This Day in History (May 16)
Today is Thursday; 26th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 10th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1440 lunar hijri; and May 16, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1443 lunar years ago, on this day, three years before Hijra, the First Lady of Islam, Omm al-Momineen or Mother of all True Believers, Hazrat Khadija (SA), passed away in Mecca. She spent 25 years of marital bliss with Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and as long as she was alive, the Prophet never took another spouse. A staunch monotheist, following the creed of Prophet Abraham, when 15 years after her marriage God formally entrusted her husband with the universal message of Islam, she promptly believed in his mission. As the richest lady of Arabia, she spent all her wealth for the promotion of Islam, and to feed, clothe and shelter the persecuted neo Muslim community, to the extent that when she breathed her last there was no monetary or property inheritance left for her orphaned daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA). Since within a year of the passing away of Hazrat Khadijah (SA), the Prophet lost to the cold hands of death his loving uncle and guardian, Hazrat Abu Taleb (AS), the year has become famous in Islamic history as "Aam al-Hozn" (Year of Grief). The Prophet cherished the memory of the faithful Khadija (SA) till the end of his life, despite marrying several women out of social necessity in the last ten years of his life.
1380 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), received the first batch of letters in Mecca from the notables of Kufa inviting him to Iraq for deliverance of the Islamic realm from the Godless rule of Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah. In due course, the number of these letters reached 12,000, and the Imam sent his cousin, Muslim ibn Aqeel, to Iraq to probe the situation. When the tyrant Yazid sent assassins in the garb of pilgrims to assassinate him, the Imam, in order to safeguard the inviolable sanctity of the holy Ka’ba and its surroundings from any spilling of blood, left for Iraq, where those who had ardently invited him, not just turned their backs upon him, but ganged up with the brutal Omayyad hordes to cruelly martyr him, his family members, and his companions, on the plain of Karbala.
955 lunar years ago, on this day in 485 AH, the renowned vizier of the Seljuqid Dynasty, Hassan Ibn Ali Ibn Ishaq Tusi, titled Khwajah Nizam ul-Mulk, was assassinated near Nahavand at the age of 75 while on his way to Baghdad from the capital Isfahan. Born in the northeastern city of Tous, he initially served the Ghaznavid sultans as chief administrator of Khorasan Province. Four years later with the rise of the Seljuqs, he served as vizier to the Sultans, Alp Arslan and Malik Shah I. He set up schools of higher education in several cities, which were named after him as Nizamiyyah and turned out to be models of universities that were later established in Europe. Nizam ul-Mulk is also widely known for his treatise on kingship titled "Siyasat-Nama" or "Siyar al-Molouk" (Book of Government). Although it is claimed he was stabbed by a member of the Assassins (corruption of Hashshashin) sent by his former friend, Hassan Sabbah of Alamut, his son-in-law Muqatel Ibn Atiyyah, has said he was assassinated in the same year as Malik Shah I after a debate between Sunni and Shi'a Muslim scholars that led to his and the Sultan’s conversion to the Creed of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.
517 solar years ago, on this day in 1502 AD, Honduras in Central America, which was the centre of the Mayan civilization, was occupied by Spain. Spain subsequently decimated the indigenous Mayan people. In early 19th century, due to the chaotic state of affairs in Spain, Honduras like the majority of the American colonies gained independence from Spanish colonial rule. Honduras covers an area of more than 112,000 sq km. it is a republic and shares borders with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
231 solar years ago, on this day in 1788 AD, German poet and orientalist, Friedrich Ruckert, was born in the city of Hamburg. He was a researcher on eastern languages and lectured at German universities. He has translated numerous poems from Persian, Arabic, and Chinese to German language. He is one of the German poets who have translated the Diwan of poems of renowned Iranian poet, Hafez, to German language, which has been published on several occasions.
165 lunar years ago, on this day in 1275 AH, the prominent scholar of Iraq, Sheikh Hussain ibn Shaikh Radhi ibn Sheikh Nasar an-Najafi, passed away.
103 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, the scandalous Sykes-Picot Accord was signed by representatives of Britain, France, and Russia in Paris for dividing up the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire and limiting the Turkish possessions to Anatolia or present day Turkey. Even before the formal defeat of the Ottomans in 1917, lines were drawn on paper to share the spoils by the two principal European colonial powers. The British took control of Iraq and the Hijaz. Shaam or Greater Syria was split up into four parts, with the British taking Jordan and Palestine, and the French taking Syria and Lebanon. The main goal of this plan was to set up in Palestine, an illegal entity called Israel as a homeland for European Jews.
44 solar years ago, on this day in 1975 AD, India annexed Sikkim and abolished the Chogyal monarchy. The Himalayan land of Sikkim was part of the British subcontinent, but in 1947 when India became independent, a popular vote rejected Sikkim's joining the Indian Union and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed to a special protectorate status for Sikkim. The land, however, came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defense, diplomacy and communications, but otherwise retained administrative autonomy. A state council was established in 1955 to allow for constitutional government under the Chogyal. Meanwhile, the Sikkim National Congress demanded fresh elections and greater representation for the Nepalese majority. In 1973, riots in front of the Chogyal palace led to a supposed request for protection from India. In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim reportedly appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India. In April, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal's palace guards. A referendum was held in which over 90 percent of the electorate allegedly voted to join the Indian Union. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim was formally declared the 22nd state of the Indian Union.
38 lunar years ago, on this day in 1402 AH, prominent Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Mohammad Sadouqi, was martyred by MKO terrorists while leading the Friday Prayer in his hometown Yazd. Born in a scholarly family tracing its descent from the famous jurisprudent, Abu Ja’far Mohammad ibn Ali Ibn Bab, popular as Shaikh Sadouq, after initial studies in Yazd and Isfahan, he studied Islamic sciences and theology in holy Qom for 21 years. His teachers included Ayatollah Shaikh Abdul-Karim Ha’iri Yazdi, Ayatollah Seyyed Sadr od-Din as-Sadr, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Taqi Khwansari, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi, and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him). He was politically active against the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime, beginning from the famous 15th of Khordad Uprising. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was elected to the Assembly of Experts, and played a valuable role in preparation of Islamic Iran’s Constitution. As a representative of Imam Khomeini, and the Friday Prayer leader of Yazd, he spared no efforts to develop the region, and also visited the frontlines of the war imposed by the US through Saddam.
22 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, the autocratic president of Congo (formerly Zaire), General Mobutu Sese Seko, fled after the united forces, led by Lauren Kabila, closed in on the city of Kinshasa. He came to power in the wake of a coup in 1965 and ruled Congo with an iron fist for 32 years. Although he was a violent and ruthless dictator, he was always supported by the Western regimes, especially the US and France. Congo has always been on the spotlight of the Western regimes, given its strategic position in Central Africa and existence of ample copper and diamond resources. A day after the escape of Sese Seko, the opposition forces captured Kinshasa; and Lauren Kabila was installed as the president. A while later, the refusal of Kabila to allow his Tutsi allies a share in the government, once again fanned the flames of civil war resulting in the assassination of Kabila on January 16, 2000, by one of his bodyguards.
26 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD the researcher, author, and lecturer of Persian language and literature at Tehran University, Dr. Mahdi Derakhshan, passed away at the age of 75. For a while, he also researched and lectured at Turkey's Ankara University. He has left behind a large number of valuable compilations
8 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, philologist and grammarian of the Persian language, Professor Hassan Ahmad Givi, passed away at the age of 84. A prominent student of the famous Professor Badi oz-Zaman Farouzanfar, after obtaining PhD from Tehran University, for over four decades he taught at his alma mater as well as other universities. He actively participated as a contributor to the Dehkhoda Lexicon (Loghatnameh), accounting for over 20 percent of the voluminous project. He compiled over 50 books, including "A Comparative Study of Persian and Turkish Literature.”
6 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Takfiri terrorists backed by Saudi Arabia and the US detonated car bombs in the Shi’a Muslim neighbourhoods of Baghdad and Mosul, resulting in the martyrdom of dozens of men, women, and children, and injury to scores of others, as part of their failed plot to stir sectarian clashes in Iraq. Seven years earlier on this same day in 2006, Takfiri terrorists had raided a parking lot in a predominantly Shi’a Muslim neighborhood of Baghdad, shooting dead several guards, and leaving behind an explosives-rigged car that led to the martyrdom of over a score of would-be rescuers.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)
1443 lunar years ago, on this day, three years before Hijra, the First Lady of Islam, Omm al-Momineen or Mother of all True Believers, Hazrat Khadija (SA), passed away in Mecca. She spent 25 years of marital bliss with Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and as long as she was alive, the Prophet never took another spouse. A staunch monotheist, following the creed of Prophet Abraham, when 15 years after her marriage God formally entrusted her husband with the universal message of Islam, she promptly believed in his mission. As the richest lady of Arabia, she spent all her wealth for the promotion of Islam, and to feed, clothe and shelter the persecuted neo Muslim community, to the extent that when she breathed her last there was no monetary or property inheritance left for her orphaned daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA). Since within a year of the passing away of Hazrat Khadijah (SA), the Prophet lost to the cold hands of death his loving uncle and guardian, Hazrat Abu Taleb (AS), the year has become famous in Islamic history as "Aam al-Hozn" (Year of Grief). The Prophet cherished the memory of the faithful Khadija (SA) till the end of his life, despite marrying several women out of social necessity in the last ten years of his life.
1380 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), received the first batch of letters in Mecca from the notables of Kufa inviting him to Iraq for deliverance of the Islamic realm from the Godless rule of Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah. In due course, the number of these letters reached 12,000, and the Imam sent his cousin, Muslim ibn Aqeel, to Iraq to probe the situation. When the tyrant Yazid sent assassins in the garb of pilgrims to assassinate him, the Imam, in order to safeguard the inviolable sanctity of the holy Ka’ba and its surroundings from any spilling of blood, left for Iraq, where those who had ardently invited him, not just turned their backs upon him, but ganged up with the brutal Omayyad hordes to cruelly martyr him, his family members, and his companions, on the plain of Karbala.
955 lunar years ago, on this day in 485 AH, the renowned vizier of the Seljuqid Dynasty, Hassan Ibn Ali Ibn Ishaq Tusi, titled Khwajah Nizam ul-Mulk, was assassinated near Nahavand at the age of 75 while on his way to Baghdad from the capital Isfahan. Born in the northeastern city of Tous, he initially served the Ghaznavid sultans as chief administrator of Khorasan Province. Four years later with the rise of the Seljuqs, he served as vizier to the Sultans, Alp Arslan and Malik Shah I. He set up schools of higher education in several cities, which were named after him as Nizamiyyah and turned out to be models of universities that were later established in Europe. Nizam ul-Mulk is also widely known for his treatise on kingship titled "Siyasat-Nama" or "Siyar al-Molouk" (Book of Government). Although it is claimed he was stabbed by a member of the Assassins (corruption of Hashshashin) sent by his former friend, Hassan Sabbah of Alamut, his son-in-law Muqatel Ibn Atiyyah, has said he was assassinated in the same year as Malik Shah I after a debate between Sunni and Shi'a Muslim scholars that led to his and the Sultan’s conversion to the Creed of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.
517 solar years ago, on this day in 1502 AD, Honduras in Central America, which was the centre of the Mayan civilization, was occupied by Spain. Spain subsequently decimated the indigenous Mayan people. In early 19th century, due to the chaotic state of affairs in Spain, Honduras like the majority of the American colonies gained independence from Spanish colonial rule. Honduras covers an area of more than 112,000 sq km. it is a republic and shares borders with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
231 solar years ago, on this day in 1788 AD, German poet and orientalist, Friedrich Ruckert, was born in the city of Hamburg. He was a researcher on eastern languages and lectured at German universities. He has translated numerous poems from Persian, Arabic, and Chinese to German language. He is one of the German poets who have translated the Diwan of poems of renowned Iranian poet, Hafez, to German language, which has been published on several occasions.
165 lunar years ago, on this day in 1275 AH, the prominent scholar of Iraq, Sheikh Hussain ibn Shaikh Radhi ibn Sheikh Nasar an-Najafi, passed away.
103 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, the scandalous Sykes-Picot Accord was signed by representatives of Britain, France, and Russia in Paris for dividing up the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire and limiting the Turkish possessions to Anatolia or present day Turkey. Even before the formal defeat of the Ottomans in 1917, lines were drawn on paper to share the spoils by the two principal European colonial powers. The British took control of Iraq and the Hijaz. Shaam or Greater Syria was split up into four parts, with the British taking Jordan and Palestine, and the French taking Syria and Lebanon. The main goal of this plan was to set up in Palestine, an illegal entity called Israel as a homeland for European Jews.
44 solar years ago, on this day in 1975 AD, India annexed Sikkim and abolished the Chogyal monarchy. The Himalayan land of Sikkim was part of the British subcontinent, but in 1947 when India became independent, a popular vote rejected Sikkim's joining the Indian Union and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed to a special protectorate status for Sikkim. The land, however, came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defense, diplomacy and communications, but otherwise retained administrative autonomy. A state council was established in 1955 to allow for constitutional government under the Chogyal. Meanwhile, the Sikkim National Congress demanded fresh elections and greater representation for the Nepalese majority. In 1973, riots in front of the Chogyal palace led to a supposed request for protection from India. In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim reportedly appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India. In April, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal's palace guards. A referendum was held in which over 90 percent of the electorate allegedly voted to join the Indian Union. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim was formally declared the 22nd state of the Indian Union.
38 lunar years ago, on this day in 1402 AH, prominent Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Mohammad Sadouqi, was martyred by MKO terrorists while leading the Friday Prayer in his hometown Yazd. Born in a scholarly family tracing its descent from the famous jurisprudent, Abu Ja’far Mohammad ibn Ali Ibn Bab, popular as Shaikh Sadouq, after initial studies in Yazd and Isfahan, he studied Islamic sciences and theology in holy Qom for 21 years. His teachers included Ayatollah Shaikh Abdul-Karim Ha’iri Yazdi, Ayatollah Seyyed Sadr od-Din as-Sadr, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Taqi Khwansari, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi, and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him). He was politically active against the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime, beginning from the famous 15th of Khordad Uprising. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was elected to the Assembly of Experts, and played a valuable role in preparation of Islamic Iran’s Constitution. As a representative of Imam Khomeini, and the Friday Prayer leader of Yazd, he spared no efforts to develop the region, and also visited the frontlines of the war imposed by the US through Saddam.
22 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, the autocratic president of Congo (formerly Zaire), General Mobutu Sese Seko, fled after the united forces, led by Lauren Kabila, closed in on the city of Kinshasa. He came to power in the wake of a coup in 1965 and ruled Congo with an iron fist for 32 years. Although he was a violent and ruthless dictator, he was always supported by the Western regimes, especially the US and France. Congo has always been on the spotlight of the Western regimes, given its strategic position in Central Africa and existence of ample copper and diamond resources. A day after the escape of Sese Seko, the opposition forces captured Kinshasa; and Lauren Kabila was installed as the president. A while later, the refusal of Kabila to allow his Tutsi allies a share in the government, once again fanned the flames of civil war resulting in the assassination of Kabila on January 16, 2000, by one of his bodyguards.
26 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD the researcher, author, and lecturer of Persian language and literature at Tehran University, Dr. Mahdi Derakhshan, passed away at the age of 75. For a while, he also researched and lectured at Turkey's Ankara University. He has left behind a large number of valuable compilations
8 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, philologist and grammarian of the Persian language, Professor Hassan Ahmad Givi, passed away at the age of 84. A prominent student of the famous Professor Badi oz-Zaman Farouzanfar, after obtaining PhD from Tehran University, for over four decades he taught at his alma mater as well as other universities. He actively participated as a contributor to the Dehkhoda Lexicon (Loghatnameh), accounting for over 20 percent of the voluminous project. He compiled over 50 books, including "A Comparative Study of Persian and Turkish Literature.”
6 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Takfiri terrorists backed by Saudi Arabia and the US detonated car bombs in the Shi’a Muslim neighbourhoods of Baghdad and Mosul, resulting in the martyrdom of dozens of men, women, and children, and injury to scores of others, as part of their failed plot to stir sectarian clashes in Iraq. Seven years earlier on this same day in 2006, Takfiri terrorists had raided a parking lot in a predominantly Shi’a Muslim neighborhood of Baghdad, shooting dead several guards, and leaving behind an explosives-rigged car that led to the martyrdom of over a score of would-be rescuers.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)