This Day in History (April 20)
Today is Thursday; 31st of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 22nd of the Islamic month of Rajab 1438 lunar hijri; and April 20, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1378 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, the Omayyad tyrant, Mu’awiyah, died in Damascus at the age of 80, nineteen years after usurping the caliphate from the Prophet of Islam’s elder grandson, Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), whom he martyred through poisoning in 50 AH in violation of the terms of the treaty signed in 41 AH. Of doubtful paternity and born to the lecherous Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, he grew up to become a staunch opponent of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – having been brought up by two of the most spiteful enemies of Islam. In 8 AH when Mecca surrendered to the Muslims, two-and-a-half-years before the passing away of the Prophet, he reluctantly paid lip service to Islam to escape execution. During the caliphate of Omar ibn Khattab, he was surprisingly appointed as governor of the newly conquered vast province of Shaam (made up of today’s Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and the illegal Zionist entity Israel), a position he held for almost 20 years despite his dismissal by the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) against whom he came out into open armed rebellion at the War of Siffeen. During the almost 40 years he had entrenched himself in the mostly Christian Levant (Shaam), Mu’awiyah did not spare any effort to distort the teachings of Islam, oppress, torture, and kill Muslims, and indulge in all cardinal sins. On his deathbed, contrary to the terms of the treaty with Imam Hasan (AS), he named as caliph his libertine and openly infidel son, Yazid – born of an adulterous affair with a Christian Bedouin woman – a criminal decision that led to three of the most heinous crimes in history. The Godless Yazid, in the first year of his reign brutally martyred at Karbala the Prophet’s younger grandson, Imam Husain (AS). In the subsequent two years of his evil rule, he desecrated the sanctity of the Prophet’s shrine and mosque in Medina by ordering a general massacre, rape and plunder of Muslims; and next ordered the sacrilegious storming of the holy Ka’ba in Mecca, during the midst of which he died, thereby ending the rule of the house of Mu’awiyah – while another branch of the Omayyads, the Marwanids, continued the evil work of terrorizing the Muslim ummah for some 70 more years before they were thrown into the dustbin of history.
1115 solar years ago, on this day in 902 AD, Amr ibn Layth, the second ruler of the Saffarid Dynasty of Iran, was executed in Baghdad after a reign of 22 years, by the self-styled caliph, Mu’tamid, on falling victim to the Abbasid bait to militarily confront the powerful fellow Iranian Samanid Dynasty of Central Asia and suffering defeat, capture, and handover to the caliph. He started life as a mule-driver and a mason, and when his elder brother, the coppersmith Ya’qoub ibn Layth, embarked on a military career, he fought alongside him. In 875 he became governor of the Khorasani city of Herat (currently in Afghanistan). When Ya’qoub died in Fars in 879 after his abortive invasion of Iraq, Amr managed to become the next Saffarid ruler and immediately made peace with the Abbasids. In 898, he was deceitfully declared as governor of Transoxiana, which was ruled by the Samanids. Mu’tamid enticed Amr to confront the Samanids, but was crushingly defeated and captured. The Samanid ruler, Isma’il ibn Ahmad, sent him in chains to Baghdad, where he was executed in 902.
859 lunar years ago, on this day in 479AH, Spanish Muslims led by Yusuf bin Tashfin defeated Spanish Christians under command of Alphonse VI in the glorious battle of "az-Zalaqa". This decisive battle halted for over two-and-a-half centuries the bid by the Christian powers to drive out Spanish Muslim from the Iberian Peninsula.
748 lunar years ago, on this day in 690 AH, Muslims liberated from Crusader occupiers the city of Beirut – the capital of what is now Lebanon. The campaign was led by the Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, al-Ashraf Khalil Qalawun, a Qipchaq Turk, who went on to liberate the other cities, thus completely ending the 200-year Crusader presence in the Levant.
620 solar years ago, on this day in 1397 AD, Mahmud I, the 5th king of the Bahmani kingdom of Iranian origin of the Deccan (southern India) died in his capital Gulbarga after a reign of 19 years. His son Ghiyas od-Din succeeded him, but was blinded and imprisoned by the Turkish slave Lalchin Khan, who placed the younger brother, Shams od-Din on the throne. Five months later, Lalchin and his puppet were deposed by Mahmoud Shah’s cousin Taj od-Din Firouz Shah, the greatest ruler of the dynasty who reigned for 25 years. The Bahmanis patronized and promoted Persian language and poetry, as well as Iranian art, culture, and architecture in the Deccan by inviting from Iran thousands of qualified persons in various fields. The famous Iranian poet Hafez Shirazi was also invited, but changed his mind midway through the journey, sending an excellent piece of poetry to the Bahmani court. The famous Gnostic of Kerman, Shah Ne’matollah Wali, was also requested to come to the Deccan, and instead sent his grandson and later son, who preached the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt in the Bahmani kingdom.
248 solar years ago, on this day in 1769 AD, the Amerindian chief of Ottawa, Obwandiyag or Pontiac, as he was called by the British, against whom he resisted, was assassinated. He struggle against British military occupation of the Great Lakes region began in the May 1763 when Pontiac and followers attempted to take Fort Detroit. In July 1763, he defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Bloody Run, but was unable to capture Detroit. In October he lifted the siege and withdrew to the Illinois Country. The British resorted to diplomacy and as the talks prolonged his influence grew, until he was treacherously killed.
210 lunar years ago, on this day in 1228 AH, the prominent jurisprudent, Shaikh Ja’far bin Khizr al-?illi an-Najafi, popular as Kashef al-Gheta, an epithet by which his progeny of scholars became well-known, passed away at the age of 73. A student of the famous scholars, Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Mahdi Bahr al-Uloum, and Allamah Waheed Behbahani, he campaigned against Akhbaris, writing books and essays to reject their views. He succeeded Bahr al-Uloum as Head of the Najaf Seminary. During the Wahhabi attack on holy Najaf, Kashef al-Gheta defended the city, and was the first Shi’a Muslim scholar who wrote against the heretical Wahhabi cult. He wrote several books and groomed many scholars, including the famous jurisprudent, Shaikh Mohammad Hasan Najafi, the author of "Jawaher al-Kalaam”.
209 solar years ago, on this day in 1808 AD, Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, later President Louis Napoleon of the First French Republic and then Napoleon III of the Second French Empire, was born in Paris to Louis Bonaparte – younger brother of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and king of Holland from 1805-to-1810. On Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1814 and exile to St. Helena, the family moved to Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and later to Britain. In between, after brief visits to Paris where his presence was not liked by Emperor Louis-Philippe because of the popular appeal the name Bonaparte carried for the French masses, Charles Napoleon visited Brazil and the US, and led two attempts to seize power in France – the Strasbourg coup of 1936 and the Bolougne adventure of 1940 during which he was captured and imprisoned for life. While in prison, he wrote poems, political essays and articles on diverse topics; contributing articles to newspapers and magazines and becoming quite well known as a writer. His most famous book was "L'extinction du Pauperism” in 1844 – a study of the causes of poverty in the French industrial working class, and proposals to eliminate it. After his dramatic escape from prison in 1846 and fleeing to Britain, he intensified his plans of return to France. The opportunity came with the French Revolution of 1848 and the abdication of Emperor Louis-Philippe that made him set out for Paris where he found the Second Republic declared under a Provisional Government with several factions competing for power. Back in London in March 1848, he watched the unfolding events in Paris, where in the September elections for the National Assembly, he polled the highest number of votes and returned in triumph to Paris to take his place in the National Assembly. The new constitution called for a strong executive and he announced his candidature and went on to win the December polls with a record 74 percent of votes, thereby becoming the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. In 1851, when he was blocked by the constitution and parliament from running for a second term, President Louis Napoleon organized a coup d’etat to seize absolute power and on 2nd December 1852, the 48th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation, he crowned himself as Napoleon III. One of his first priorities was modernization of the French economy. During his 18-year rule, he initiated an energetic foreign policy which aimed to remove the limitations imposed on France since 1815, and succeeded in reasserting French influence in Europe and France’s colonial empire. He led allied action against Russia in the Crimean War and secured the Papal States against annexation by Italy by defeating the Italians at Mentana. In Southeast Asia, he established French rule in what is now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, as well as New Caledonia. French interests in China were upheld in the Second Opium War; an abortive campaign against Korea was launched in 1866 while a military mission to Japan ended in failure. French intervention in Mexico was also unsuccessful, and ended in 1867 due to local resistance and US diplomatic pressure. Eventually, the French Empire was overthrown three days after his defeat 1870 in the Battle of Sedan by the Prussian (German) Empire that resulted in his capture, imprisonment and exile to London where he died in 1871 at the age of 65. In France, Napoleon III's reign saw an era of prosperity and industrialization. He rebuilt Paris, built new aqueducts, rebuilt the sewers, created new boulevards and avenues and laid parks.
192 lunar years ago, on this day in 1246 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic scholar Mullah Ali bin Jamshid, known as Akhound Noori, passed away in Isfahan. Born in a village near the town of Noor in Mazandaran, after initial studies in his hometown and later Qazvin, he travelled to Isfahan, where he studied under leading scholars, such as Aqa Mohammad Beedabadi and Mirza Abu’l-Qasim Modarres. He became an expert in Islamic philosophy, and the dean of the seminary of Isfahan, where he groomed almost a thousand students, politely declining in the process an invitation by King Fath-Ali Shah Qajar to come and teach in Tehran at the newly established Marvi seminary. Among his prominent students were Mullah Abdullah Zanouri and Haji Mullah Hadi Sabzevari. Of his numerous works in both Persian and Arabic, mention could be made of "Hojjat al-Islam” (Argumentation of Islam), which is a refutation of the British orientalist and Anglican priest Henry Martyn’s book casting doubts on the faith of Muslims. Another of Mullah Ali Noori’s famous works is "Hawashiy-e Asfaar” on the famous Safavid-era philosopher, Mullah Sadra’s work "al-Asfaar al-Arba”.
128 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler, was born in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria-Hungary (in present day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire. His father was the illegitimate son of a Jew. He joined the German army in World War I and after the war, resentful of the humiliating defeat, founded the Nazi Party by blending his socialist and radical nationalistic views. He was imprisoned for eight months in 1923 for attempts to stage a coup, during which he wrote his book "Mein Kemp” (My Struggle), to introduce his political beliefs. Shortly after release he became German chancellor and a year later the German president. Thereafter, through the dreaded Gestapo, he suppressed his opponents and heavily militarized Germany as part of his plan to avenge the defeat in World War 1. In 1939 he started World War 2 with the goal of conquering all of Europe and if possible the world, by forging alliances with Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan. After initial victories all over Europe, the German Nazi forces were pushed back and finally defeated in 1945. Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in the German capital, Berlin, when the Allied forces converged from all sides for the final assault upon him to end World War 2.
73 solar years ago, on this day in 1944 AD, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hassan Najafi Qochani, Khorasan, passed away in his hometown Qochan at the age of 67. After initial studies in Isfahan, he left for the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq for higher studies under the prominent ulema of his time. After attaining the status of Ijtehad he returned to Iran, and spent the rest of his life in Qochan, grooming student and writing books. Among his prominent works is "Journey to the Unseen World Man”, in which he dwells on the human being’s instinctive desires to have an understanding of afterlife, or the life after death and the state of the Barzakh – the interval between death and Resurrection.
30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, the Iranian Islamic scholar and exegete of the Holy Qur'an, Mohammad Taqi Shariati, passed away at the age of 80. He studied Islamic sciences in the holy city of Mashhad, and published several books after setting up the Association for Publication of Islamic Facts. He was the father of the sociologist Ali Shariati, who was martyred by the Shah's dreaded security force, SAVAK, in London.
7 solar years ago, on this day in the year 2010 AD, an explosion in the Deepwater Horizon oil platform of the British Petroleum Company, led to leakage of oil in the Gulf of Mexico off the US coast on a huge scale. The blast killed 11 workers and the huge volume of the oil which gushed out of this oil platform amounted to more than four million barrels, damaging the fishing industry in the Gulf of Mexico and killing a large number of aquatics. After five months, the well could be capped. British Petroleum was ordered by the court to compensate the damages and forced to pay almost $20bn.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)
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1378 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, the Omayyad tyrant, Mu’awiyah, died in Damascus at the age of 80, nineteen years after usurping the caliphate from the Prophet of Islam’s elder grandson, Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), whom he martyred through poisoning in 50 AH in violation of the terms of the treaty signed in 41 AH. Of doubtful paternity and born to the lecherous Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, he grew up to become a staunch opponent of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – having been brought up by two of the most spiteful enemies of Islam. In 8 AH when Mecca surrendered to the Muslims, two-and-a-half-years before the passing away of the Prophet, he reluctantly paid lip service to Islam to escape execution. During the caliphate of Omar ibn Khattab, he was surprisingly appointed as governor of the newly conquered vast province of Shaam (made up of today’s Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and the illegal Zionist entity Israel), a position he held for almost 20 years despite his dismissal by the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) against whom he came out into open armed rebellion at the War of Siffeen. During the almost 40 years he had entrenched himself in the mostly Christian Levant (Shaam), Mu’awiyah did not spare any effort to distort the teachings of Islam, oppress, torture, and kill Muslims, and indulge in all cardinal sins. On his deathbed, contrary to the terms of the treaty with Imam Hasan (AS), he named as caliph his libertine and openly infidel son, Yazid – born of an adulterous affair with a Christian Bedouin woman – a criminal decision that led to three of the most heinous crimes in history. The Godless Yazid, in the first year of his reign brutally martyred at Karbala the Prophet’s younger grandson, Imam Husain (AS). In the subsequent two years of his evil rule, he desecrated the sanctity of the Prophet’s shrine and mosque in Medina by ordering a general massacre, rape and plunder of Muslims; and next ordered the sacrilegious storming of the holy Ka’ba in Mecca, during the midst of which he died, thereby ending the rule of the house of Mu’awiyah – while another branch of the Omayyads, the Marwanids, continued the evil work of terrorizing the Muslim ummah for some 70 more years before they were thrown into the dustbin of history.
1115 solar years ago, on this day in 902 AD, Amr ibn Layth, the second ruler of the Saffarid Dynasty of Iran, was executed in Baghdad after a reign of 22 years, by the self-styled caliph, Mu’tamid, on falling victim to the Abbasid bait to militarily confront the powerful fellow Iranian Samanid Dynasty of Central Asia and suffering defeat, capture, and handover to the caliph. He started life as a mule-driver and a mason, and when his elder brother, the coppersmith Ya’qoub ibn Layth, embarked on a military career, he fought alongside him. In 875 he became governor of the Khorasani city of Herat (currently in Afghanistan). When Ya’qoub died in Fars in 879 after his abortive invasion of Iraq, Amr managed to become the next Saffarid ruler and immediately made peace with the Abbasids. In 898, he was deceitfully declared as governor of Transoxiana, which was ruled by the Samanids. Mu’tamid enticed Amr to confront the Samanids, but was crushingly defeated and captured. The Samanid ruler, Isma’il ibn Ahmad, sent him in chains to Baghdad, where he was executed in 902.
859 lunar years ago, on this day in 479AH, Spanish Muslims led by Yusuf bin Tashfin defeated Spanish Christians under command of Alphonse VI in the glorious battle of "az-Zalaqa". This decisive battle halted for over two-and-a-half centuries the bid by the Christian powers to drive out Spanish Muslim from the Iberian Peninsula.
748 lunar years ago, on this day in 690 AH, Muslims liberated from Crusader occupiers the city of Beirut – the capital of what is now Lebanon. The campaign was led by the Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, al-Ashraf Khalil Qalawun, a Qipchaq Turk, who went on to liberate the other cities, thus completely ending the 200-year Crusader presence in the Levant.
620 solar years ago, on this day in 1397 AD, Mahmud I, the 5th king of the Bahmani kingdom of Iranian origin of the Deccan (southern India) died in his capital Gulbarga after a reign of 19 years. His son Ghiyas od-Din succeeded him, but was blinded and imprisoned by the Turkish slave Lalchin Khan, who placed the younger brother, Shams od-Din on the throne. Five months later, Lalchin and his puppet were deposed by Mahmoud Shah’s cousin Taj od-Din Firouz Shah, the greatest ruler of the dynasty who reigned for 25 years. The Bahmanis patronized and promoted Persian language and poetry, as well as Iranian art, culture, and architecture in the Deccan by inviting from Iran thousands of qualified persons in various fields. The famous Iranian poet Hafez Shirazi was also invited, but changed his mind midway through the journey, sending an excellent piece of poetry to the Bahmani court. The famous Gnostic of Kerman, Shah Ne’matollah Wali, was also requested to come to the Deccan, and instead sent his grandson and later son, who preached the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt in the Bahmani kingdom.
248 solar years ago, on this day in 1769 AD, the Amerindian chief of Ottawa, Obwandiyag or Pontiac, as he was called by the British, against whom he resisted, was assassinated. He struggle against British military occupation of the Great Lakes region began in the May 1763 when Pontiac and followers attempted to take Fort Detroit. In July 1763, he defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Bloody Run, but was unable to capture Detroit. In October he lifted the siege and withdrew to the Illinois Country. The British resorted to diplomacy and as the talks prolonged his influence grew, until he was treacherously killed.
210 lunar years ago, on this day in 1228 AH, the prominent jurisprudent, Shaikh Ja’far bin Khizr al-?illi an-Najafi, popular as Kashef al-Gheta, an epithet by which his progeny of scholars became well-known, passed away at the age of 73. A student of the famous scholars, Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Mahdi Bahr al-Uloum, and Allamah Waheed Behbahani, he campaigned against Akhbaris, writing books and essays to reject their views. He succeeded Bahr al-Uloum as Head of the Najaf Seminary. During the Wahhabi attack on holy Najaf, Kashef al-Gheta defended the city, and was the first Shi’a Muslim scholar who wrote against the heretical Wahhabi cult. He wrote several books and groomed many scholars, including the famous jurisprudent, Shaikh Mohammad Hasan Najafi, the author of "Jawaher al-Kalaam”.
209 solar years ago, on this day in 1808 AD, Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, later President Louis Napoleon of the First French Republic and then Napoleon III of the Second French Empire, was born in Paris to Louis Bonaparte – younger brother of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and king of Holland from 1805-to-1810. On Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1814 and exile to St. Helena, the family moved to Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and later to Britain. In between, after brief visits to Paris where his presence was not liked by Emperor Louis-Philippe because of the popular appeal the name Bonaparte carried for the French masses, Charles Napoleon visited Brazil and the US, and led two attempts to seize power in France – the Strasbourg coup of 1936 and the Bolougne adventure of 1940 during which he was captured and imprisoned for life. While in prison, he wrote poems, political essays and articles on diverse topics; contributing articles to newspapers and magazines and becoming quite well known as a writer. His most famous book was "L'extinction du Pauperism” in 1844 – a study of the causes of poverty in the French industrial working class, and proposals to eliminate it. After his dramatic escape from prison in 1846 and fleeing to Britain, he intensified his plans of return to France. The opportunity came with the French Revolution of 1848 and the abdication of Emperor Louis-Philippe that made him set out for Paris where he found the Second Republic declared under a Provisional Government with several factions competing for power. Back in London in March 1848, he watched the unfolding events in Paris, where in the September elections for the National Assembly, he polled the highest number of votes and returned in triumph to Paris to take his place in the National Assembly. The new constitution called for a strong executive and he announced his candidature and went on to win the December polls with a record 74 percent of votes, thereby becoming the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. In 1851, when he was blocked by the constitution and parliament from running for a second term, President Louis Napoleon organized a coup d’etat to seize absolute power and on 2nd December 1852, the 48th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation, he crowned himself as Napoleon III. One of his first priorities was modernization of the French economy. During his 18-year rule, he initiated an energetic foreign policy which aimed to remove the limitations imposed on France since 1815, and succeeded in reasserting French influence in Europe and France’s colonial empire. He led allied action against Russia in the Crimean War and secured the Papal States against annexation by Italy by defeating the Italians at Mentana. In Southeast Asia, he established French rule in what is now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, as well as New Caledonia. French interests in China were upheld in the Second Opium War; an abortive campaign against Korea was launched in 1866 while a military mission to Japan ended in failure. French intervention in Mexico was also unsuccessful, and ended in 1867 due to local resistance and US diplomatic pressure. Eventually, the French Empire was overthrown three days after his defeat 1870 in the Battle of Sedan by the Prussian (German) Empire that resulted in his capture, imprisonment and exile to London where he died in 1871 at the age of 65. In France, Napoleon III's reign saw an era of prosperity and industrialization. He rebuilt Paris, built new aqueducts, rebuilt the sewers, created new boulevards and avenues and laid parks.
192 lunar years ago, on this day in 1246 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic scholar Mullah Ali bin Jamshid, known as Akhound Noori, passed away in Isfahan. Born in a village near the town of Noor in Mazandaran, after initial studies in his hometown and later Qazvin, he travelled to Isfahan, where he studied under leading scholars, such as Aqa Mohammad Beedabadi and Mirza Abu’l-Qasim Modarres. He became an expert in Islamic philosophy, and the dean of the seminary of Isfahan, where he groomed almost a thousand students, politely declining in the process an invitation by King Fath-Ali Shah Qajar to come and teach in Tehran at the newly established Marvi seminary. Among his prominent students were Mullah Abdullah Zanouri and Haji Mullah Hadi Sabzevari. Of his numerous works in both Persian and Arabic, mention could be made of "Hojjat al-Islam” (Argumentation of Islam), which is a refutation of the British orientalist and Anglican priest Henry Martyn’s book casting doubts on the faith of Muslims. Another of Mullah Ali Noori’s famous works is "Hawashiy-e Asfaar” on the famous Safavid-era philosopher, Mullah Sadra’s work "al-Asfaar al-Arba”.
128 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler, was born in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria-Hungary (in present day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire. His father was the illegitimate son of a Jew. He joined the German army in World War I and after the war, resentful of the humiliating defeat, founded the Nazi Party by blending his socialist and radical nationalistic views. He was imprisoned for eight months in 1923 for attempts to stage a coup, during which he wrote his book "Mein Kemp” (My Struggle), to introduce his political beliefs. Shortly after release he became German chancellor and a year later the German president. Thereafter, through the dreaded Gestapo, he suppressed his opponents and heavily militarized Germany as part of his plan to avenge the defeat in World War 1. In 1939 he started World War 2 with the goal of conquering all of Europe and if possible the world, by forging alliances with Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan. After initial victories all over Europe, the German Nazi forces were pushed back and finally defeated in 1945. Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in the German capital, Berlin, when the Allied forces converged from all sides for the final assault upon him to end World War 2.
73 solar years ago, on this day in 1944 AD, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hassan Najafi Qochani, Khorasan, passed away in his hometown Qochan at the age of 67. After initial studies in Isfahan, he left for the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq for higher studies under the prominent ulema of his time. After attaining the status of Ijtehad he returned to Iran, and spent the rest of his life in Qochan, grooming student and writing books. Among his prominent works is "Journey to the Unseen World Man”, in which he dwells on the human being’s instinctive desires to have an understanding of afterlife, or the life after death and the state of the Barzakh – the interval between death and Resurrection.
30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, the Iranian Islamic scholar and exegete of the Holy Qur'an, Mohammad Taqi Shariati, passed away at the age of 80. He studied Islamic sciences in the holy city of Mashhad, and published several books after setting up the Association for Publication of Islamic Facts. He was the father of the sociologist Ali Shariati, who was martyred by the Shah's dreaded security force, SAVAK, in London.
7 solar years ago, on this day in the year 2010 AD, an explosion in the Deepwater Horizon oil platform of the British Petroleum Company, led to leakage of oil in the Gulf of Mexico off the US coast on a huge scale. The blast killed 11 workers and the huge volume of the oil which gushed out of this oil platform amounted to more than four million barrels, damaging the fishing industry in the Gulf of Mexico and killing a large number of aquatics. After five months, the well could be capped. British Petroleum was ordered by the court to compensate the damages and forced to pay almost $20bn.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)
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