Today is Monday; 5th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 24th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Hijjah 1437 lunar hijri; and September 26, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1428 lunar years ago, on this day in 9 AH, the historic event of Mobahela took place in Medina between a delegation of the Christian Arabs of Najran and Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Mobahela means a challenge to invoke divine wrath on the liars, as is evident by ayah 61 of Surah Aal-e Imran of the holy Qur'an. It happened that after three days of dialogue when the Christians stuck to their weird belief on the divinity of Prophet Jesus (AS) despite the irrefutable proofs provided by the Prophet that the Almighty Creator is far too glorious to possess such human characteristics as the need to have a son or children, God commanded that the contending parties assemble at a place outside the city, along with their men, women, and children, for invoking malediction. The next day, as the Prophet calmly but confidently came to the appointed place along with his daughter, Fatema Zahra (SA), son-in-law Imam Ali (AS), and grandsons Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS), the Christians were astonished to behold such enlightened visages which they had never seen before. They realized that the truth was with Islam and backed off from the challenge to invoke divine curse on the liars, since in the words of the chief bishop of Najran:
"I see such virtuous faces that if they raise their hands to invoke divine wrath, mountains would move from their places, and the Christians would be wiped out.”
This day is indeed a glorious event in history that saw triumph in a peaceful parley, as a manifestation of the status of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt or immediate family, for whom love, affection, respect, and obedience, is obligatory for all Muslims.
1428 lunar years ago, on the eve of this day in 9 AH, on the night preceding the historic Mobahela between the Christians and Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), "Ayat at-Tat-heer” (Verse of Purity) was revealed vouching the spotlessly pure personalities of the Ahl al-Bayt, when Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) prayed to God Almighty after assembling under his cloak his daughter, Fatema Zahra (SA), her husband Imam Ali (AS) and their two sons Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS). This is ayah 33 of Surah al-Ahzaab which reads:
"Allah desires to keep away uncleanness from you Ahl al-Bayt and preserve you spotlessly pure.”
 In a related development on this day in a different year, God revealed Ayahs 55 and 56 of Surah al-Ma’edah when the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), while in genuflection during the ritual prayer, gave away the ring of his finger by pointing it towards the beggar who was pleading for alms in the mosque:
"Your Guardian is only Allah, His Prophet, and the truly faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zak?t while (bowed) in genuflection. "Whoever takes for his guardians Allah, His Prophet and the truly faithful [should know that] the Hizbullah (Party of Allah) are indeed the victorious.”
This ayah is yet another firm proof of God’s appointment of Imam Ali (AS) as the Prophet’s vicegerent that was formally proclaimed on 18th Zi’l-Hijjah 10 AH at the historic assembly of Ghadeer-Khom on revelation of ayah 67 of Surah al-Ma’edah.
1205 lunar years ago, on this day in 232 AH, Watheq-Billah the 9th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime died under suspicious conditions at the age of 31 in his capital Samarra after a 5-year reign, and there were no tears shed for him as the whole court leaving his corpse unattended, busied itself in celebrating the crowning of his brother, Mutawakkel. After the festivities when his corpse was taken for the ritual washing before burial, it was found that his eyes were missing from their sockets, having been eaten by mice. Son of Mutasem’s Greek concubine Qaratis, on succeeding his father, Watheq arrested several prominent officials and tortured them to surrender wealth they allegedly misappropriated. Devoid of any piety, he was renowned for his musical talents and is reputed to have composed over one-hundred songs. During his reign, a number of revolts broke out, the largest ones in Syria and Palestine, as a result of an increasingly large gap between Arab populations and the Turkish slave armies (Mamluk) formed by his father Mutasim, the son of Haroun Rasheed’s Turkic concubine. The revolts were put down, but antagonism between the two groups continued to widen, with the Turks gaining more power.
926 lunar years ago, on this day in 511 AH, Ghiyas od-Din Mohammad, the son of Sultan Malik Shah the last great Seljuq ruler of the Iran-based empire that included Iraq, most of Anatolia, parts of Syria, the Caucasus, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, died after a reign of 13 years.
644 solar years ago, on this day in 1371 AD, the Second Battle of Maritsa took place in the Balkans as part of the Serbian-Turkish wars, resulting in another resounding victory for the Ottomans against the combined Serb-Greek army of 70,000 soldiers. The Muslim army was led by Sultan Murad I's lieutenant, Lala Shahin Pasha, who through superior military tactics defeated the huge force the Christians had assembled in a bid to avenge their loss in the First Battle of Maritsa seven years earlier in 1364. Both the Serbian king and the Greek despot died on the battlefield. Macedonia and parts of Greece fell under Ottoman power after this battle, which was preceded by the Turkish capture of Sozopol and followed by the capture of Drama, Kavala and Serrai in Greece. It was prelude to the historic Battle of Kosovo eighteen years later in 1389 that completed the conquest of the Balkans by Murad and his death on the battlefield.
329 solar years ago, on this day in 1687 AD, the Venetian invading army attacked the Acropolis in Athens during the 15-year Morean War (1864-1699) to try to occupy the whole of the Ottoman Province of "Yuninstan” (Greece), while the main Turkish army was engaged in the war with the Hapsburgs in Hungary. The Italians and their Christian mercenaries including Germans, who had no regard for ancient history unlike the Muslim Turkish defenders, bombarded the Parthenon, extensively damaging the northern colonnade. The Turks continued to defend for several more days until safe passage to Smyrna, while the Venetians and their Christian mercenaries almost destroyed the whole of Parthenon, they especially targetted the imposing mosque built by Muslims following liberation of Athens in 1354. In 1715, when the Ottomans liberated Yunanistan, the Parthenon was partly rebuilt and the grand mosque restored for the benefit of Greek Muslims, which alas in the middle 19th century was totally destroyed by Greek mercenaries who aided by Christian powers forcibly detached Yunanistan and gave it the ancient name of "Greece” which had ceased to exist over two millennium ago with the rise of the Roman Empire.
253 solar years ago, on this day in 1763 AD, English poet John Byrom died at the age of 71. He invented a revolutionary system of shorthand and is the writer of the lyrics of Anglican hymn: "Christians Awake, salute the happy morn”. The words "Tweedle-dum” and "Tweedle-dee” were written by him became frequently quoted epigrams, satirizing the disagreements between George Frideric Handel and Giovanni Battista Bononcini. A nursery rhyme published in 1805 included the characters Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
140 solar years ago, on this day in 1876 AD, the famous Indo-Pakistani political activist and literary figure, Seyyed Ghulam Mohi od-Din Nairang, was born in Ambala in a family that had migrated to India from Tirmiz in Greater Khorasan. He studied law and joined the All-India Muslim League. He was a close friend of the Philosopher-Poet of the East, Allamah Mohammad Iqbal Lahori, and was active in the political and social fields. On the creation of Pakistan he settled in Lahore, where he died in 1952. In addition to his poetical composition, "Kalaam-e Nairang" he was a regular contributor to prestigious Urdu magazines such as "Zamana", "Makhzan”, "Humayun”, "Aligarh Old Boys”, and his own "Tableegh”. His articles on political, national and literary topics also appeared in the prominent newspapers of those days such as the Lahore-based "Inqelaab” and "Zamindaar”, the Amritsar-based "Wakeel”, the Lucknow-based "Sach” and the Bombay-based "Khilafat”.
128 solar years ago, on this day in 1888 AD, the English literary figure and poet, Thomas Stearns Eliot, was born. He catapulted to fame in 1922 with his poem, titled "The Waste Land". He wrote several books, which show his inclination toward religion. His work include "Sacred Wood", and "Murder in the Cathedral".
127 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, Martin Heidegger, existentialist philosopher and writer, was born in Germany. He wrote "Being and Time", and criticized the tyranny of modern technology over man. He researched the relationship between Western philosophy and the history of ideas in Islam. Scholars interested in Arabic philosophical medieval sources are influenced by his work in this regard.
109 solar years ago, on this day in 1907 AD, New Zealand, which was occupied by the British in the late 18th century and settled by waves of illegal Anglo-Saxon migrants who seized the lands of the Maori natives, was granted dominion status within the British Empire. Earlier, from 1845 to 1848 and again from 1860 to 1870, the Maoris rose against the British for violation of the treaty of 1840 AD, but were brutally crushed. Today, New Zealand is still part of the constitutional monarchy of Britain, with Queen Elizabeth as head of state. She appoints the Governor-General, in consultation with the elected prime minister of the island state. New Zealand consists of two main islands and several smaller ones in the South Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of more than 268,000 sq km.
75 solar years ago, on this day in 1941 AD, during World War 2, the Battle of Kiev, near the capital of Ukraine, resulted in the victory of the invading German Nazi forces over Soviet troops, of whom 665,000 were captured.
72 lunar years ago, on this day in 1365 AH, Head of the Islamic seminary of holy Mashhad, Ayatollah Shaikh Morteza Ashtiyani, passed away at the age of 84 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imam Reza (AS) – the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He completed his higher studies and reached the status of Ijtehad in holy Najaf, Iraq, where his teachers were the famous ulema, Mirza Habibollah Rashti, and Akhound Khorasani. On his return to Iran, he took up residence in Tehran for some years before shifting to holy Mashhad where he spent the last 25 years of his life, teaching and preaching.
54 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, a coup led by Colonel Abdullah Sallal, and supported militarily by President Jamal Abdun-Nasser of Egypt, overthrew the Zaidi Imam, Mohammad al-Badr, who only a week earlier had succeeded his father as the ruler of the almost 1,000 year old dynasty. The result was civil war till 1970 that sapped the energies of the Egyptian invading army which saw thousands of its soldiers killed, and contributed to the humiliating defeat of Nasser in the 6-day Israeli war of 1967. In May 1990, North Yemen and the former British protectorate of South Yemen became united in one single country under the dictatorial rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was in power in Sanaa since 1978, and was replaced in February 2012 by vice president, Abd Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi – a Saudi-American stooge. Hadi was driven out of the country by the popular uprising of the Ansarullah Movement of the Zaidi branch of Shi’a Muslims who make up half of the population of the 24 million of Yemen, and are concentrated mainly in the north. There is sizeable minority of Ismaili and Ithna Ash’ari (Twelver) Shi’ite Muslims in Yemen. The ancient land of Yemen with a civilization dating several thousand years ago, embraced the truth of Islam when Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) dispatched his dear cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali (AS) to invite the people to the true religion. Yemen, which shares borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman, is strategically situated on the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, opposite the Horn of Africa, guarding entrance to the Red Sea. It has a large coastline on the Indian Ocean as well. For the past year-and-a-half Saudi Arabia, in a blatant act of US-backed state terrorism, has been bombing Yemen and has killed over 10,000 men, women and children so far, in addition to destroying the infrastructure and the historical heritage. Along with the UAE and other Arab reactionary states, it has sent invasion forces in a bid to topple the popular Ansarullah Movement.
35 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, upon the order of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), Iran's Muslim combatants launched the victorious "Samen al-Ai’mma” Operations to break the more-than-a-year long siege of the city of Abadan in Khuzestan Province, southwestern Iran, by the invading forces of the repressive Ba'th minority regime of Baghdad. The successful operation amazed the world's military and political planners, and was a turning point in the 8-year war imposed by the US on Iran through Saddam.
31 solar years aogo, on this day in 1984 AD, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abdullah Musavi Shirazi, passed away in holy Mashhad at the age of 92 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Born in Shiraz, he was 15 years old when he accompanied his father, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Tahir Shirazi, into banishment to remote areas for opposing the Qajarid dynasty’s subservience to British colonial rule. In 1914, Abdullah Shirazi went to Iraq to study advanced jurisprudence at the seminary of holy Najaf, under Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Hussain Na’eni. On his return to Iran, he became active against the anti-Islamic rule of Reza Khan Pahlavi, and following the Gowharshad Mosque protests of 1935 against the forcible unveiling of women, he was sentenced to 4 years in prison. After his release, he went back to Najaf, and soon became one of the leading Marja or Source of Emulation. In 1975, he returned to Iran and joined the movement of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, until the regime was overthrown in 1979. He was socially active, both inside and outside Iran, and wrote several books, such as "Umdat-il Wasa'il fil Hashiyat ila ar-Rasa'il” (on writings of Shaikh Morteza Ansari, in 4 volumes); "Azahat ush-Shubahat fi Hukm il-Afaaq al-Muttahidah wa’l Mottafiqah” (Jurisprudential Rules on Observation of the Moon for Calculations of the Solar Calendar); "At-Tuhfat ol-Kadhimiyah fi Qatl al-Hayawanat bil-Alaat al-Kahruba'iyah”  (Jurisprudential Rules concerning Slaughtering of Farm Animals with Electric Devices); "Al-Ihtejajaat al-Ashra” (Discussion on the Sunni-Shi'a Debate – translated into Persian, English, Urdu, and Gujarati, and published several times); and "Imam wa Imamat” (in Persian on the topic of Imamate in Islam). Ayatollah Abdullah Shirazi founded over 180 institutes, including hospitals, schools, and libraries in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, and African countries.
25 lunar years ago, on this day in 1412 AH, prominent religious leader, Ayatollah Reza Madani Kashani, passed away in his hometown Kashan. The Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, paid glowing tributes to this scholar for his grooming of students and compilation of valuable books in Persian and Arabic, including the 4-volume "Barahin al-Hajj".
4 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, Syrian Christian journalist, Maya Nasser, while working for Iran’s Press TV, was targeted and killed in Damascus by terrorists backed by the US, Turkey, Israel and reactionary Arab regimes. His reports from Aleppo are the most notable. The 33-year old journalist also reported from the US, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Bahrain.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)