This Day in History (February 26)
Today is Sunday; 8th of the Iranian month of Esfand 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 28th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1438 lunar hijri; and February 26, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
2764 solar years ago, on this day at noon in 747 BC, the "Anno Nobonassari” began in the reign of King Nabu-Nasir of Babylon, which the ancient Greco-Egyptian astronomer, Claudius Ptolemy, calls in his work "Almagest”, as beginning of the world’s first recorded calendar based on astronomical calculations. The Babylonian Chronicle covering the years 747 to 668 BC, the best preserved exemplar of this genre, was possibly collated from Babylonian astronomical diaries. The lists of celestial phenomena started with the lunar eclipse of 747–746 BC, a spectacular conjunction of the moon and the planets that may have inspired the commencement of recording of accurate astronomical observations. Although it is claimed that it was from the reign of Nabu-Nasir onward that the movements and duration of the stars were recorded, according to Islamic texts, it was Prophet Idris (Enoch), who centuries before the Great Deluge of the days of Prophet Noah, taught astronomy and devised the calendar. This is more or less confirmed by the 3rd century BC Hellenized Babylonian priest, Berossus, who in his work Babyloniaca, writes: "Nabu-Nasir gathered the records of his predecessors and destroyed them, thus ensuring that the history of the Chaldean kings began with him.” In view of these facts, it could be said that Nabu-Nasir’s reign marks the reform of the Babylonian calendar, introducing regular calculated intercalary months, the eighteen-year cycle texts and perhaps even the zodiac. Over two centuries later with the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great of Persia, the astronomically advanced calendar of the Mesopotamian civilizations was adopted and fully Persianized by the Iranians.
1155 lunar years ago, on this day in 283 AH, the acclaimed Arabic poet, Ali ibn al-Abbas ibn Jurayj, known popularly as Ibn ar-Roumi, passed away at the age of 62. Born in Baghdad, he was the son of an Iranian mother and a half-Roman Muslim father, which explains his surname Ibn Roumi. By the age of twenty he earned a living through his poetry which would culminate in his masterpiece Diwan. His political patrons included the Taherid ruler of Khorasan, Obaydallah ibn Abdullah, the Abbasid Caliph's Persian minister, Ismail ibn Bulbul, and the politically influential Nestorian family of Banu Wahd. He was a Shi'ite Muslim. He died of illness, although some have suggested that poison may have been the cause.
863 solar years ago, on this day in 1154 AD, King Roger II of Sicily died at the age of 59 in his capital Palermo. Sicily, which for over three centuries was a Muslim island and part of the empire of the Fatemid Shi’ite Muslim Dynasty, was seized by his father, Roger I – a Norman adventurer from Normandy in northern France. Influenced by the rich culture and civilization of Islam, Roger II drew around him distinguished Muslim scientists, architects, statesmen, and even soldiers. The famous Islamic geographer Seyyed Mohammad al-Hassani al-Idrisi and the Spanish Muslim polymath Abu Salt al-Andalusi – who had formerly served the Fatemids in Egypt – were among the dignitaries at the Norman court in Palermo. Idrisi – a descendent of Imam Hasan (AS), the elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – wrote for Roger the book "Nuzhat al-Mushtaaq fi-Ikhteraaq al-Afaaq”. Known in Latin as "Tabula Rogeriana”, it is a description of the world and the first world map ever drawn in Europe that later enabled navigators like Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan and others to rediscover the Americas. It took Idrisi fifteen years to write this monumental work which contains commentaries and illustrations as well as the first perfect map of the Eurasian continent including its link to North Africa. Roger II also hired many Muslims who were trained in long-established traditions of centralized government. These included Abdur-Rahman an-Nasrani, a Greek convert whose name was Latinized as Christodulus and who served as the Emir of Palermo with the title "ammiratus-ammiratorum” (a corruption of "Amir al-Omara”), and later "Amir al-Bahr” (navy commander), which gave rise to the English word Admiral.
215 solar years ago, on this day in 1802 AD, the acclaimed French poet and author, Victor Hugo, was born. He was a freedom-seeker and a supporter of social reforms in favor of the disadvantaged strata. He joined the French Academy at the age of 25, and was concurrently elected as a lawmaker. During the reign of Napoleon III, he stepped aside from the political scene due to his opposition to the repressive monarchic rule, and spent 20 years in exile. During this period, Hugo penned valuable works and can be considered as the pioneer of the Romanticism style. His important works include "The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and "Les Miserables”. He died in 1885.
212 lunar years ago, on this day in 1226 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic scholar, Mullah Ali Mirza Khalili, was born. He honed his skills in theology, jurisprudence, and mathematics, and spent his life on research, study, and writing of books. His works include "Khaza'in al-Ahkam”. He passed away in 1297 at the age of 71.
202 solar years ago, on this day in 1815 AD, Napoleon Bonaparte, along with 1,200 of his men, escaped from his 10-month confinement on the Island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea, to start the 100-day re-conquest of France, before his final defeat in the Battle of Waterloo on June 15 and the exile to St. Helena Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he died in May 1821 – presumably by poison administered by the British.
157 solar years ago, on this day in 1860 AD, white-skinned European encroachers massacred a band of Wiyot Amerindians at the village of Tuluwat on Indian Island near Eureka, California. At least 60 women, children and elders were killed in cold blood. The US has a bleak and bloody record of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the native people.
119 lunar years ago, on this day in 1319 AH, the great Islamic scholar, Allamah Mirza Mohammad Hassan Ashtiani Tehrani, passed away. He authored a number of books on various Islamic sciences, and published the lectures and thoughts of the celebrated scholar, Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Morteza Ansari Dezfuli. He, along with other combatant and courageous ulema, opposed monopolization of tobacco trade, which was granted to a British company by the Qajarid King, Nasser od-Din Shah. Allamah Ashtiani was a firm believer that no falsehood can approach the holy Qur'an. He says in his book "Bahr al-Fawa'ed” that "all leading Mujtahideen and Usoolieen widely believe that the Holy Qur'an has not been distorted. In fact, many have even cited a consensus of opinion or ijma’ in this regard, and there is in particular a complete consensus of opinion that no additions have been made to the Qur'an. Thus, the narrations that point to deletions being made to the Qur'an contain weak chains.” He also wrote the valuable book "Mabaheth al-Alfaaz”.
114 solar years ago, on this day in 1903 AD, Richard Jordan Gatling, US inventor of the "Gatling Gun”, the forerunner of the machine gun, died at age of 84. In 1861 he invented his gun, a crank-operated, rapid-fire multi-barrel design combining reliability, high firing rate and ease of loading into a single device. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 spurred him to design firearms.
96 solar years ago, on this day in 1921 AD, the Soviet Union entered into an agreement with Iran four years after triumph of the Bolshevik Revolution by declaring all treaties imposed on Iran by Czarist Russia as null and void. The Soviet Union was under threats from all directions and the main purpose of the treaty was to ensure prevention of any anti-communist activities from Iranian soil. However, despite canceling all Czarist imposed treaties, the Soviet Union did not return to Iran the lands which the Czars had seized in the Caucasus, including what is known today as the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan, Daghestan, and parts of Central Asia such as the region of Marv in what is now the Republic of Turkmenistan.
82 solar years ago, on this day in 1935 AD, the feasibility of ‘RADAR’, which is the abbreviation of "Radio Detection And Ranging” was demonstrated for the first time at Daventry, England, by Scottish physicist Robert Watson-Watt. While working on methods of using radio-wave detection to locate thunderstorms in order to provide warnings to airmen, he realized that it could be used to track enemy aircraft for air defence. The test showed that a British bomber flying in the main beam of a BBC short-wave radio transmitter gave back reflected signals to the ground on three occasions that the aircraft passed overhead. By 1939, the outbreak of WW II, the military installed a chain of radar stations along the east and south coasts of England to prevent a German invasion.
31 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, Iranian singer, Gholam-Hussein Banaan, passed away after a long illness at the age of 75. He started his singing career on Iran Radio in 1942, and two years later after foundation of the National Music Society, he started grooming students. He was not only a master of traditional and classical Iranian music but was also a maestro of Iran’s modern music. His cooperation with Iran Radio led to creation of 450 songs, which have remained to this day as highly valuable works on Iran’s musical scene.
30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, Hussain Kharrazi, one of the brilliant young commanders of the Islamic Revolution, achieved martyrdom in the "Karbala 5” Operations against the invading Ba’thist forces in the southwestern theatre of the war imposed on Iran by the US through Saddam. He was commander of the Imam Husain (AS) 14 Battalion. Three years earlier during the Khaibar Operations in the Majnoon islands sector, he had lost his right hand – as a devotee of Hazrat Abbas (AS), the valiant brother of the Martyr of Karbala Imam Husain (AS), who had lost both his hands during the battle with the forces of Yazid the tyrant. Hussain Kharrazi had joined the Basij forces immediately after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and served with distinction against the anti-revolutionaries in the Turkman Sahra region and later in Kurdistan. On the start of the imposed war and the fall of the port city of Khorramshahr, he was dispatched the battlefronts and in the next few years, distinguished himself as an astute strategist during the "Thamen al-Aimma”, "Fath al-Mobin”, "Bayt al-Moqaddas”, "Khaibar”, "Badr”, "Wa’l-Fajr 8”, and "Karbala 4” and "5” Operations.
25 solar years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, Armenian militiamen and the 366th rifle regiment of the Russian army massacred in cold blood at least 613 Muslim men, women, and children in the town of Khojaly in the Qarabagh autonomous region of the Republic of Azerbaijan on its seizure by Armenia. As confirmed by Human Rights Watch and other international observers, the "Khojaly Genocide" and its aftermath shocked the civilized world, and later many dead bodies of Azeris trying to flee the massacre were found in the surrounding mountains and forests as a result of freezing temperatures. In addition, the Armenians imprisoned the survivors of the tragedy. The Caucasus region, including the republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, were an integral part of Iran’s successive empires for over two millenniums until the occupation by Russia in the 19th century.
24 solar years ago, on this day in 1415 AH, the prominent scholar, Seyyed Reza Sadr, passed away at the age of 75 in the holy city of Qom and was laid to rest in the holy shrine of Hazrat Ma’souma (SA). Born in holy Mashhad, he was the son of the Source of Emulation, Seyyed Sadr od-Din Sadr and elder brother of the famous Imam Musa Sadr, the Iranian scholar who actively awakened and united the Shi’ite Muslims of Lebanon in the 1960s and 1970s, before his martyrdom in Tripoli at the hands of Libyan dictator, Mo’ammar Qadhafi. Seyyed Reza Sadr initially studied under his father and then under other such eminent scholars as Ayatollah Seyyed Shahab od-Din Mar'ashi Najafi, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Muhaqqiq Damad, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hpjjat Kuhkamari'i and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi. He then learned philosophy and Gnosis from the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). After attaining Ijtehad he taught jurisprudence and theology. Imam Khomeini from his exile in holy Najaf, Iraq, asked Seyyed Reza Sadr to teach Gnosis and philosophy at the Qom seminary. Besides being politically active against the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime, he groomed many scholar and wrote several books in both Arabic and Persian, including "The Lady of Karbala” (Hazrat Zaynab (SA)), "Zan va Azadi” (Woman and Freedom), "Sukhanan-e Saraan-e Kumunism dar barayi Khoda” (What the leaders of Communism have said about God), "A Review of Jurisprudential Works of Shaykh at-Ta’efa Tousi”, "al-Istiqama” (Resilience), "al-Ijtehad wa’l-Taqlid”, and exegesis of "Surah al-Hujuraat” and "Surah al-Yusuf” (Prophet Joseph) of the holy Qur’an.
3 solar years ago, on this day in 2014 AD, 23-year Ja’far Mohammad Ja’far of Bahrain attained martyrdom in a hospital a week after he was admitted there following torture at the hands of agents of the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime, who had kidnapped him on trumped up charges, including smuggling of weapons, when the fact of the matter is that the mass popular uprising of the people of Bahrain for restoration of their birthrights, has been peaceful and unarmed from its very outset in early 2011 despite the brutalities of the US-Israeli backed regime.
One solar year ago, on this day in 2016 AD, prominent Iranian Film director, Farajollah Salahshour, passed away at the age of 63. Born in Qazvin, he directed several widely popular historica; and religious films such as "Prophet Job (AS)”, "Prophet Joseph (AS)”, and "Men of Angelos” – the last named a serial on the Qur’anic account of the Seven Sleepers of the Cave, who because of their firm faith in monotheism had fled to the mountains to escape persecution from the pagan Romans.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)
2764 solar years ago, on this day at noon in 747 BC, the "Anno Nobonassari” began in the reign of King Nabu-Nasir of Babylon, which the ancient Greco-Egyptian astronomer, Claudius Ptolemy, calls in his work "Almagest”, as beginning of the world’s first recorded calendar based on astronomical calculations. The Babylonian Chronicle covering the years 747 to 668 BC, the best preserved exemplar of this genre, was possibly collated from Babylonian astronomical diaries. The lists of celestial phenomena started with the lunar eclipse of 747–746 BC, a spectacular conjunction of the moon and the planets that may have inspired the commencement of recording of accurate astronomical observations. Although it is claimed that it was from the reign of Nabu-Nasir onward that the movements and duration of the stars were recorded, according to Islamic texts, it was Prophet Idris (Enoch), who centuries before the Great Deluge of the days of Prophet Noah, taught astronomy and devised the calendar. This is more or less confirmed by the 3rd century BC Hellenized Babylonian priest, Berossus, who in his work Babyloniaca, writes: "Nabu-Nasir gathered the records of his predecessors and destroyed them, thus ensuring that the history of the Chaldean kings began with him.” In view of these facts, it could be said that Nabu-Nasir’s reign marks the reform of the Babylonian calendar, introducing regular calculated intercalary months, the eighteen-year cycle texts and perhaps even the zodiac. Over two centuries later with the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great of Persia, the astronomically advanced calendar of the Mesopotamian civilizations was adopted and fully Persianized by the Iranians.
1155 lunar years ago, on this day in 283 AH, the acclaimed Arabic poet, Ali ibn al-Abbas ibn Jurayj, known popularly as Ibn ar-Roumi, passed away at the age of 62. Born in Baghdad, he was the son of an Iranian mother and a half-Roman Muslim father, which explains his surname Ibn Roumi. By the age of twenty he earned a living through his poetry which would culminate in his masterpiece Diwan. His political patrons included the Taherid ruler of Khorasan, Obaydallah ibn Abdullah, the Abbasid Caliph's Persian minister, Ismail ibn Bulbul, and the politically influential Nestorian family of Banu Wahd. He was a Shi'ite Muslim. He died of illness, although some have suggested that poison may have been the cause.
863 solar years ago, on this day in 1154 AD, King Roger II of Sicily died at the age of 59 in his capital Palermo. Sicily, which for over three centuries was a Muslim island and part of the empire of the Fatemid Shi’ite Muslim Dynasty, was seized by his father, Roger I – a Norman adventurer from Normandy in northern France. Influenced by the rich culture and civilization of Islam, Roger II drew around him distinguished Muslim scientists, architects, statesmen, and even soldiers. The famous Islamic geographer Seyyed Mohammad al-Hassani al-Idrisi and the Spanish Muslim polymath Abu Salt al-Andalusi – who had formerly served the Fatemids in Egypt – were among the dignitaries at the Norman court in Palermo. Idrisi – a descendent of Imam Hasan (AS), the elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – wrote for Roger the book "Nuzhat al-Mushtaaq fi-Ikhteraaq al-Afaaq”. Known in Latin as "Tabula Rogeriana”, it is a description of the world and the first world map ever drawn in Europe that later enabled navigators like Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan and others to rediscover the Americas. It took Idrisi fifteen years to write this monumental work which contains commentaries and illustrations as well as the first perfect map of the Eurasian continent including its link to North Africa. Roger II also hired many Muslims who were trained in long-established traditions of centralized government. These included Abdur-Rahman an-Nasrani, a Greek convert whose name was Latinized as Christodulus and who served as the Emir of Palermo with the title "ammiratus-ammiratorum” (a corruption of "Amir al-Omara”), and later "Amir al-Bahr” (navy commander), which gave rise to the English word Admiral.
215 solar years ago, on this day in 1802 AD, the acclaimed French poet and author, Victor Hugo, was born. He was a freedom-seeker and a supporter of social reforms in favor of the disadvantaged strata. He joined the French Academy at the age of 25, and was concurrently elected as a lawmaker. During the reign of Napoleon III, he stepped aside from the political scene due to his opposition to the repressive monarchic rule, and spent 20 years in exile. During this period, Hugo penned valuable works and can be considered as the pioneer of the Romanticism style. His important works include "The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and "Les Miserables”. He died in 1885.
212 lunar years ago, on this day in 1226 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic scholar, Mullah Ali Mirza Khalili, was born. He honed his skills in theology, jurisprudence, and mathematics, and spent his life on research, study, and writing of books. His works include "Khaza'in al-Ahkam”. He passed away in 1297 at the age of 71.
202 solar years ago, on this day in 1815 AD, Napoleon Bonaparte, along with 1,200 of his men, escaped from his 10-month confinement on the Island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea, to start the 100-day re-conquest of France, before his final defeat in the Battle of Waterloo on June 15 and the exile to St. Helena Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he died in May 1821 – presumably by poison administered by the British.
157 solar years ago, on this day in 1860 AD, white-skinned European encroachers massacred a band of Wiyot Amerindians at the village of Tuluwat on Indian Island near Eureka, California. At least 60 women, children and elders were killed in cold blood. The US has a bleak and bloody record of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the native people.
119 lunar years ago, on this day in 1319 AH, the great Islamic scholar, Allamah Mirza Mohammad Hassan Ashtiani Tehrani, passed away. He authored a number of books on various Islamic sciences, and published the lectures and thoughts of the celebrated scholar, Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Morteza Ansari Dezfuli. He, along with other combatant and courageous ulema, opposed monopolization of tobacco trade, which was granted to a British company by the Qajarid King, Nasser od-Din Shah. Allamah Ashtiani was a firm believer that no falsehood can approach the holy Qur'an. He says in his book "Bahr al-Fawa'ed” that "all leading Mujtahideen and Usoolieen widely believe that the Holy Qur'an has not been distorted. In fact, many have even cited a consensus of opinion or ijma’ in this regard, and there is in particular a complete consensus of opinion that no additions have been made to the Qur'an. Thus, the narrations that point to deletions being made to the Qur'an contain weak chains.” He also wrote the valuable book "Mabaheth al-Alfaaz”.
114 solar years ago, on this day in 1903 AD, Richard Jordan Gatling, US inventor of the "Gatling Gun”, the forerunner of the machine gun, died at age of 84. In 1861 he invented his gun, a crank-operated, rapid-fire multi-barrel design combining reliability, high firing rate and ease of loading into a single device. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 spurred him to design firearms.
96 solar years ago, on this day in 1921 AD, the Soviet Union entered into an agreement with Iran four years after triumph of the Bolshevik Revolution by declaring all treaties imposed on Iran by Czarist Russia as null and void. The Soviet Union was under threats from all directions and the main purpose of the treaty was to ensure prevention of any anti-communist activities from Iranian soil. However, despite canceling all Czarist imposed treaties, the Soviet Union did not return to Iran the lands which the Czars had seized in the Caucasus, including what is known today as the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan, Daghestan, and parts of Central Asia such as the region of Marv in what is now the Republic of Turkmenistan.
82 solar years ago, on this day in 1935 AD, the feasibility of ‘RADAR’, which is the abbreviation of "Radio Detection And Ranging” was demonstrated for the first time at Daventry, England, by Scottish physicist Robert Watson-Watt. While working on methods of using radio-wave detection to locate thunderstorms in order to provide warnings to airmen, he realized that it could be used to track enemy aircraft for air defence. The test showed that a British bomber flying in the main beam of a BBC short-wave radio transmitter gave back reflected signals to the ground on three occasions that the aircraft passed overhead. By 1939, the outbreak of WW II, the military installed a chain of radar stations along the east and south coasts of England to prevent a German invasion.
31 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, Iranian singer, Gholam-Hussein Banaan, passed away after a long illness at the age of 75. He started his singing career on Iran Radio in 1942, and two years later after foundation of the National Music Society, he started grooming students. He was not only a master of traditional and classical Iranian music but was also a maestro of Iran’s modern music. His cooperation with Iran Radio led to creation of 450 songs, which have remained to this day as highly valuable works on Iran’s musical scene.
30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, Hussain Kharrazi, one of the brilliant young commanders of the Islamic Revolution, achieved martyrdom in the "Karbala 5” Operations against the invading Ba’thist forces in the southwestern theatre of the war imposed on Iran by the US through Saddam. He was commander of the Imam Husain (AS) 14 Battalion. Three years earlier during the Khaibar Operations in the Majnoon islands sector, he had lost his right hand – as a devotee of Hazrat Abbas (AS), the valiant brother of the Martyr of Karbala Imam Husain (AS), who had lost both his hands during the battle with the forces of Yazid the tyrant. Hussain Kharrazi had joined the Basij forces immediately after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and served with distinction against the anti-revolutionaries in the Turkman Sahra region and later in Kurdistan. On the start of the imposed war and the fall of the port city of Khorramshahr, he was dispatched the battlefronts and in the next few years, distinguished himself as an astute strategist during the "Thamen al-Aimma”, "Fath al-Mobin”, "Bayt al-Moqaddas”, "Khaibar”, "Badr”, "Wa’l-Fajr 8”, and "Karbala 4” and "5” Operations.
25 solar years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, Armenian militiamen and the 366th rifle regiment of the Russian army massacred in cold blood at least 613 Muslim men, women, and children in the town of Khojaly in the Qarabagh autonomous region of the Republic of Azerbaijan on its seizure by Armenia. As confirmed by Human Rights Watch and other international observers, the "Khojaly Genocide" and its aftermath shocked the civilized world, and later many dead bodies of Azeris trying to flee the massacre were found in the surrounding mountains and forests as a result of freezing temperatures. In addition, the Armenians imprisoned the survivors of the tragedy. The Caucasus region, including the republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, were an integral part of Iran’s successive empires for over two millenniums until the occupation by Russia in the 19th century.
24 solar years ago, on this day in 1415 AH, the prominent scholar, Seyyed Reza Sadr, passed away at the age of 75 in the holy city of Qom and was laid to rest in the holy shrine of Hazrat Ma’souma (SA). Born in holy Mashhad, he was the son of the Source of Emulation, Seyyed Sadr od-Din Sadr and elder brother of the famous Imam Musa Sadr, the Iranian scholar who actively awakened and united the Shi’ite Muslims of Lebanon in the 1960s and 1970s, before his martyrdom in Tripoli at the hands of Libyan dictator, Mo’ammar Qadhafi. Seyyed Reza Sadr initially studied under his father and then under other such eminent scholars as Ayatollah Seyyed Shahab od-Din Mar'ashi Najafi, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Muhaqqiq Damad, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hpjjat Kuhkamari'i and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi. He then learned philosophy and Gnosis from the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). After attaining Ijtehad he taught jurisprudence and theology. Imam Khomeini from his exile in holy Najaf, Iraq, asked Seyyed Reza Sadr to teach Gnosis and philosophy at the Qom seminary. Besides being politically active against the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime, he groomed many scholar and wrote several books in both Arabic and Persian, including "The Lady of Karbala” (Hazrat Zaynab (SA)), "Zan va Azadi” (Woman and Freedom), "Sukhanan-e Saraan-e Kumunism dar barayi Khoda” (What the leaders of Communism have said about God), "A Review of Jurisprudential Works of Shaykh at-Ta’efa Tousi”, "al-Istiqama” (Resilience), "al-Ijtehad wa’l-Taqlid”, and exegesis of "Surah al-Hujuraat” and "Surah al-Yusuf” (Prophet Joseph) of the holy Qur’an.
3 solar years ago, on this day in 2014 AD, 23-year Ja’far Mohammad Ja’far of Bahrain attained martyrdom in a hospital a week after he was admitted there following torture at the hands of agents of the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime, who had kidnapped him on trumped up charges, including smuggling of weapons, when the fact of the matter is that the mass popular uprising of the people of Bahrain for restoration of their birthrights, has been peaceful and unarmed from its very outset in early 2011 despite the brutalities of the US-Israeli backed regime.
One solar year ago, on this day in 2016 AD, prominent Iranian Film director, Farajollah Salahshour, passed away at the age of 63. Born in Qazvin, he directed several widely popular historica; and religious films such as "Prophet Job (AS)”, "Prophet Joseph (AS)”, and "Men of Angelos” – the last named a serial on the Qur’anic account of the Seven Sleepers of the Cave, who because of their firm faith in monotheism had fled to the mountains to escape persecution from the pagan Romans.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)