Today is Friday; 21st of the Iranian month of Dey 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 4th of the Islamic month of Jumadi al-Awwal 1440 lunar hijri; and January 11, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1388 solar years ago, on this day in 630 AD, Mecca, the then centre of paganism, peacefully surrendered to Muslim at the approach of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) without notice with some 10,000 believers, following the breach of the Treaty of Hodaibiyyah signed two years earlier by the Arabs. The Prophet declared general amnesty to his bitter foes and even did not retaliate against the killers of his dear uncle, Hamza, that is, the Abyssinian slave Wahshi and his masters who had ordered him to commit the savagery at Ohad five years earlier – Hind and her husband Abu Sufyan. He spared them by calling them “tulaqa” or freed slaves. This display of the clemency had a profound effect and multitudes of Qoreish started embracing the truth of Islam, as borne out by “Surah Nasr” revealed by God on this day. The Prophet ordered demolishment of temples and the holy Ka’ba was cleansed of the idols the polytheists had installed at Abraham’s edifice of monotheism. The chief idol atop the Ka’ba was pulled down by Imam Ali (AS), who, the Prophet lifted on his shoulders to end idolatry in Arabia. The lunar hijri calendar date is 20^th Ramadhan 8 AH.

1130 solar years ago, on this day in 889 AD, Abdur-Rahman III, the Omayyad Emir of Cordoba, and the first self-styled caliph of Spain, was born to a Christian concubine, while his father's mother was also a Christian concubine. He succeeded his grandfather, Abdullah, and broke all allegiance with the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad. During his 49-year rule until his death at the age of 72, his legitimacy was under serious question as a result of the bid by the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'ite Dynasty of North Africa to expand its sphere of influence in Spain, where Muslims considered the Omayyads as usurpers and the descendants of the Prophet more worthy of governance. In order to check the Fatemids, he signed a treaty with the Christian ruler of Leon, Ordono III, and backed the Maghrawa Berber rebels in Northwest Africa. Instead of confronting the European Christian rebels who were slowly encroaching upon the northern territories of Islamic Spain, he devoted his time and energy to creating inter-Muslim rivalries, as was evident by his support for the Idrisids, which was also a Shi'ite Muslim Dynasty of what is now Morocco. Abdur-Rahman's efforts were brought to naught in 958, after a decisive Fatemid victory that ended for good any Omayyad influence in North Africa.

885 lunar years ago, on this day in 555 AH, historian and literary figure, Abu’l-Hassan Ali ibn Mohammad, known as Izz od-Din Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari, was born in a Kurdish family in Jazirat Ibn Umar in Iraq, which was part of the Great Seljuq Empire, with its capital in Isfahan. He spent a scholarly life in Mosul and often visited Baghdad, where he learned from the Iranian scholar Khateeb-e Tusi. With the disintegration of the Seljuq Empire, he was with the army of Salah od-Din Ayyoubi in Syria, and has written eye-witness accounts of the battles with the Crusader invaders of Europe, who had usurped Palestine and set up the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was about 28 years old when Bayt al-Moqaddas and Palestine were liberated after 88 years of Crusader occupation by the joint Islamic army of Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Iranians. Ibn Athir later lived in Aleppo and Damascus and died in Mosul. His chief work is a general history of the world, titled “al-Kamel fi’t-Tarikh” (The Complete History), in which he has included reports of the destructive events taking place in the last years of his life in the Islamic east, particularly in Central Asia and Khorasan, where the barbaric Mongol onslaught was destroying centuries of flourishing civilized life. He has written a specialized history of the Atabek Dynasty of Mosul titled “at-Tarikh al-Baher fi’l-Dowlat-al-Atabekiyah bi’l-Mawsil”. He also wrote the biographical encyclopedia on the companions of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), titled: “Osud al-Ghabah fi Ma‘rifat as-Sahabah”.  Izz od-Din should not be confused with his elder brother, Majd od-Din Ibn Athir, the author of "Jame' al-Usoul", which is a compendium of the "Sihah as-Sitta" or the Six Authoritative Hadith Books of Sunni Muslims, compiled almost wholly by Iranian converts to Islam.

694 solar years ago, on this day in 1325 AD, Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, was built by one of the Aztec kings before the European invaders set foot on American soil. The Aztecs were indigenous Amerindian tribes, which settled in Mexico in the 12th century and ruled the region until early 16th century. They were an agrarian people and developed industries as well. They invented pictograph and attained significant achievements in different scientific fields. But as of the 16th century, the Spanish colonialists infiltrated their land, destroyed the Aztec civilization and almost exterminated the whole race. During this period, hundreds of thousands of Spaniards settled in Mexico, and now form the ruling class while the native Mexicans are still suppressed.

458 lunar years ago, on this day in 982 AH, The Ottoman Turks retook Tunis in North Africa from the Spanish occupiers following seizure of the heavily guarded fortress of Halq al-Wadi. In this battle, 5000 Spanish and Italian soldiers were killed and 3000 others captured. The Ottomans also captured 225 canons.

266 solar years ago, on this day in 1753 AD, Hans Sloane, British physician, naturalist and collector of books, manuscripts and curios, that formed the basis for the British Museum in London, died, leaving one of the world's largest and most varied collections of natural history specimens. His passion for the collection and his concern for its future upkeep after his death led him to write a will which clearly stated that it must "remain together and not be separated." He offered it to the British nation, requesting in return a sum of £20,000 for his heirs, which the Parliament accepted, and thus the British Museum was created and eventually its sister institution, the British Museum of Natural History.

140 solar years ago, on this day in 1879 AS, the Anglo-Zulu War began, and lasted almost six months at the end of which the British annexed the Zulu kingdom to their dominion of South Africa, massacring a large number of natives and destroying their homes and hearths.

115 solar years ago, on this day in 1904 AD, British occupation troops massacred 1,000 dervishes in Somaliland, which although the northern part of the Republic of Somalia, is today a self-declared independent state which no country or organization has recognized.

69 lunar years ago, on this day in 1371 AH, the Islamic scholar, Haydar Qoli Khan Afghani, known as Sardar Kabuli, passed away. He was an authority in logic, Arabic literature, mathematics, astronomy, history, and geography. A devotee of the Ahl al-Bayt, he wrote a valuable book on the virtues of Imam Ali (AS), the 1st Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He also translated into Persian, the famous book “al-Muraja’at”, on exchange of letters on principles of faith between Allamah Seyyed Abdul-Hussain Sharaf od-Din of Lebanon and Dean of Egypt’s al-Azhar Academy, Shaikh Saleem al-Bishri. His translation is titled “Monazeraat”.

62 solar years ago, on this day in 1957 AD, the prominent Iranian geographer and researcher, Professor Abu'l-Qasem Sehaab, passed away at the age of 70. Born in Tafresh, he studied theology and jurisprudence under the ulema of the city at a young age, and soon gained proficiency in Persian, Arabic, French, English, and German languages. He has left behind almost seventy books in different domains, including the book on the lives of the Infallible Imams; the translation of "History of the Holy Qur’an", and the translation of "Carpenter’s Geographical Works" in six volumes from English into Persian. He established the first Geography and Cartography Institute of Iran as a private institute in 1936. Currently the Sehaab Institute of Geography and Cartography is one of the largest geographical institutes in Iran. The library of this institute has over 16,000 books on geography; 18,000 geographical periodicals, and 20,000 maps.

27 solar years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, following the resounding victory of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the elections, President Shazli bin Jadid, resigned. In 1988, after wide-scale unrests, he had pledged reforms and revision of the Constitution, to permit political parties to operate. This enabled FIS to publicly announce its existence in September 1989. It managed to attract hundreds of thousands of members. In June 1990, FIS victory in the local elections ended the monopoly of the ruling Algerian National Liberation Front, which was in power for thirty years. In the wake of public strikes in May and June 1991, President Shazli bin Jadid was forced to hold legislative elections. The landslide victory of FIS in the parliamentary polls of December 1991 deeply worried France – the former colonial power – which ordered Algerian generals to annul the results and force the resignation of Bin Jadid.

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a senior official of Iran’s Natanz nuclear site was martyred in Tehran by agents of the US and the illegal Zionist entity at the relatively young age of 33 years. A post-graduate in chemical engineering, he was studying for PhD, and had to his credit several excellent scientific articles published in Persian and English. He was targeted along with Reza Qashqai – who survived – while leaving his house. The Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in a message of condolences on the martyrdom of this brilliant young scientist, referred to Iran's astounding scientific progress, and emphasized: "This is a historical movement, which has its roots in the indomitable resolve of the Iranian nation. We will strongly and resolutely continue this path."

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2014 AD, notorious Zionist terrorist, Ariel Sharon, known as the “Butcher of Beirut”, plunged into the bowels of hell after languishing in coma for eight years as a result of divine wrath that struck him on January 5, 2006, for his crimes against humanity. A Lithuanian Jew having no connections to Palestine, he was the son of illegal migrants to this Muslim land and was named Ariel Sheinerman. During British mandate over Palestine, he was active since his early teens in the Gadna and Haganah terrorist outfits. He has shamelessly admitted in his biography, how he and his Zionist-comrades-in crime would terrorize Palestinian villages, attack bridges and bases, and ambush traffic between Arab villages. With the illegal birth of Israel in 1948, he joined the army, changed his surname to Sharon, and rose rapidly in ranks because of his cold-blooded killings of Palestinian people – both Muslims and Christians. As war minister in 1982, he was physically present in south Lebanon and ordered the Phalangist Christian militia to massacre over 5,000 Palestinian women, children and elderly men in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps. On 28th September 2000 he desecrated the sanctity of the al-Aqsa Mosque by entering it with boots. The next year he became prime minster of a coalition cabinet. An avowed enemy of Islam, he was the first Zionist premier to visit India in 2005, and proposed a tripartite alliance with the BJP government and the US for terrorizing Muslims worldwide.

AS/SS