Today is Thursday; 14th of the Iranian month of Dey 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 16th of the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1439 lunar hijri; and January 4, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
Over three lunar millennia ago, on this day, the Thamoud tribe of the al-Hijr region in the fertile northwestern part of Arabia, was afflicted with divine wrath for the abominable sins of its members, after having been given a lengthy respite to repent and reform, which the sinners spurned and instead committed the cardinal  crime of killing the she-camel that had miraculously emerged from a splitting rock in answer to the supplication of Prophet Saleh to Almighty God when the Godless stuck to their demand for a supernatural miracle. The place is believed to be "Mada’en Saleh” between Medina and the Levant, in the Hejaz. Only a few people especially the poor believed in the monotheistic message of Prophet Saleh, while the majority, particular the rulers, laughed at him and refused to heed his words of guidance. The special camel would give abundant milk every day for the poor to drink, and they were very happy. The sinners became angry and brutally killed the camel. They then threatened Prophet Saleh with death, but before they could carry out their murderous plot, divine wrath struck them, as black clouds gathered in the sky, covering the moon and the stars. Valleys and mountains were as dark as night. At midnight strong thunderbolts struck, while an earthquake occurred to obliterate the sinners, while Prophet Saleh and the believers had already left for a safe place.
1144 solar years ago, on this day in 874 AD, as per the Gregorian calendar, was martyred in Samarra, Iraq, Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) the 11th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). The date of his martyrdom, according to the Islamic calendar is 8th Rabi al-Awwal. Born in the city of Medina, he later moved to Samarra to join his father, Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS), who was forced to come to Iraq by the tyrant Mutawakkel, the 10th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. The mantle of Imamate or divinely-decreed leadership of mankind came to rest on Imam Hassan Askari’s (AS) young shoulders at the age of 22, following the martyrdom of his father through poisoning by the 13th treacherous caliph, Mu’taz. For six years, the 11th Imam guided the ummah, until his own martyrdom in the prime of youth by another tyrannical caliph, Mo’tamed. During this period, his son and successor, Imam Mahdi (AS) was born and brought up in secrecy –safe and secure from the Abbasid spies. The 12th Imam, who is currently in occultation by God’s Will, will emerge in the end times as the Redeemer of mankind to cleanse the earth of all vestiges of corruption and oppression by establishing the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.
1073 lunar years ago, on this day in 365 AH, the 4th self-styled caliph of the Fatemid dynasty of North Africa-Sicily, al-Mo‘ez le Din-Allah, died in his new capital Cairo (Qahera in Arabic), after a reign of 23 years during which the centre of his caliphate was moved from Mansuriyya in Tunisia to the newly conquered Egypt. The Fatemids, who claimed descent from Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), the 6th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), but did not adhere to the teachings of the last six of the Prophet’s 12 Infallible Successors, had thrown off the yoke of the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad. Their Shi’ite Muslim Sicilian general, Jowhar as-Saqali, conquered Egypt from the Abbasids and on the orders of Caliph Mo’ez founded the city of "Qahera” (Victorious) to commemorate the victory. Mo’ez soon founded the famous mosque and academy known as al-Azhar in honour of "Zahra” (Radiant), which is an epithet of the Prophet’s daughter, Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her). For the first time in Egypt the "Azaan” was recited in the Shi’ite Muslim manner with proclamation of the name of the Prophet’s First Infallible Successor, Imam Ali (AS), after testifying the Oneness of God Almighty and the Mission of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). For over two centuries, al-Azhar was the site of Ismaili Shi’ite learning until the fall of Egypt to the Kurdish general, Salaheddin Ayyubi, who forcibly converted the country and its people to the Sunni sect.
973 lunar years ago, on this day in 465 AH, the Iranian mystic Abdul-Karim ibn Hawazin al-Qushayri, died in his hometown Naishapur in Khorasan, northeastern Iran. Known as "Sheikh al-Islam”, following the death of his teacher and father-in-law, Abu Ali ad-Daqqaq, he became the master and teacher of the mystical order called al-Qushayriyya. He was an authority on theology, philosophy, hadith, and exegesis of the Holy Qur’an. He has left behind a large number of books, including the treatise tilted "Risalat al-Qushayriyya” on Islamic mysticism.
783 lunar years ago, on this day in 655 AH, Shajarat ad-Durr, the widow of the Ayyubid ruler, Sultan as-Saleh, died in Egypt. She played a crucial role after the death of her husband in repelling the Seventh Crusade launched against Egypt by Europeans. She was of Turkic slave origin, and her becoming Sultana (Queen), marks the end of the rule of the Kurdish Ayyubid Dynasty over Egypt and the start of the era of the Mamluks that lasted for two-and-a-half centuries.
500 solar years ago, on this day in 1517 AD, the Battle of Ridhaniya near Cairo, led to the total victory of the Ottoman Turks of Sultan Salim I over the Turkic Mamluk dynasty of Egypt and the killing of Sultan Bay. In this battle, the Ottoman commander, Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha, who had the engineered a resounding victory over the Mamluks in the decisive Battle of Khan Yunus in Gaza on October 28, lost his life. This last phase of the Ottoman-Mamluk wars started in August 1516, when Sultan Salim, two years after his narrow victory at Chaldiran in Azarbaijan over the Shah of Persia, Ismail I, suddenly invaded Syria, since he greatly feared the Iranians might reorganize and counterattack in view of the widespread influence of the Safavids in Syria and Anatolia (modern day Turkey). The collapse of the 267-year rule of the Mamluks over Egypt-Syria meant the transformation of the Ottoman dominion from a realm at the margin of Islamic lands located in Asia Minor and southwestern Europe, into a huge empire encompassing the historical cities of Cairo, Damascus, Bayt al-Moqaddas and Aleppo, as well as the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, since the Sharif of Hejaz, pledged allegiance to Sultan Salim, who despite being a Turk, started calling himself the Caliph of Muslims.
218 solar years ago, on this day in 1809 AD; French educator, Louis Braille, who developed a tactile form of printing and writing, known as braille, since widely adopted by the blind, was born. He himself knew blindness from the age four, following an accident while playing. In 1821, while he was at a school for the blind, a soldier named Charles Barbier visited and showed a code system he had invented. The system called "night writing”, had been designed for soldiers in war trenches to silently pass instructions using combinations of twelve raised dots. Young Braille realised how useful this system dots could be. He developed a simpler scheme using six dots. In 1827 the first book in braille was published. Now the blind could write it for themselves using a simple style to make dots.
205 solar years ago, on this day in 1813 AD, Isaac Pitman, an English teacher who developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand, was born in Britain. He first proposed this in Stenographic Soundhand in 1837.
140 solar years ago, on this day in 1878 AD, the Muslim city of Sofia was seized by the Russians from the Ottomans and turned into the capital of the newly established principality of Bulgaria, after ethnic cleansing on a large scale that saw expulsion of thousands of Muslims and destruction of mosques. It was in 1382 that Sofia had been liberated by Muslims and made seat of the newly created Sanjak of Sofia 1393. In the next century it became the capital of the Ottoman Province of Rumelia and for more than four centuries was a thriving city. In the 16th century, Sofia's urban layout and appearance began to exhibit a clear Islamic style, with many mosques, madrasahs, libraries, caravanserais, fountains and hamams (bathhouses). During that time the town had a population of around 7,000. Today nothing exists of the rich Islamic heritage, and only a very small number of Bulgarian Muslims survive in their homeland, after being forced to renounce their Islamic identity and religion over the past century.
88 solar years ago, on this day in 1931 AD, Mohammad Ali Jauhar, the Indian Muslim leader, activist, scholar, journalist and poet, passed away at the age of 53 while on a visit to London. He was buried in the city of Bayt al-Moqaddas in British-occupied Palestine. He and his younger brother Showkat Ali, were among the leading advocates of independence from British rule, and was elected to become the President of Indian National Congress party in 1923. Later he became one of the founders and presidents of the All-India Muslim League that campaigned for the division of India and creation of Pakistan.
70 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, Burma, also known as Myanmar, gained independence from British colonial rule after a century of occupation, following two major wars and annexation to India. In 1937, it was separated from British India, because of nationalistic sentiments. During World War II it was occupied by Japanese forces, and after the war re-occupied briefly by the British before achieving independence. Myanmar covers an area of 670,000 sq km and is situated in Southeast Asia. It shares borders with China, India, Laos, Bangladesh, and Thailand. The current regime is notorious for is indifference to the genocide of its Muslim minority, especially the Rohingyas.
52 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, the Tashkent conference was held with the mediation of the Soviet Union to broker peace between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the 1965 war. Pakistan was represented by President Ayub Khan and India by Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who died of a heart attack in Tashkent shortly after signing the accord.
11 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, Afro-American Keith Ellison of Minnesota's 5th District became the first Muslim member of the US Congress, and he took oath of allegiance by placing his hand on the holy Qur’an.
9 solar years ago, on this day in 2009 AD, in Iraq, US-Saudi supported Takfiri terrorists blew up through remote control an unsuspecting woman by handing her an explosive-filled and then sending her in the midst of pilgrims to the holy shrine of Kazemain near Baghdad, resulting in the death of some 50 men, women, and children, and injury to almost a hundred others.
7 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, Tunisian vendor, Mohammad Bouazizi, died 18 days after self-immolation in the city of Bouzid, in protest to state oppression. His funeral triggered nationwide demonstrations serving as a catalyst to the Islamic Awakening that triumphed ten days later on January 14 with the collapse of the 23-year dictatorial regime of President Zain al-Abedin bin Ali. The historic chain of events soon changed the authoritarian regimes in Libya, Egypt, and Yemen, and has continued to rock Bahrain.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)