acquired a reputation as an Arabic scholar. He became a Muslim and changed his name to Mohammad Salem. He travelled to India and became a professor at the Aligarh Muslim University during 1929-30, and then at University of Bonn 1931-35

122 solar years ago, on this day in 1896 AD, Mirza Reza Kermani, was hanged and attained martyrdom for his revolutionary execution of the repressive Qajarid king, Nasser od-Din Shah. Years earlier, during the Tobacco Movement against British colonialism, he had been jailed for four years on the alleged provoking of people against the regime. Following his release, he went to Istanbul where he became familiar with the exiled pan Islamic Iranian thinker, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi. He came to Tehran in 1896 and decided to eliminate Nasser od-Din Shah, who was the root cause of corruption in the country. He carried out his revolutionary act in the city of Rayy at the shrine of Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hassani (AS).

78 lunar years ago, on this day in 1361 AH, prominent Iranian scholar of the seminary of holy Najaf, Ayatollah Ziya od-Din Iraqi, passed away at the age of 83 in Iraq. Born in a village near Arak in Iran’s Markazi Province, after basic studies in Arak he left for Iraq and studied under leading scholars of holy Najaf, especially Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Fesharaki. He mastered the various branches of Islamic sciences and succeeded Akhound Khorasani as the leading scholar. He was famous for his eloquent oratory skills as well as fluent style of writing. He wrote several books and groomed many scholars.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1949 AD, the convention on proper treatment of the wounded and prisoners of war (POWs) was signed at the European Headquarters of the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. Drafted following the inhuman treatment of the wounded and captured soldiers during World War II, the Geneva Convention set rules and regulations for their humane treatment. It specifies that countries at war have no right to kill or torture the wounded and the POWs. They should provide medical treatment and all other amenities including the right to correspond with their relatives as well as access to relief personnel of the International Committee of the Red Cross, along with the complete POW list. Unfortunately, most states ignore these rules and regulations.

42 solar years ago, on this day in 1976 AD, over 3,500 Palestinian refugees were massacred by the Zionist-backed Christian Phalangist militia of Lebanon at the Tel az-Zaatar camp, one of the bloodiest events of the Lebanese Civil War. The camp, located northeast of Beirut was burnt to the ground.

18 solar years ago, on this day in 2000 AD, the United Nations held the first International Youth Day (IYD) in order to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth.

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