This Day in History (October 11)

Date: 10 October 2018 - 21:34

News ID: ۵۸۳۶۷

Today is Thursday; 19th  of the Iranian month of Mehr 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 1st of the Islamic month of Safar 1440 lunar hijri; and October 11, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1403 lunar years ago, on this day in 37 AH, the Siffin War was started by the Omayyad rebel, Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, as a result of his refusal to step down, following his dismissal from the governorship of the Province of Syria by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS) the First Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). The war that lasted four months was fought in the region called Siffin, besides the River Euphrates in what is now the Reqqa District in Syria, a short distance from the city of Aleppo. In the final battle of the Siffin War, when Mu’awiyah was on the verge of defeat, his comrade-in-crimes, Amr Ibn al-Aas, ordered the Omayyad troops to raise on spear-points, what he claimed to be copies of the holy Qur’an, in order to deceive the people and sue for peace. Despite the warnings of Imam Ali (AS), many among his forces were deceived and refused to continue the battle against the demoralized enemy troops. These gullible people forced the Imam to enter into arbitration with Mu’awiyah, and when the result turned out against their nefarious desires, they openly rebelled against the Prophet’s rightful successor. These misled people called Khwarej or renegades are considered outside the pale of Islam. It is an irony of Islamic history that Mu’awiyah, who had reluctantly accepted Islam to save his life at the fall of Mecca to Muslims two years before the passing away of the Prophet; was made governor of the newly conquered Christian majority province of Syria. Here, through propaganda and forging of hadith, he built a strong base against the Ahl al-Bayt. After the martyrdom of Imam Ali (AS), he seized the caliphate from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS) through deceit, thus laying the groundwork for the Godless Omayyad Dynasty that terrorized Muslims for 91 years.
1379 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, some 20 days after the heartrending tragedy of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), the captive children and womenfolk of the Blessed Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), along with the heads of martyrs, mounted on spear-points, were brought to Damascus in fetters to the court of the Godless Yazid Ibn Mu’awiyah – the self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime. The Omayyads decorated the bazaars and streets to mock at the Prophet’s noble family members. They celebrated the occasion as a day of festivity. Nonetheless, despite the severe sufferings, the noble captives, including Hazrat Ruqayya (SA), the less-than-four-year daughter of Imam Husain (AS), bore themselves with dignity. Yazid rejoiced, saying he had avenged the blood of his infidel ancestors, killed in the battles they had imposed on the Prophet at Badr and Ohad. The Imam’s sister, Hazrat Zainab (SA) and the Imam’s son and successor, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), delivered memorable sermons at Yazid’s court and the Great Mosque, to expose Omayyad blasphemy against the Prophet's grandson and Ahl al-Bayt. The conscience of the Syrian people was thus aroused, alarming Yazid and making him release the noble captives.
932 solar years ago, on this day in 1086 AD, Chinese historian and statesman Sima Guang, died at the age of 67. Perhaps the greatest of China’s historians, he wrote in several volumes the monumental "Zizhi Tongjian” which detailed in chronological order events in Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD. He was also a lexicographer and spent decades compiling in 1066 "Leipian” ("Classified dictionary.
880 solar years ago, on this day in 1138 AD, a devastating earthquake, the third deadliest in recorded history, struck the city of Aleppo and its environs in Syria, killing over two hundred thousand people, during the rule of the Turkish warlord, Emad od-Din Zengi. The worst hit area was Harem, where the Christian Crusaders from Europe had built a large citadel, which was destroyed along with the church. The nearby fort of Atharib, which was in the hands of Muslims, was also destroyed.
446 solar years ago, on this day in 1572 AD, Sulaiman Khan Karrani, the Afghan Sultan of Bengal, or what is now the Indian province of the same name along with Bangladesh, died after a reign of six years. He had succeeded his elder brother Taj Khan Karrani and was followed by his sons Bayazid and Daud Khan who ruled the short-lived semi-independent state that acknowledged Mughal emperor Akbar Shah as the supreme ruler by reciting his name in the Friday Prayer sermons. Though northern India and parts of southern India were ruled by the Muslim rulers, they had not yet been able to conquer Orissa. So in 1568 Sulaiman Khan sent his son and the famous general Kala Pahar against the last Orissan Hindu king Mukunda Deva, who was defeated and the region annexed to the Afghan state of Bengal. The dynasty eventually ceased to exist with the Mughals conquering Bengal when Daud Khan made the fatal error of asserting full independence.
384 solar years ago, on this day in 1634 AD, the Burchardi Flood, also known as the "Second Grote Mandrenke", killed around 15,000 people in North Friesland, Denmark and Germany. It was a storm tide that struck the North Sea coast of North Frisia and Dithmarschen on the night between 11 and 12 October. Overrunning dikes, it shattered the coastline and caused catastrophic material damage. Much of the island of Strand was washed away, forming the islands Nordstrand, Pellworm and several Halligen.
119 solar years ago, on this day in 1899 AD, a bloody battle broke out between the British intruders and the Boers or Dutch settlers of South Africa. The Boers were defeated and South Africa became a British colony, until it gained independence in 1931.
103 solar years ago, on this day in 1915 AD, the French biologist and entomologist, Jean Henri Fabre, died at the age 92. He was the first scientist to conduct comprehensive research on the mechanism of instinctive reactions among animals, especially birds, for maintenance of their lives, gathering valuable data in this domain.
34 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, Iranian poet and researcher, Abdul-Karim Amiri Firouzkouhi, passed away at the age of 75. Born in a village near the northern city of Firouzkouh, he started writing poetry since his youth, while acquiring Islamic sciences. His poems have a religious theme and he composed poetry in the different genres including odes and lyrics. He has left behind a 2-volume Diwan. Among his other works, is a comprehensive introduction to the Diwan of the renowned poet, Sa’eb Tabrizi.
34 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, the exegete of Holy Qur'an, and university lecturer, Ayatollah Mirza Khalil Kamarai, passed away. He was a product of the Qom Seminary, and due to his opposition to the irreligious and despotic policies of the ruling regime, was detained and incarcerated in 1962 by the British-installed and US-backed Shah. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he started theology lectures at Tehran University. He has left behind several compilations in Persian and Arabic, including a complete exegesis of Holy Qur'an, and the book: "Onsor-e Shuja'at" (Element of Valour) on the exemplary life of Imam Husain (AS) and the Immortal Martyrs of Karbala.
28 solar years ago, on this day 1990 AD, the Assembly for Proximity among Islamic Schools of Jurisprudence was established in Tehran on the orders of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in order to focus on the commonalities between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims for promoting the solidarity of the Ummah and preventing discord and misunderstandings. Earlier, in the 1950s a similar body was set up by Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Borourjerdi who sent a delegation of scholars to Egypt’s al-Azhar for exploring common views and points, resulting in the acceptance of the Ja’fari School of Jurisprudence as one of the legal systems that Muslims could follow. Presently, the Assembly for Proximity among Islamic Schools is quite active in the fields of various Islamic sciences shared by Muslims of all denominations.
27 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the activities of the Soviet Union's security organization, known as KGB, ended awhile before the collapse of Soviet Union. KGB was founded in 1954 to counter the operations of the CIA and other western spy agencies. Its duties included suppression of opponents of the Communist Party, as well as espionage and counterespionage operations inside and outside the Soviet Union. KGB was the most effective leverage of the communist party's strength. With the dissolution of KGB, its duties were divided between two Russian intelligence organizations.
13 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, Shan ul-Haq Haqqi, Urdu linguist and writer of the Subcontinent, passed away in Canada at the age of 88 while undergoing medical treatment. Born in Delhi to Ehtasham od-Din Haqqi, who wrote a study of the famous Iranian poet, Hafez Shirazi titled "Tarjuman ul-Ghayb”, along with an Urdu translation of "Diwan-e Hafez”, he was a product of Aligarh Muslim University. After migration to Pakistan in 1948, he became a notable Urdu poet, writer, journalist, broadcaster, translator, critic, researcher, linguist and lexicographer of Pakistan. In addition to his regular professional duties, he remained associated with the Urdu Dictionary Board for 17 years from 1958 to 1975, compiling a 24-volume dictionary. He compiled two other dictionaries – "Farhang-e Talaffuz” which is a pronouncing dictionary of Urdu, and the Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary, which is a translation of the eighth and ninth editions of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. He also translated into Urdu the Hindu Sanskrit classic "Bhagvad Gita”.
8 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Callixte Mbarushimana, a Rwandan leader of the FDLR rebel group and a former UN employee, was arrested in Paris on charges of leading rebels who committed mass rapes and killings in Congo in 2009. The International Criminal Court charged him with 11 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including killings, rape, persecution based on gender and extensive destruction of property committed by the FDLR during most of 2009. He was extradited to the ICC on 25 January 2011, but was released on 23 December 2011 as the ICC, under political pressure, found there was insufficient evidence for prosecuting him. He is also participated in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 – a genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority. During the approximate 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994, an estimated one million Rwandans were killed, constituting as much as 70% of the Tutsi and 20% of Rwanda's total population. The genocide was planned by members of the core political elite known as the Akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government. Perpetrators came from the ranks of the Rwandan army, the National Police (gendarmerie), government-backed militias including the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, and the Hutu civilian population.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)