Today is Tuesday, 1st of the Iranian month of Aban 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 13th of the Islamic month of Safar 1440 lunar hijri; and October 23, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1127 solar years ago, on this day in 891 AD, the famous Greek Muslim admiral, Damian of Tarsus, known by his Islamic name of Ghulam Yazman al-Khadim, died during the siege of the Byzantine fortress of Salandu in what is now southwestern Turkey, as a result of a catapult wound. His troops carried him to his seat of power Tarsus, and buried him there. According to the historian al-Mas'udi, his fame was such that he was among the ten illustrious Muslims whose portraits were hung in Byzantine churches in recognition of their valour. For a decade he was a thorn in the Greek side, and won several land and sea battles against the Christians, sometimes in alliance with another valourous Greek convert to Islam, Cleo or Rasheeq al-Wardami, who is famous for besieging the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, and briefly taking over Thessalonica, the second largest city.

1137 lunar years ago, on this day in 303 AH, the well-known Iranian Sunni Muslim compiler of Hadith, Ahmad ibn Shu’aib ibn Ali an-Nasa’i, passed away at the age of 89. He was born in a village near the ancient Parthian capital of Nasa in Khorasan, northeastern Iran (presently in Turkmenistan). When he was 20 years old, he started his journey in pursuit of knowledge and covered Transoxiana, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Hijaz, and Egypt, where he settled. He is the author of "Sunnan an-Nasa’i", one of the six canonical hadith collections of Sunni Muslims. Towards the end of his life he wrote a book on the unrivalled virtues and merits of Prophet Mohammad's (SAWA) divinely-decreed vicegerent, Imam Ali (AS), titled "Khasa’es Amir al-Mominin Ali". When he recited this excellent book from the pulpit of the main mosque of Damascus, he was attacked by enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt and was severely beaten. He left Syria and while on his way to Egypt, succumbed to his wounds in Palestine.

1116 solar years ago, on this day in 902 AD, Ibrahim II, the ex Aghlabid Emir of the Abbasid Province of Ifriqiya or what is now Tunisia and parts of Algeria and Libya, died of dysentery in Consenza, southern Italy, at the age of 52, while leading an expedition from Muslim-ruled Sicily to conquer the Italian Peninsula and advance upon Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire. During his 25-year-rule, before his dismissal from power by the caliph in Baghdad and replacement by his son, Abu’l-Abbas Abdullah II, he had earned reputation as a cruel and bloodthirsty ruler, who crushed all opposition, especially the Arab aristocracy of the region with the help of slave armies of black people of Sudan and the white Slavic people of the Balkans, in addition to assistance from the neighbouring Rustamid Persian dynasty of the North African interior. His dictatorial rule had so weakened the century-long Aghlabid hold on Ifriqiya that by 906 his grandson was driven out by the emerging power of the Fatemid Ismaili Dynasty led by their chief missionary Abu Abdullah ash-Shi’a.

1070 lunar years ago, on this day in 370 AH, the prominent Iranian philologist of the Arabic language and exegete of the Holy Qur’an, Mohammad Ibn Ahmad al-Azhari al-Harawi, passed away at the age of 88 in his hometown Herat, in what is now Afghanistan, but which is historically part of Iran’s Khorasan. While on Hajj pilgrimage at the age of 30, he was captured by Arab tribes and learned their accent in captivity, using this accent and dialect in his books. He attended the classes of prominent ulema in Baghdad before returning to Herat. His important book is "Tahdhib al-Lugha", spread over 15 volumes on philology in which he has frequently cited the unmatched eloquence of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) and quoted some of the sermons of the Imam, decades before Seyyed Radhi compiled the “Nahj al-Balaghah”. He has compiled exegesis of Holy Qur’an and Hadith.

932 solar years ago, on this day in 1086 AD, at the Battle of az-Zallaqah in Islamic Spain, a Muslim army led by the Almoravid general, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, defeated the Christian forces of Castile's King Alfonso VI, when the latter refused both the offers to avoid bloodshed that is, convert to Islam, or to pay tribute. The reason for the battle was Alfonso's occupying of the Muslim city of Toledo a year earlier followed by his invasion of the emirate of Zaragoza. The Spanish Muslims appealed to Yusuf ibn Tashfin of Morocco for help, and he responded, forcing Alfonso to lift the siege of Zaragoza. The Almoravid ruler returned to North Africa after his decisive victory, which created fear among the Christians for several generations.

884 solar years ago, on this day in 1134 AD, Spanish Muslim polymath, Abu’s-Salt al-Andalusi, passed away at the age of 66 in Bejaia, Algeria. Born in Denia in eastern Spain on the Mediterranean coast, and known in Latin as Albuzale, he studied under al-Waqqashi in Toledo, and upon completing his mathematical education in Seville, he set out with his family in 1096 for Egypt. In Cairo he entered the service of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’a Muslim ruler, Ma’add al-Mustanṣir-Billah, and the vizier al-Afdhal Shahanshah. His service continued until 1108. In 1112, Abu’s-Salt left for Kairouan in Tunisia, where he entered the service of the Zirids of Ifriqiya. He also occasionally traveled to Palermo and worked in the court of Roger I of Sicily as a visiting physician. He also sent poems to the Palermitan poet Abu’l-Dhaw. His works on astronomical instruments were read both in the Islamic world and Europe. He also worked as a teacher of alchemy, and wrote treatises on medicine, philosophy, music, and history. He became well known in Europe through translations of his works made in the Iberian Peninsula and in southern France. He is also credited with introducing Andalusian music to Tunis, which later led to the development of the Tunisian ma'luf. Abu’s-Salt wrote an encyclopedic work of many scientific disciplines titled “Kitab al‐Kafi fī’l‐Uloum”. Among his other works are “Risala fi’ll-Amal bi’l‐Astrulab” (On the Construction and Use of the Astrolabe), “Ṣifat Amal Safiḥa Jame’a Taqawwama bi‐ha Jame al‐Kawakeb as‐Sab’a” (Description of the Construction and Use of a Single Plate with which the totality of the Motions of the Seven Planets), and “Kitab al‐Wajiz fi’l-Ilm al‐Hay’a” (Brief treatise on Cosmology).

247 lunar years ago, on this day in 1193 AH, Mohammad Karim Khan Zand, the founder of the Zand Dynasty of Iran, died in his capital Shiraz at the age of 74 after a reign of 29 years, during which he restored stability to the country in the chaotic aftermath of Nader Shah Afshar’s assassination in 1747, by establishing his rule almost all over Iran, along with Basra and parts of the Caucasus, except for Greater Khorasan. To legitimize his rule, he placed the Safavid prince, Ismail III, as a figurehead, and never took the title of Shah, contenting himself with the honourary epithet “Wakil ar-Re’aya” (Representative of the People). As a general of Nader Shah, he had taken active part in most of the military campaigns, and on assuming rule of the country, he devoted himself to the rebuilding of the economy and administration based on social justice. He built the famous Wakil Mosque, Wakil Bazaar and Wakil Bath in Shiraz. To this day, Karim Khan Zand has a reputation as one of the most just and able rulers in Iranian history. On his death, civil war broke out once more, his sons died in mysterious circumstances, and none of his successors were able to rule the country as effectively as he had. The last of his heirs, Lotf Ali Khan Zand, was treacherously killed by Agha Mohammad Khan, who founded the Qajar dynasty in 1794.

201 solar years ago, on this day in 1817 AD, Pierre Larousse, French lexicographer and author was born. After years of study, he compiled the Larousse Lexicon. Pierre Larousse passed away at the age of 58.

184 solar years ago, on this day in 1834 AD, Fath-Ali Shah, the second king of the Qajarid Dynasty of Iran, died, and was succeeded by his grandson, Mohammad Shah, the son of the deceased crown prince, Abbas Mirza, who had died a year earlier. Son of Hussain Qoli Khan, the brother of Agha Mohammad Khan, the founder of the dynasty, Fath-Ali Shah was governor of Fars before succeeding his childless uncle. Much of his 37-year long reign that saw the gradual loss of vast areas of Iran in the Caucasus, Khorasan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, was marked by the resurgence of Persian arts and painting, as well as a deeply elaborate court culture. He led a life of luxury oblivious of the poverty of the people and the political humiliation to Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as a result of the Russian-imposed Golestan and Turkmanchai Treaties, coupled with growing British pressures and encroachments. His successor, Mohammad Shah ruled for 14 years and died in 1848 at the age of 40, leaving his 13-year minor son, Nasser od-Din Shah, as the next king.

106 solar years ago, on this day in 1912 AD, the Battle of Kumanovo, which resulted in a victory of Serb rebels over the Ottoman army in the Kosovo Vilayet, occurred shortly after start of the First Balkan War. After this defeat, the Turkish army abandoned the major part of the region, suffering heavy losses in manpower (mostly due to desertions) and in war material.

76 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD, during World War II, the Battle of al-Alamein, in the city of the same name in northern Egypt, occurred between the British and German troops. The British were led by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and the Germans by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The Germans were defeated, but war between the two countries continued in other regions of North Africa until the final Nazi defeat.

62 solar years ago, on this day in 1956 AD, the uprising in Hungry against the domination by the Soviet Union commenced three years after dissolution of the Hungarian Communist Party by nationalist Premier, Imre Nagy, who tried to make his country independent of Moscow. The Soviets crushed the uprising by arming and financially assisting the communists, who along with the Red Army slaughtered a large number of people. Most of Hungary was part of the Ottoman Empire from the decisive Muslim victory in 1526 at the Battle of Mohacs till 1718, when the Turks withdrew.

41 solar years ago, on this day in 1977 AD, Ayatollah Seyyed Mostafa Khomeini, the elder son of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), was martyred in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq by agents of Iran's Pahlavi regime, at the age of 47. He was born in the holy city of Qom, where he mastered Islamic sciences and reached the level of Ijtehad at the young age of 27. For ten years he lectured at the Najaf Islamic Seminary, and was always alongside his father in the struggle against the despotic Shah’s regime. His martyrdom accelerated the pace of struggles of the Iranian people and led to the victory of the Islamic Revolution a year and four months later.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1983 AD, in an anti-terrorist operation by martyrdom-seeking Lebanese Muslims against occupation forces in Beirut, 241 American and 58 French soldiers were killed. The US, French, British, and Italian occupation forces had entered Beirut to tilt the balance in favour of the Christian Phalangist militia in the Lebanese civil war, as well as to support the occupation of parts of Lebanon by the illegal Zionist entity, Israel. This heroic act forced the occupiers to pull out troops from Lebanon.

AS/SS