Today is Friday; 9th of the Iranian month of Azar 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 22nd of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1440 lunar hijri; and November 30, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

5358 solar years ago, on this day in 3340 BC in Mesopotamia, the earliest record of an eclipse seems to have been documented, according to the cuneiform clay tablets deciphered. Perhaps the first recorded eclipse might have occurred earlier in view of the fact that it was in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) that Prophet Enoch (Idris) taught the science of writing, as well as astronomy and many other branches of knowledge and professions.

1436 lunar years ago, on this day in 4 AH, the Muslims started the campaign against the Israelite tribe of Bani Nadheer around Medina by besieging their forts when the Jews, in alliance with the Arab infidels and hypocrites, refused to leave, despite their breach of the covenant of Medina for peaceful co-existence. They had incited Meccan polytheists to attack Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), in addition to their own attempts on his life. God Almighty revealed the ayahs of Surah Hashr, allowing the Prophet to take action. The Prophet entrusted the standard to his cousin and vicegerent, Imam Ali (AS), to launch the campaign. In a few days, the rebellious Israelites sued for peace, and were allowed to leave on 600 camels along with their women, children, livestock and riches. Some settled in Khaybar while others left for Syria. Centuries earlier, Israelite tribes had migrated to Hijaz from Palestine to await the advent among the Arabs of the Last and Greatest Messenger foretold by God in the Torah and other heavenly scriptures. But when Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) proclaimed his mission, the Israelites denied him, even though they recognized him as the one prophesied by Moses and other prophets. The Prophet, as per divine commandment, offered peace and truce to the Jews, as the People of the Book, but despite their pledges the Israelites never kept their words and always plotted against Islam and the Prophet.

1041 solar years ago, on this day in 977 AD, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II was forced to lift the siege of Paris and withdraws. His rearguard was defeated while crossing the Aisne River by Frankish forces under King Lothair III. Five years later in 982, when Otto II ventured in southern Italy he was decisively defeated by the Muslim forces of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'a Muslim caliphate of Egypt-Syria-North Africa at the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria. The Fatemids, who after taking control of Sicily in the 960s had advanced into southern Italy, came into conflict with the Germans under Otto, who was advancing from the north with the intention of seizing Apulia and Calabria from the Byzantines. He was met by forces of the Sicilian Emir, Abu'l-Qassem, to whom the Greek Christians had appealed for aid against the Roman Catholics. After initial success, Otto's army was bogged down in a pitched battle south of Crotone at Cape Colonna, and although Abu'l-Qassem was martyred, the Muslim troops did not flee. They regrouped and surrounded Otto's soldiers, killing many of them and inflicting a severe defeat upon the Holy Roman Emperor. The defeat changed the political makeup of southern Italy, where Muslims retained their presence, while the Greek Orthodox forces joined the Muslims to regain possession of Apulia from the Roman Catholics. The Muslim presence in Italy lasted for over three centuries till 1300 AD, when due to loss of political power they were expelled, and the remaining were forcibly converted to Christianity with mosques turned into churches.

704 lunar years ago, on this day in 736 AH, the great scholar and founder of the Sarbadaran Movement, Shaikh Khalifa Mazandarani, was martyred in Sabzevar, Khorasan. Born in Amol in Mazandaran near the Caspian Sea, after mastering various branches of Islamic sciences, he came to Khorasan where in Sabzevar he launched the Sarbadar Movement against the repressive rule of the Ilkhanid Mongols, especially the local governor Togha Timur, who was notorious for his cruelty and high taxation of the people. The movement, which was mostly made up of the downtrodden, spread to neighboring cities. Its charismatic leaders included Shaikh Khalifa’s successor, Hassan Juri, and later Ali Mu’ayyad, all of whom revived the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). For the next 50 years, the Sarbadar – a Persian term which means, heads bound on gallows, to signify their readiness for martyrdom – ruled most of Khorasan, although not on dynastic basis. They regarded as their spiritual leader, Shaikh Mohammad Jamal od-Din al-Makki al-Ameli of what is now Lebanon, who was later martyred in his homeland by the enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt, and earned immortality as Shaheed al-Awwal (or First Martyr).

351 solar years ago, on this day in 1667 AD, Irish author, Jonathan Swift, was born in Dublin. He made strenuous efforts for the independence of his country from British rule. He wrote books depicting the social conditions, including the fictitious work titled “Gulliver's Travels”, which became one of the world’s literary masterpieces. He died at the age of 78.

287 solar years ago, on this day in 1731 AD, Beijing in China was hit by a powerful earthquake that resulted in the death of at least one hundred thousand people.

215 solar years ago, on this day in 1803 AD, in New Orleans, Spanish representatives officially transferred the Louisiana Territory in North America to a French representative, and just 20 days later, France sold the same land to the United States in a deal known as the Louisiana Purchase.

201 solar years ago, on this day in 1817 AD, German historian and researcher, Theodore Mommsen, was born. His most important book is "The History of Rome". He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1902, and died a year later at the age of 86. He served as an elected lawmaker in the Reichstag (parliament), and was considered a staunch opponent of the well-known German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.

183 solar years ago, on this day in 1835 AD, US author and humorist, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known popularly as Mark Twain, was born. His childhood and teenage were adventurous and these adventures later turned into the themes of his books. He wrote numerous stories for youngsters, including "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and "The Prince and the Pauper". He was broke in the waning years of his life, and finally following the death of his two daughters, he died in 1910.

165 solar years ago, on this day in 1853 AD, during the Crimean War, the Battle of Sinop was fought resulting in the destruction of Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha by the Russian Navy commanded by Pavel Nakhimov at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey.

142 solar years ago, on this day in 1874 AD, Winston Churchill, British soldier, journalist, politician, and Prime Minister was born. He was an avowed imperialist with little regard for the sentiments of the nations under the hegemony of Britain. He wrote the book “History of the English Speaking Peoples.”

47 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, with the withdrawal of British occupation troops, the Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, and Greater and Lesser Tunbs, returned to Iran’s sovereignty. These three Iranian islands are strategically located near the Strait of Hormoz, which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Britain had seized these islands in 1887, and had also taken control of Bahrain which earlier had been seized by the Aal-e Khalifa pirates from Qajarid Iran. Bahrain was not returned to Iranian sovereignty because of the treason of the Pahlavi regime.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, the world famous Egyptian “Qari” (reciter) of the holy Qur'an, Abdul-Baset Mohammad Abdus-Samad, died in Cairo. His son, Yasser, who is also a prominent “Qari” of the holy Qur’an, and has recently become a staunch follower of the School of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, relates that after death his father appeared to him in a dream and lamenting about his not-so-satisfactory fate in afterlife, even though he was the world’s foremost memorizer and “Qari” of the holy Qur’an, said the reason was his lack of proper faith in the “Wilayah” or divinely-decreed authority of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the First Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

9^th of Azar is marked every year as Day of Shaikh Mufid, as a mark of respect to the great service rendered to Islam and the School of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) by this celebrated scholar who flourished in Baghdad almost a millennium ago. Named Mohammad, he was born in the town of Ukbar, north of Baghdad. He has left behind numerous compilations in almost all branches of Islamic sciences, some of which are: “al-Irshad”, “Ahkam an-Nisa”, and “Tashih E`teqadat al-Imamiyah” – the last named is a critical and edited version of his one-time teacher, Ibn Babwaih Shaikh Sadouq's “al-E'teqad”. He trained a great number of scholars, including the celebrated pair of brothers, Seyyed Murteza and Seyyed Radhi – the compiler of the famous book “Nahj al-Balagha” – and Shaikh at-Ta’efa Abu Ja’far Tousi.

AS/SS