Today is Friday; 12th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 25th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1440 lunar hijri; and February 1, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1376 lunar years ago, on this day in 64 AH, Mu’awiyyah, the son of the tyrant Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah, died under suspicious circumstances in Damascus, Syria, at the age 19, a month after abdicating the caliphate. He was installed as ruler of the usurper Omayyad regime following the death by divine wrath of his accursed father – the perpetrator of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala – and immediately distanced himself from Yazid’s crimes against Islam, especially the slaying of Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). After only a month and eleven days in power, he relinquished the caliphate by delivering a sermon that exposed as sinners and usurpers, both his father and grandfather Mu’awiyyah ibn Abu Sufyan, who had seized the caliphate from the Prophet’s elder grandson Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS) in 41 AH to establish the illegal Omayyad regime. The young Mu’awiyyah, who unlike his blasphemous father and grandfather, was an upright person, went on the pulpit of the main mosque of Damascus, and with eyes full of tears, recounted the evil and sacrilegious deeds of his father, Yazid, in martyring Imam Husain (AS), in imprisoning the Prophet’s household; in desecrating the Prophet’s Mosque and Shrine in Medina following the massacre of Muslims at Harrah, and in profaning the sanctity of the holy Ka’ba. He also recounted the evil deeds of his grandfather Mu’awiyyah ibn Sufyan, the accursed founder of the Omayyad dynasty, in revolting against the rule of justice of Imam Ali (AS), in seizing the caliphate from the Prophet’s elder grandson Imam Hasan al-Mojtaba (AS), and in shedding the blood of Muslims. According to historical accounts, he said: The caliphate is from Allah. My grandfather fought the person who was more entitled to it, i.e. Imam Ali. He [Mu'awiyyah ibn Abu Sufyan] committed acts that you are all aware of, and for which he is suffering in his grave. Then my father Yazid assumed the caliphate even though he was not deserving of it. He fought the Prophet’s grandson and is suffering in the grave on account of his sins. It is a terrible thing that we are fully aware of Yazid's bad deeds: he slaughtered the Prophet’s family, he deemed alcohol permissible, and set fire to the holy Ka'ba. I don't need this rule.

When his kinsman, the Godless Marwan ibn al-Hakam told him that since he does not want to rule, he should handover the choice of caliph to a council, he replied: I have not tasted the fruits of the caliphate, so why should I experience its bitterness (through such a decision). He was never again seen in public and is believed to have poisoned to death. The aging Marwan seized the caliphate, which meant a shift in the lineage of the Omayyad regime from the offspring of Abu Sufyan to those of Hakam – both of whom grandsons of Omayya and avowed enemies of the Prophet of Islam. After some nine months in power, Marwan was killed by his most recent wife, a widow of the tyrant Yazid. This woman put a pillow on his face and sat over it till his breath was snuffed out. Some 67 years later, the Marwanids were thrown into the dustbin of history with the rise of the new dynasty of usurper caliphs, the Abbasids.

1027 solar years ago, on this day in 992 AD, the famous Greek Muslim general and statesman of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'a Muslim dynasty of Egypt and North Africa, Jowhar bin Abdullah as-Siqili, or the Sicilian, died shortly after his disastrous defeat in battle near Syria – his second unsuccessful bid to conquer Syria. Earlier he had conquered Egypt and the built the city of Cairo including the famous al-Azhar Mosque and academy. Born a Christian on the island of Sicily near what is now Italy, he embraced the truth of Islam and joined the service of the Fatemids, soon rising into prominence as “al-Kateb” (the Chancellor) and “al-Qa'ed” (or the General). He subdued North Africa as far as the Atlantic coast and then turned towards the east to wrest control of Egypt from the Ikhshidid Turkic governors of the Abbasid caliphate. He built Cairo as the new capital of the Fatemids, by publicly bearing testimony in the Azaan, or the call to prayer, to the imamate of Imam Ali (AS) after the Prophethood of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). The phrase "hayya ala khayr il-amal", meaning ‘hasten to the best of deeds’, which was dropped from the Azaan by the second caliph, was also revived and echoed from the minarets of "al-Azhar", which is a derivative of "Az-Zahra" or the Radiant, the famous epithet of the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her).

729 solar years ago, on this day in 1290 AD, with the assassination of Sultan Kai-Qobad at the instigation of Jalal od-Din Khilji, the Turkic Slave Dynasty of Delhi ended after a rule of 84 years in most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. Jalal od-Din Khilji, who was from Zabul in eastern Iran and was appointed chief of the army by Kai-Qobad, had first contrived to assassinate the vizier, Nizam od-Din, before consolidating his power and finally seizing the throne to establish the short-lived Khilji Dynasty. Six years later, he himself was killed by his nephew Ali Gurshasp, who ascended the throne of Delhi under the title, Ala od-Din Khilji, and expanded Muslim rule throughout India.

502 lunar years ago, on this day 938 AH, the great Islamic scholar of what is now Lebanon, Shaikh Ali bin Abdul-Aali al-Maysi al-Ameli, passed away. Known as “Muhaqqiq” (Researcher) for his outstanding abilities, he was a teacher of the famous scholar Shaikh Zayn od-Din al-Juba’i, known as “Shaheed Thani” (Second Martyr) for his tragic martyrdom in Syria. Shaikh Ali al-Maysi’s son, Shaikh Lotfallah al-Maysi migrated to Safavid Iran and settled in the holy city of Mashhad in Khorasan, where he became a famous scholar. During those days, because of the persecution by the Ottoman Turkish rulers, many Shi’ite Arab scholars of Lebanon migrated to Iran.

396 solar years ago, on this day in 1623 AD, the Portuguese naval commander, Ruy Friere, surrendered to the Iranian navy at Qeshm Island at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. On February 9, the Safavid emperor, Shah Abbasid I, liberated the strategic Hormuz Island in the Strait of the same name, and thus drove out the Portuguese from the Persian Gulf. Some 20 years earlier, Iran had also liberated Bahrain from the Portuguese occupiers.

306 solar years ago, on this day in 1713 AD, the Kalabalik-e Benderi (which means ‘Tumult in the Port’) results from the Ottoman Sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized. The skirmish was devised to remove Charles XII of Sweden from the Ottoman Empire after his military defeats in Russia. It took place on Ottoman territory, in what is now the town of Bender in Moldova. After the Swedish defeat by the Russians at the Battle of Poltava on 27 June 1709 and the surrender of most of the Swedish army at Perevolochna three days later, Charles XII fled together with a few hundred Swedish soldiers and a large number of Cossacks to the border areas of the Ottoman Empire for safety, and spent a total of five years. As an unwelcome he was assaulted by scores of Ottoman soldiers who captured him and the remaining fighters. After some time as a prisoner, Charles XII and his soldiers were released when news of the Swedish victory in the battle of Gadebusch reached the Ottomans. Charles then started to plan his trip back to Sweden. In Turkish the word for "crowd" or "tumult" is “kalabalık”, which after the incident has become a Swedish loanword, “kalabalik”, with the meaning "confusion" or "great disorder".

310 solar years ago, on this day in 1709 AD, British sailor, Alexander Selkirk, was rescued after being marooned on the uninhabited Mas-a-Tierra Island for 5 years. His story of survival was widely publicised when he returned home, and partly became a source of inspiration for the writer Daniel Defoe's fictional character Robinson Crusoe. Selkirk spent four years stranded on the Juan Fernandez Islands – he lived on Mas-a-Tierra [Closer to Land] which was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966. It  is interesting to note that Defoe’s novel was also inspired by the Latin/English translation of the book “Hayy ibn Yaqdhan” by the Spanish Muslim polymath Ibn Tufail, who drew the name of the tale and most of its characters from an earlier work by the Iranian Islamic multi-sided genius, Abu Ali Ibn Sina (Avicenna).

269 solar years ago, on this day in 1750 AD, the Georgian prince, Bakar of the Mukhrani branch of the Bagrationi dynasty, died in Russia. He was the son of King Vakhtang VI who left him in charge of Kartli (eastern Georgia) during his absence at the Safavid court of Persia from September 1716 to August 1719. His position was recognized by Shah Sultan Hussain Safavi, who invested him in 1717, with the title of Shah Nawaz, a crown, sword, gold insignia, and robe of honor. The Iranian monarch also appointed him commander-in-chief of the Persian army and governor-general of Azarbaijan. When the Ottoman armies invaded Georgia in 1723, taking advantage of Shah Sultan Hussain Safavi's defeat by the Afghan invaders, Bakar attempted to negotiate, but eventually followed his father into exile in Russia in July 1724. In Moscow he was engaged in cultural activities, in addition to his involvement in Russian diplomatic and military service.

205 solar years ago, on this day in 1814 AD, the bloody Routier Confrontation took place in the region of the same name between the 160,000-strong armies of Prussia, Austria, and Sweden and the 42,000-strong army of France led by Napoleon Bonaparte. In this battle, the French troops, which were demoralized and outnumbered, could not resist against the enemy and the battle ended with Napoleon’s failure.

101 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, Russia adopted the Gregorian Calendar after the Communists under Valadimir Lenin had seized power to divert the Russian revolution from its course. During Czarist rule, Russia followed the Julian Calendar that used to begin in March, and not January.

70 lunar years ago, on this day in 1370 AH, prominent jurisprudent and Marja’ or Source of Emulation, Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Faiz Qomi, passed away in his hometown Qom. After completing his studies in Qom, he left for Iraq for higher studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where his teachers included the celebrated Mohammad Kazem Akhound Khorasani. On his return to Iran he started reclaiming the old buildings of the defunct seminary of Qom, and after revival of the Qom seminary by his colleague Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Ha’eri Yazdi, he began teaching students. At the same time he was politically and socially against the British-installed and American-supported Pahlavi regime.

61 solar years ago, on this day in 1958 AD, Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab Republic. Most Syrians resented the merger. The union of Syria and Egypt was dissolved in 1961 following a coup in Syria. Egypt kept the name United Arab Republic until 1971.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, the execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem by South Vietnamese Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan, on the orders of the US occupation forces, was videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams. This image helped build opposition to the war the Americans had imposed on Vietnam.

40 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) returned to Iran from 15 years of exile and was accorded an unprecedentedly glorious welcome by millions of people. After a short speech at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport, he went to Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery to pay tributes to martyrs of the Islamic Revolution. In his memorable speech he dismissed as illegal the cabinet of the fugitive Shah’s premier, Shapour Bakhtiyar. The beloved leader took up residence in a simple house in Tehran from where he guided the Islamic Revolution to final victory on February 11. For this reason, the ten days since his arrival and the final victory are celebrated every year as the "Ten-Day Dawn", with special ceremonies and festivities.

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Baghdad, on the instructions of his masters in Washington, launched a new series of air attacks on Iran’s shipping. His aim was to plunge the Persian Gulf into turmoil and disrupt oil exports, in a bid to involve his chief backer, the US, in the 8-year long war he had imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

28 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, Afghanistan and Pakistan were hit by an earthquake that killed at least 1,200 people, devastated wide areas, and made several thousand people homeless.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, over seventy Shi’a Muslim pilgrims were martyred and more than a hundred others injured in the Shaab neighbourhood of northern Baghdad, when an unsuspecting woman given a bag full of explosives by Takfiris was blown to bits through remote control by terrorists backed by Saudi Arabia, as part of the US-Zionist plot to destabilize Iraq. 

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, over 30 Shi’a Muslim worshippers were martyred and more than seventy others injured during prayers in a mosque in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, that was targeted by Saudi-backed terrorists through remote control after an unsuspecting person was bribed to tie up a belt of explosives of which he was not aware.

AS/SS