By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

Today, the 15th of Shawwal is the anniversary of two important events in Islamic history. Though these occurred in different eras and different places, they continue to be commemorated by the faithful in Iran and around the world because of the profound influence of these happenings upon the life of Muslims.
The first event occurred in 3 AH when pagan Arabs of Mecca led by Abu Sufyan imposed the Battle of Ohad on Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) at a place outside Medina near Mount Ohad, for avenging the decisive defeat they had suffered a year earlier at Badr.
Ohad turned out to be a temporary setback for Muslims, whose ranks were infiltrated by hypocrites. In the initial encounter, the Muslims repelled the heavily-armed pagan Arabs, but ignoring the instructions of the Prophet the guards posted at the mountain pass, left their positions to join in the seizing of the camp baggage of the fleeing Meccans.
At this juncture, an infidel commander named Khaled bin Waleed, who lay in ambush, burst upon the Muslims, martyring several of them and forcing most of the companions of the Prophet to flee the battlefield.
God Almighty refers to this lack of faith of the majority of the Prophet’s companions for deserting him despite his appeals to them to stay their ground since he was alive and defending Islam:
“Muhammad is but a Prophet; [other] prophets have passed before him. If he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? Anyone who turns back on his heels will not harm Allah in the least, and soon Allah will reward the grateful.” (Holy Qur’an 3:144)
This is a lesson till this day for Muslims against disobeying the Divinely-designated leaders and acting on the whims of their retarded minds, which only brings about disaster. God also says in the holy Qur’an regarding these facts:
“When you were fleeing without paying any attention to anyone, while the Prophet was calling you from your rear, He requited you with grief upon grief, so that you may not grieve for what you lose nor for what befalls you, and Allah is well aware of what you do.
“Then He sent down to you safety after grief —a drowsiness that came over a group of you— while another group, anxious only about themselves, entertained false notions about Allah, notions of [pagan] ignorance. They say, ‘Do we have any role in the matter?’ Say, ‘Indeed the matter belongs totally to Allah.’ They hide in their hearts what they do not disclose to you. They say, ‘Had we any role in the matter, we would not have been slain here.’ Say, ‘Even if you had remained in your houses, those destined to be slain would have set out toward the places where they were laid to rest, so that Allah may test what is in your breasts, and that He may purge what is in your hearts, and Allah knows best what is in the breasts.’
“Those of you who fled on the day when the two hosts met. Only Satan had made them stumble because of some of their deeds. Certainly Allah has excused them, for Allah is All-forgiving, all-forbearing.” (Holy Qur’an 3:153, 154, 155)
The Prophet who stood his ground was injured and lost some of his teeth. Thanks, however, to the valour of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), the day was saved for Islam, although in the process the Prophet’s brave uncle, Hazrat Hamza (AS), was martyred by the Abyssinian Wahshi, who was ordered by his mistress, Hind bint Otbah, the wife of Abu Sufyan (mother of Mu’awiyya and grandmother of Yazid), to tear out the victim’s liver and bring it to her for chewing.
Thus, without the least doubt, Islam is indebted to the valour of Imam Ali (AS), in whose praise on the Day of the Battle of Ohad the angels were heard chanting: “There is no braver youth than Ali, and no sharper sword than Zu’l-Feqar.”
The second important anniversary of 15th Shawwal occurred almost two-and-a-half centuries later in 252 AH when Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hasani, a prominent descendant of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), was martyred in Rayy, where his shrine, in what is now the southernmost suburb of the Iranian capital, Tehran, is a site of pilgrimage for people from all over the world.
A pious scholar of repute, he was fifth in descent from the Prophet’s elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir, Imam Hasan Mujtaba (AS). His genealogy reads: Abdul-Azim Ibn Abdullah Ibn Ali Ibn Hassan Ibn Zayd Ibn Imam Hasan (AS).
Born in Medina in the last years of the life of the Prophet’s 7th Infallible Heir, Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), he had the honour of companionship of the 8th, 9th, and 10th Infallible Imams –Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS), Imam Muhammad al-Jawad (AS), and Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS).
He was sent as a missionary to Iran to enlighten the people about the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt. Because of severe persecution of the Prophet’s progeny by the tyrannical Abbasid caliph, Mutawakkel, he carried out his activities with precaution, spending the days in fasting and nights in worship.
Often he used to visit the grave of Hamza, a son of the 7th Imam in an orchard outside the city, and willed that he be buried nearby on his death. Among the books authored by him was a collection of the eloquent sermons of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), predating by over one-hundred-and-fifty years the compilation of the “Nahj al-Balagha”.