Today is Tuesday; 25th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 26th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1439 lunar hijri; and October 17, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1375 lunar years ago, on this day in 64 AH, the siege of holy Mecca began by forces of the Godless Yazid, the self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, a month after he had ordered the sack of holy Medina, slaughter of some 10,000 Muslims including hundreds of the Prophet’s companions, mass rape of women and desecration of the sacred shrine of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). The siege and subsequent sacrilege of the holy Ka’ba was led by the bloodthirsty and blasphemous Haseen ibn Numayr who was involved in the massacre in Medina and three years earlier had participated in the martyrdom of the Prophet's grandson Imam Husain (AS), in Karbala. Ibn Numayr had taken command of the Omayyad army on the sudden death of his equally criminal predecessor, Muslim ibn Oqba al-Marri, who was struck by divine wrath after perpetrating the sacrilege of sacred Medina. The siege prolonged for over a month and twenty days during which the sanctity of the holy Ka’ba was desecrated by Yazid’s forces who rained down fire and brimstone through catapults placed on mountains around the Masjid al-Haraam or the Grand Sacred Mosque. As a result the supreme symbol of monotheism was badly damaged and many men, women and children who had sought refuge in the holiest sanctuary of Islam were killed or burnt. The people, inspired by the valour of Mukhtar Ibn Abu Obayda Thaqafi, bravely defended the city until the siege was lifted on the sudden death through divine wrath of the accursed Yazid in Damascus.
1293 lunar years ago, on this day in 146 AH, Ali al-Abed Ibn Hassan al-Musallas, passed away at the age of 45 in the dungeon of the tyrant Mansur Dawaniqi, the 2nd self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. His grandparents were Hassan al-Musanna, the son of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) elder grandson, Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), and Fatema the daughter of the Prophet’s younger grandson Imam Husain (AS). He was unsurpassed in patience, worship and remembrance of God. He was imprisoned along with other descendants of Imam Hasan (AS), because of Abbasid fears of the Prophet’s progeny to whose leadership Mansur had sworn allegiance during persecution under Omayyad rule. On becoming caliph, Mansur put several descendants of Imam Hasan (AS) in a dark dungeon where the day could not be differentiated from the night, except by means of the recitations and acts of worship of Ali al-Abed. These disciplined, orderly and continuous acts used to make the others aware of the time for prayers. One day, due to the hardships of imprisonment and the weight of fetters, his uncle, Abdullah Mahadh (father of Nafs Zakiyya and Ibrahim – who were martyred in battle in 145 AH), lost patience and told him in a state of great agitation: Do you not witness our misfortunes and adversities? Do you not pray to God to grant us relief from this suffering? Ali al-Abed remained silent for a while and then said, "O’ uncle! There exists for us a (lofty) rank in Paradise, which we can never achieve except through patience over these or even more severe adversities, and there exists for Mansur a dreadful place in Hell, which he shall never reach except by subjecting us to such persecution. If we are patient, we shall soon find ourselves in ease and comfort, for death is not very far from us. But if you wish I shall pray for our deliverance.” Abdullah replied: We shall be patient. Three days later, Ali al-Abed passed away, while in prostration to God. Abdullah thought he was asleep and when he tried to wake him up, he realized that the soul had flown to the ethereal heavens. Soon, the bloodthirsty caliph killed the imprisoned Sadaat by felling the roof of the dungeon upon them. In 148 AH, Mansur martyred through poisoning the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS).
751 solar years ago, on this day in 1266 AD, the Muslim missionary of the Chishti Sufi Order of the Punjab region of the Subcontinent, Baba Fareed od-Din Ganj-e Shekar, passed away at the age of 93. His forefathers had migrated from Khorasan to the Subcontinent, where he convinced many Hindus to accept the truth of Islam. Although, he was fluent in Persian, in order to carry the message of Islam to the non-Muslim masses, he composed poems and treatises in Punjabi, thus laying the foundation for development of this vernacular language. Many of his odes were incorporated into the holy book of the Sikh religion by its founder Guru Nanak a couple of centuries later. The shrine of Ganj-e Shekar, who was a devotee of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, is in Pakistan’s Punjab, and is often the target of bomb attacks by the heretical Salafi groups.
572 solar years ago, on this day in 1448 AD, the Second Battle of Kosovo, led to the decisive victory of the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Murad II over a huge 100,000 strong army of several Christian countries led by Hungarian king, John Hunyadi. The Crusaders arrived at the Kosovo Field, the same place the famous First Battle of Kosovo had occurred 60 years earlier between the Serbs and Ottomans, and resulted in Turkish domination of the Balkans. In this Second Battle of Kosovo, the 60,000-strong Muslim army completely destroyed the numerically superior Christian army, and five years later ended the existence of the tottering Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire by taking its capital Constantinople and renaming it Islambol (present day Istanbul).
416 lunar years ago, on this day in 1023 AH, the Iranian scholar and scientist, Shaikh Mullah Abdullah Ibn Hussain Tustari, passed away. A student of the celebrated Moqaddas Ardabili of holy Najaf, after attaining Ijtehad, he taught at Isfahan’s seminary and groomed numerous students, including Mullah Mohammad Taqi Majlisi, the father of the famous Allamah Mohammad Baqer Majlisi. He authored such books as "Khawas al-Qur’an” and "Jam'e al-Fawa’ed".
200 solar years ago, on this day in 1817 AD, the Indian educator, politician, and Islamic reformer, Seyyed Ahmad Khan was born in Delhi in a family that had migrated from Iran. His father, Mir Mohammad Muttaqi and grandfather, Seyyed Hadi, were attached to the Mughal court. He was trained in Persian, Arabic, Urdu and religious subjects, as well as mathematics and astronomy, and was well versed in the mathnavi of the great Persian mystic, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi. After the 1857 rebellion against British rule that abolished the Mughal dynasty, he wrote the book "Asbab-e Baghawat-e Hind" (Causes of the Indian Revolt) in which he rejected the notion that the conspiracy was planned by Muslim elites feeling insecure at the diminishing influence of Muslim rulers. He held the British responsible for their aggressive colonial expansion and ignorance of India's rich culture. He then launched the campaign for modern education of the Muslims of India by founding the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which later developed into the famous Aligarh Muslim University. His efforts gave rise to a new generation of Muslim entrepreneurs and politicians. He also founded the All-India Muslim League, which decades later under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, resulted in the birth of Pakistan. When the British banned the study of Persian in order to cut the cultural links of Indian Muslims with Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, he took up the patronage of Urdu which led to its widespread use amongst Indian Muslims, and years later, following the Partition of India its adoption as the official language of Pakistan. Seyyed Ahmad Khan was knighted by the British as "Sir", and his views on nature were strongly criticized by the famous pan-Islamic Iranian thinker, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi. He died at the age of 81.
141 lunar years ago, on this day in 1298 AH, the Iranian poet, Mirza Mohammad Hussein Adib Azad, was born in Tabriz. After studying the sciences of the day, he learned Arabic language and literature, and started composing poems in both Persian and Arabic. His collection of poems includes beautiful and delicate odes.
130 solar years ago, on this day in 1887 AD, the German physicist and mathematician, Gustav Kirchhoff, died. Born in 1824 AD, he studied sun rays and later with the cooperation of one of his colleagues, discovered their scope. He also elaborated on the laws of diversion of electrical currents.
105 solar years ago, on this day in 1912 AD, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declared war on the tottering Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War that resulted in further loss of the Turkish Muslim territories in Europe.
56 solar years ago, on this day in 1961 AD, at least 400 peaceful Algerian Muslim protesters were mercilessly massacred by the Paris police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Prefecture of Police.
44 solar years ago, on this day in 1973 AD, Arab oil exporting states imposed oil sanctions on the US, Britain, and companies selling oil to the illegal Zionist entity, because of their support for Israel's October 6 war against Syria and Egypt. The swift oil price hike was an unexpected blow for Western regimes, and its consequences showed that Islamic countries, if united, are capable of countering the West's plots against Muslims.
37 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, Iranian Prime Minister, Mohammad Ali Rajai, delivered a keynote address at the UN General Assembly, unmasking the Western-backed atrocities of the Pahlavi regime against the Iranian people as well as the US imposition of war on Islamic Iran through Saddam. He also elaborated on the global topics of importance, such as the Zionist usurpation of Palestine and the conspiracies hatched by colonialists across the world. Following the speech, representatives of the US administration requested a meeting with him, but he rejected it because of US crimes and meddling in the affairs of Iran and other countries. Less than a year later Rajai was elected president of Iran, but was soon martyred in a bomb blast triggered by the US-backed MKO.
31 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, Iranian researcher and translator, Hussein Khadiv Jam, passed away at the age of 59. He was an authority on Persian literature, and served as lecturer at the University of Mashhad in Khorasan. He has left behind thirty books, including the translation of the book: "Kimiya-e Sa'adat" on ethics, written in Arabic by the Iranian Sunni theologian and philosopher, Mohammad Ghazali.
19 solar years ago, on this day in 1998 AD, Hakeem Mohammed Saeed, Pakistani Islamic medicinal expert, scholar and philanthropist, was killed by terrorists at the age of 78. Born in Delhi to a family of herbal medical practitioners, who had established the Hamdard Waqf Laboratories, he learned Arabic, Persian, Urdu, English and studied the Holy Qur’an. In 1948, he migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi, where he set up the Hamdard Foundation, whose herbal medical products have become household names in the subcontinent. His cherished dream was to revive the golden age of the Islamic civilization, particularly in the medical fields, and he authored or compiled about 200 books in medicines, philosophy, science, health, religion, natural medicine, literary, social, and travelogues.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)