Today is Saturday; 21st of the Iranian month of Mehr 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Safar 1440 lunar hijri; and October 13, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1383 lunar years ago, on this day in 57 AH, according to a narration, is the birth anniversary of Imam Mohammad al-Baqer (AS), the 5th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Born in Medina, he was present in Karbala as a four-year old boy and was witness to the tragic martyrdom of his grandfather, Imam Husain (AS). In the aftermath of the tragedy he was imprisoned by the Omayyads, along with his parents and the rest of the womenfolk and children of the Prophet's progeny. His father was Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) while his mother Fatema (SA) was the daughter of the Prophet's elder grandson, Imam Hasan al-Mojtaba (AS), which means he was descended on both sides from the Prophet. During his 19-year Imamate, he strove to spread the genuine teachings of Islam and the pure and pristine practice (Sunnah) and behaviour (Seerah) of the Prophet. In fact, his epithet “Baqer al-Uloum” (Splitter and Spreader of Sciences) was foretold by the Prophet himself through the prominent Sahabi, Jaber Ibn Abdullah al-Ansari, who lived until the time of the 5th Imam’s childhood and conveyed to him the Messenger of Islam’s message. In addition to the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt, Sunni Muslims have also narrated hadith on his authority. Before his martyrdom at the age of 57 as a result of poisoning by the Omayyad caliph, Hesham ibn Abdul-Malik, he opened many vistas of knowledge, which were taken to new heights by his son and successor, Imam Ja'far as-Sadeq (AS).

1232 lunar years ago, on this day in 208 AH, according to a narration, Seyyeda Nafisah, the great granddaughter of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS) – the elder grandson of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) – and daughter-in-law of the Prophet’s 6^th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS), passed away while engrossed in the recitation of holy Qur’an at the age of 63 in Fustat near what is now Cairo in Egypt. She was laid to rest in that city when husband Ishaq al-Mo’tamen saw the Prophet in his dream, instructing him not to take the body to homeland Hijaz for burial in Medina, as planned. She was a very pious and God-fearing lady, in contrast to her unprincipled father, Hassan al-Anwar (son of ibn Zayd al-Ablaj), who contrary to the ways of the Ahl al-Bayt, had sided with the usurper Abbasid regime against his own kinsmen, serving as governor of Medina during the tyrant Mansour Dawaniqi’s caliphate and opposing the marriage of Nafisah to Ishaq. Her husband was noted for his piety, knowledge, and reliability in narrating hadith, for which he had earned the epithet “al-Mo’tamen” or trustworthy. He was witness to the last will written by his brother Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) to son, Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS). Nafisah, who was the mother of two children – a son and daughter – came to Egypt in 193 AH after visiting Damascus to perform pilgrimage to the shrine of her great grand aunt, the Prophet’s granddaughter Hazrat Zainab (SA). The Egyptian people warmly welcomed her and entreated her to stay in Cairo, where, during her 15-year stay, she used to hold classes of Qur’an and hadith, attended among others at various times by the Mystic Dhun-Noon al-Misri, Bishr bin Hareth al-Haafi of Baghdad – who was guided to the right path by Imam Kazem (AS), and two jurists who later founded their respective schools of jurisprudence, Mohammad bin Idris ash-Shafei, Ahmad bin Mohammad bin Hanbal. It has been mentioned that Nafisah performed the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca on thirty occasions, due to her miraculous powers she cured the ill and saved Egyptians and the River Nile from drought. She was mother of Seyyed Qasim and Seyyedah Omm Kolthoum, while her equally pious niece, Seyyedah Zainab (daughter of her brother Seyyed Yahya), also has a much-visited shrine in Cairo, which some people wrongly think to be the resting place of the Heroine of Karbala, Hazrat Zainab (SA). The shrine of Seyyeda Nafisah is among the most visited pilgrimage centres in Egypt. On Sundays and Thursdays, thousands of people visit her shrine. It is also a custom to hold wedding ceremonies in her mausoleum. Another account says she passed away on the 1^st of Ramadhan the same year. Each year on the birth anniversary of Hazrat Nafisa on the 11^th of Rabi al-Awwal, ceremonies are held in Egypt.

1107 lunar years ago, on this day in 333 AH, al-Muttaqi-Billah, the 21st caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was deposed and blinded after a rule of four years by the Turkic general, Tuzun, who replaced him on the same day with a cousin called al-Mustakfi. In northern Syria and Anatolia, Byzantine attempts to advance were being thwarted only because of the bravery of the Hamdanid Shi'ite Muslim dynasty whose protection Muttaqi-Billah sought on becoming ruler. Naser od-Dowla Hamdani saw this as an opportunity to add all of Iraq to his realm and marched along with the caliph, but because of the well-organized opposition of the Turkic forces in Baghdad he found it difficult to control the city. The caliph after wondering from city to city finally threw himself at the mercy of Tuzun, who soon broke his promises and deposed, blinded and replaced him with another puppet.

1035 lunar years ago, on this day in 405 AH, prominent Iranian Sunni Muslim compiler of hadith, Mohammad Ibn Abdullah, Hakem an-Naishapuri, passed away in his native Khorasan at the age 81. His famous book is "Mustadrek ala as-Sahihayn" in five volumes, which is a supplement to the two principal books of Sunni hadith, the "Sahih Bukhari" and the "Sahih Muslim" – also compiled by Iranians born in families of converts from Zoroastrianism to Islam. On the basis of the criteria set by the two books, Hakem has collected thousands of hadith that Bukhari and Muslim had failed to locate, including many pertaining to the unparalleled merits of Imam Ali (AS), and the Ahl al-Bayt. He authored several books including on the History of the Ulema of his hometown Naishapur, the Benefits of the People of Khorasan, and “Tarajem al-Musnad ala Shart as-Sahihayn” (Reports of Ibn Hanbal’s Musnad that Match the Criteria of the Two Sahih Books).

788 solar years ago, on this day in 1240 AD, Raziyya Sultana, the only Muslim lady to sit on the throne of Delhi, was captured near Kaithal in Punjab by the local Jats and killed, along with her husband, Altuniya the Turk, after being defeated in battle near Delhi by the forces of her usurper brother, Muiz od-Din Bahram Shah. As the daughter and heir apparent of the third ruler of the Mamluk (slave) Dynasty of northern India, Shams od-Din Iltutmish, she ruled for four years, after being bypassed for six months by the Turkic nobility in favour of her brother, Rukn od-Din Feroz. Even before she became ruler, she was preoccupied with the affairs of state during her father's reign. A shrewd politician, she managed to keep the nobles in check, while enlisting the support of the army and the populace. Her greatest accomplishment on the political front was to manipulate rebel factions into opposing each other. At that point, Raziyya seemed destined to become one of the most powerful rulers of the Delhi Sultanate, but the turbulent Turkic nobles plotted and revolted against her, resulting in her downfall.

135 solar years ago, on this day in 1882 AD, French author and philosopher, Joseph Arthur Gobineau, died at the age of 66. Born in Paris, he took to writing and journalism following completion of his studies. He served as the French ambassador to Iran and during this period, he learned Persian and Arabic languages as well as the ancient cuneiform scripts. He was unfortunately a racist or more properly a white supremacist, and wrote the highly flawed book: "An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races". The theory of supremacy of the so-called Aryan race was one of the pretexts of the German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, for waging World War II, and massacring millions of Europeans. Among his other works, mention can be made of "Three Years in Asia", and "A History of Iran".

134 solar years ago, on this day in 1884 AD, Greenwich near London in Britain was adopted as the universal meridian at the International Meridian Conference in Washington, attended by 41 delegates from 25 countries. The resolution fixing the Meridian at Greenwich was passed 22-1 –San Domingo voted against, while France and Brazil abstained. Greenwich lies on the River Thames, is thus the site of an imaginary line indicating 0° longitude that terminates at the North and South poles – 180 degrees on each side. Every place on Earth is measured in terms of its distance east or west from this line – just as the Equator divides the northern and southern hemispheres. The mean solar time at Greenwich is now called Universal Time and was formerly called Greenwich Mean Time. Theoretically, standard time becomes successively one hour earlier at each 15° longitude west of the Greenwich meridian and one hour later at each 15° longitude east.

95 solar years ago, on this day in 1923 AD, Ankara in central Anatolia, replaced Istanbul as the capital of Turkey. Istanbul served as capital of the Ottoman Empire for 470 years, since its capture by Sultan Mohammad Fateh in 1453.

92 solar years ago, on this day in 1926 AD, Iranian poet and literary figure, Mohammad Taqi Shourideh Shirazi passed away at the age of 69 in Shiraz and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of the famous Persian poet, Shaikh Mosleh od-Din Sa’di. At the age of 7 he lost his sight as the result of blister. After his father's death, he was brought up by his maternal uncle and due to his high intelligence, in a short time he established himself as a great poet. In Tehran, the Qajarid ruler, Nasser od-Din greatly admired him and gave him the title “Fasih ol-Molk”. Shourideh returned to Shiraz and stayed there up to the end of his life.

74 solar years ago, on this day in 1944 AD, during World War II, the capital of former Yugoslavia, Belgrade, was liberated from the yoke of Nazi German troops by the Yugoslav patriots, led by Marshal Josef Tito, and with the assistance of Soviet Union's Red Army. This city was occupied by the Germans in 1941.

54 solar years ago, on this day in 1964 AD, the Capitulation Bill was approved by the parliament of the Pahlavi regime, granting US military personnel immunity from trial in Iran's courts on committing any crime. This was an infringement of Iran's national sovereignty and an insult to the Iranian nation. Hence, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), rejected it outright and later in a historical speech revealed the sinister dimensions of aspects of this humiliating bill for the Iranian people, while castigating the British-installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for his oppression of the people and subservience to the US. This keynote speech led to the detention and exile of the Imam on November 4, 1964.

50 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, contemporary Iranian painter, Hussein Behzad, passed away. He was known as the most important miniaturist painter of contemporary Iran, and should not be confused with Kamal od-Din Behzad the Master-Painter of the Safavid Era. He was an innovative miniaturist painter and revived in modern times this aesthetic Iranian-Islamic art. He adopted new methods in application of colors to depict joy, sorrow and other emotions. Among the valuable works of art which he has left behind, mention can be made of "Eivan-e Mada'en" or the Portal of Anushirvan's Palace in Ctesiphon, near Baghdad, and "Fath-e Babel" or The Conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, prominent Iranian mathematician, logician and literary figure, Dr. Gholam-Hussain Mosaheb, passed away at the age of 69. Born in Tehran to physician Mohammad Ali, his grandfather was the famous calligrapher, Mirza Ali Khoshnevis, who composed the thousand-couplet poem, entitled “Alfiyah”, describing the didactic rules of Arabic grammar, rendering these easy to memorize by Arabic students. Mosaheb who studied in Iran, France and England; and received his Ph.d from Cambridge University, was fluent in Persian, Arabic, French and English. He founded the Institute of Mathematics, Teacher Training University and was director of the Institute of Mathematics of Khwarazmi University from 1972-1974.  Earlier in 1938 Mosaheb had edited Omar Khayyam’s famous Algebraic work “al-Jabr wa’l-Moqabela Risala fi’l-Barahin ala Masa’el al-Jabr wa’l-Moqabela” and published it as “Jabr o Moqabela-ye Khayyam” with a brief Persian translation and extensive footnotes and elaborate appendixes and addenda. During the 1950s, when Persian scientific typography was flourishing, Mosaheb invented a left slanted right-to-left font style that he named the Iranic font. This term is still commonly used by typographers in Iran, often as a general term for any left slanted font. In 1955, his “Madkhal-e Manteq-e Soorat” (Introduction to Formal Logic) was the first scholarly writing in mathematical logic to be published in Iran. Mosaheb's most famous work in non-mathematical society is as the author of the 3-volume “Daerat al-Ma’aref-e Farsi” (“Persian Encyclopedia”), written in the Persian language. His methods of organizing and categorizing are still in use. On June 28, 2009 it was announced that the 100th book released by the Society for the Appreciation of Cultural works and Dignitaries had been allocated to the life, scientific and cultural works of Gholam Hussain Mosaheb, which contain many of his published works including an article entitled “The First Trigonometry Book”.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1998 AD, Iranian researcher, Rajab-Ali Mazloumi, passed away at the age of 71. Born in Naishapur in Khorasan, he studied in holy Mashhad and was an expert in Qur’anic sciences, hadith, history, philosophy, gnosis, Islamic arts, and education. He wrote 90 books and 500 articles on various topics. His books are: “Youth and Religion”, “Ali (AS) the Criterion of Perfection”, “Understanding the Qur’an” and “Meritorious Ladies”.

17 solar years ago, on this day in 2001 AD, Arak Friday Prayer Leader, Ayatollah Shaikh Abu’l-Fazl Khwansari Najafi, passed away at the age of 85. Born in Isfahan, at the age of 20 he left for holy Najaf in Iraq. Because of ill-health he returned to Iran and in holy Qom continued his studies and obtained Ijtehad. He was a firm supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded won the Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering use of tiny, seemingly insignificant loans, microcredit, to lift millions out of poverty.  Born in 1940, the controversial Yunus was rated in 2008 in the list of the 'Top 100 Global Thinkers'. He is a member of the advisory board at Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology. In March 2011, the Bangladesh government fired Yunus from his position at Grameen Bank, which is connected with the US, citing legal violations and an age limit on his position. In 2012, he became Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland.

2 solar years ago, on this day in 2016 AD, Mohammad Taqi Morovvat, who initiated a new style of recitation of the holy Qur’an, passed away in Tehran at the age of 72. A student of the master reciter, Mullah Mohammad Baqer Fani, he groomed several students in the correct recitation of the heavenly scripture. He visited Egypt to seek the company of the master-reciters of the holy Qur’an.  

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