Today is Tuesday; 3rd of the Iranian month of Mehr 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 15th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1440 lunar hijri; and September 25, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1274 solar years ago, on this day in 744 AD, Yazid Ibn al-Waleed or Yazid III, the 12^th ruler of the Omayyad usurper regime, died of a brain tumour, less than six months after seizing the caliphate through a coup against his immoral, drunkard and debauched cousin, Waleed II the son of Yazid II, who was killed. The mother of Yazid III was an Iranian concubine and he was known as “an-Naqqes” (the Diminisher) for his austerity measures in contrast to the profligacy and sinning habits of the Omayyads. It is worth noting that in 6 years from 126 to 132 AH, six Omayyad caliphs died one after another as this tyrannical dynasty came to its end.

1256 solar years ago, on this day in 762 AD, Mohammad Ibn Abdullah al-Mahaz Ibn Hassan al-Muthanna, entered Medina and proclaimed his uprising against Abbasid misrule. Known as Nafs az-Zakiyya (the Pure Soul), he was a great-grandson of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS), the elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Of impressive build, amiable demeanour, and gifted with oratory skills, he soon took Mecca and Yemen. He freed prisoners, changed judiciary and administrative posts, appointed governors in all parts of Arabia, and sent his brother Ibrahim to Basra to take charge of affairs in Iraq. He sent a letter to the usurper caliph, Mansour Dawaniqi, in Hirah near Kufa, demanding surrender by reminding him of the pledge of allegiance he had made as a persecuted fugitive in the days of the Omayyad regime, to the rule of the Prophet’s descendants. Mansour instead sent an army against him, composed mainly of units from Khorasan that were deceived by Abbasid propaganda. On December 6, the same year, Nafs az-Zakiyya was martyred in battle near Medina when his followers deserted him. His uprising did not have uniform support from all. Although some important figures of Hijaz and Iraq, like Malek Ibn Anas, Sufyan Thawri, and Abu Hanifa, backed him, the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) refrained from publicly supporting the uprising, but at the same time refused to sign a pledge of loyalty as demanded by the Abbasids. Mansour tried in vain to implicate Imam Sadeq (AS) in the uprising, confiscated his properties, and three years later martyred him through poisoning.

1135 solar years ago, on this day in 813 AD, Amin, the 6^th ruler of the usurper Abbasid regime, was killed in Baghdad after a reign of four years, and his head sent to his brother Ma’mun who had dispatched an army from Khorasan to attack and kill his profligate elder step-brother. The two were the sons of the tyrant Haroun Rasheed through different mothers.

1087 lunar years ago, on this day in 353 AH, the Iranian Sunni Muslim collector of Hadith, Abu Ali Sa'eed bin Osman ibn as-Sakan al-Baghdadi, passed away at the age of 59 in Egypt, where he had settled after travelling widely over Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, Syria and Arabia, for trade and for recording of hadith from any source available. He claimed descent from the Sassanid Emperor, Khosrow Anushirvan, and introduced to Egypt the hadith compendium known as "Sahih Bukhari", compiled a century earlier by his Iranian compatriot, Mohammad Bukhari – also born in a family of Zoroastrian converts to the Sunni sect. Among the books written by Ibn as-Sakan, mention could be made of "Sunan as-Sihah" on hadith and "al-Horouf fi Sahabah" on the companions of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Ibn as-Sakan also recorded narrations from the Prophet foretelling the martyrdom in Karbala of his younger grandson, Imam Husain (AS).

851 lunar years ago, on this day in 589 AH, the famous Islamic scholar, Seyyed Razi od-Din Ali Ibn Musa, known popularly as Seyyed Ibn Tawous, was born in the city of Hillah in Iraq. The House of Aal-e Tawous, descended from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was originally from Medina, and the most famous family of scholars in Hillah. Seyyed Razi od-Din Ibn Tawous studied basic sciences under his grandfather in Hillah and then went to Najaf, Karbala and Kazemayn for higher studies. He stayed in Baghdad for 15 years, conducting researches in different branches of science, but rejecting any offer of portfolio in the court of the Abbasid rulers. He was expert in many sciences including astronomy. He was a prolific writer and among his works is the famous Prayer Manual titled "Iqbal al-A'maal" as well as "al-Luhouf" on the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala. His other important book is "al-Malahem wa’l-Fitan" on the events leading to the reappearance of the Prophet's 12th and Last Successor, Imam Mahdi (AS), who will weed out corruption and oppression from the earth by establishing the global government of peace, prosperity and justice. He passed away at the age of 75.

724 solar years ago, on this day in 1294 AD, English philosopher, chemist and Franciscan friar, Roger Bacon, died. His access to Latin translations of the Arabic works of Islamic scholars opened his mind, and he became greatly influenced in the field of optics by the monumental book “Kitab al-Manazer” of Abul-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen to medieval Europe). His writings also show the impact of the Arab philosopher Ya’qub Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi. Bacon's discussions of the properties of the magnifying glass show the clear influence of the Iranian scientist Ala Ibn Sahl in dioptric.         

622 solar years ago, on this day in 1396 AD, Ottoman Emperor Bayezid I defeated a united Christian army of Hungarian, French, German, Serb, Italian, Burgundian, and Wallachian troops, at the Battle of Nicopolis, resulting in the end of Bulgaria as a country. Seven years earlier, after the victory and subsequent death of his father, Murad I, at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, he had conquered most of the Balkans, and reduced the Byzantine Empire to the area immediately surrounding Constantinople. This made European powers to form an alliance to try to drive out the victorious Turks. In 1394, Pope Boniface IX proclaimed a new crusade against Muslims. The huge Christian force that numbered over 200,000 was decisively defeated by Bayezid – who six years later in 1402 was defeated in the Battle of Ankara by the Central Asian conqueror, Amir Timur, and taken as a prisoner to Samarqand, where he died in captivity.

514 lunar years ago, on this day in 926 AH, the Mongol Shah Beg Arghun of Qandahar, finding it impossible to maintain his hold on the region against the rise of the Timurid prince, Zaheer od-Din Babar, in Kabul and the surrounding areas, marched south on Thatta in Sindh, where at the Battle of Fatehpur, he defeated and killed General Darya Khan, the prime minster of Jam Firuz, thus ending the 185-year independence of the Samma Dynasty. Jam Firuz fled, but later submitted, was pardoned, and given half of the government of Sindh. Shah Beg then took Sistan and proceeded to Bhakkar which he made his capital. It is said Shah Beg was actually invited to invade Sindh by Jam Firuz’s mother, who wanted to free her son from the hold of the regent Darya Khan.

505 lunar years ago, on this day in 935 AH, the Qizilbash army of the teenaged 14-year old Safavid king, Shah Tahmasb I, defeated the Uzbek occupation forces at Jam in Khorasan and drove back the invaders from Iranian soil. Tahmasb, having succeeded his adventurous father, Ismail, the founder of the dynasty, stabilized the Empire during his 52-year rule, carrying out internal reforms and pursuing a foreign policy of peace and judicious defence. Although he lost Iraq to the Ottomans, he firmly blunted their designs to make inroads into Iran, and on the northeastern frontier thwarted all attempts by the Uzbeks, while maintaining cordial relations with the Mughal Empire, providing refuge to fugitive Emperor Humayun Shah and subsequently restoring him to the throne of the Subcontinent. 

448 lunar years ago, on this day in 992 AH, Muzaffar Shah III of Gujarat was defeated at Sarkhej by Mirza Khan the general of Mughal Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar and fled to Cambay where he was again defeated at Rajpipla, thus ending the Muzaffarid Dynasty’s almost 180-year rule.

425 solar years ago, on this day in 1593 AD, the 3rd Moghul Emperor of the Northern Subcontinent, Jalal od-Din Akbar sent Shaikh Farid Bashir ul-Mulk to conquer the Siwalik Hills region of the outer range of the Himalayas. Jammu fort surrendered and the country was settled under Qazi Hasan. As a result, the Mughal Empire was consolidated over all Hindustan or north of the Vindhya Range, from Bengal in the east to as far as Kabul and Qandahar in the west.

255 lunar years ago, on this day in 1185 AH, the Iranian poet and calligrapher, Abdul-Majid Taleqani Irani, passed away at the young age of 35. He created unique works of art. His calligraphic works include the Divan or collection of poems of the renowned Iranian poet, Shaikh Sa'di of Shiraz. He has left behind his own poems in book-form titled "Divan-e Khosh".

76 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD, the Iranian literary figure and poet, Mohammad Yousefzadeh Hamedani passed away. He was a polymath in logic, Islamic philosophy, and literature, especially Persian poems. He was active in the Constitutionalist Movement, but when colonialist agents infiltrated and diverted it from its goals he left politics and devoted himself to social and literary activities. He has left behind a diwan of poetry.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria was formally proclaimed with Ferhat Abbas as the elected President of the provisional government. Abbas had acted in a provisional capacity during the years 1958 to 1961, while Algeria was fighting the French occupiers. Algeria’s independence on July 5, 1962, followed the 8-year war that led to the death of a million and a half Algerian Muslims. For almost a year till September 15, 1963 Ferhat Abbas was president of the constitutional assembly that was rapidly sidelined by Ahmad Bin Bella on being elected to the presidency. He resigned in protest to Bin Bella’s decision to establish a one-party state, and was placed under house arrest from 1964 until the latter’s overthrow in 1965. From 1976 to 1979, he was put under house arrest, after signing a statement opposing the powerful military-backed President, Colonel Houari Boumedienne. He died in 1985.

49 solar years ago, on this day in 1969 AD, the charter establishing the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was signed. OIC, which was set up following the arson attack on al-Aqsa Mosque in the Zionist occupied Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas, now has 57 Muslim states as members.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, Iranian artist and calligrapher, Reza Ma'afi, passed away. Born in the holy city of Mashhad, he learned this art under the prominent calligrapher, E’tesami. He created more than 800 works and held a number of exhibitions of his works in Iran and overseas. His last exhibition was in Tehran in 1979 in memory of martyrs of the Islamic Revolution.

15 solar years ago, on this day in 2003 AD, Palestinian author and thinker, Edward Sa’eed, passed away in the US at the age of 68 after a long battle with cancer. Born in a Christian family in the city of Bayt al-Moqaddas, he left for the US at the age of 17 for higher studies and obtained a PhD in Comparative Literature from Harvard University. A relentless supporter of the Palestinian cause, he enlightened the international community about the oppression of the Palestinian people by the illegal Zionist entity. He was elected to the Palestine National Parliament in 1977, but resigned in 1991 in protest to the compromise with Israel by the Palestine Liberation Organization. Among his books mention can be made of “Culture and Imperialism”, “The Politics of Dispossession”, and “Covering Islam”. His most important book is “Orientalism”, published in 1978. In this book, he describes how the Oriental scholars have turned into tools of Western colonialists to justify the looting of the wealth of Eastern nations by Western colonial states.

13 solar years ago, on this day 2005 AD, the Subcontinent’s Urdu and Persian author, linguist, researcher and critic, Dr. Ghulam Mustafa Khan, passed away in Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan at the age of 93. Born in Jabalpur, India, in a religious family of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, he was a product of the famous Aligarh Muslim University and did his MA in Urdu & Persian literature, followed by PhD on the eminent Persian poet, Hassan Ghaznavi. He migrated to Pakistan, and took up service at the Urdu College, Karachi. Later he was head of the Department of Urdu in Sindh University, Hyderabad. His book on the famous philosopher-poet “Iqbal Lahori and the holy Qur’an”, was awarded as the best book ever written on this subject. Dr Ghulam Mustafa became a famous religious and spiritual leader. He trained a large number of students and was author of more than 100 books in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and English.

AS/SS