This Day in History

Date: 30 August 2020 - 21:28

News ID: ۸۲۲۵۴

(August 31)

Today Monday; 10th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1399 solar hijri; corresponding to 11th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1442 lunar hijri; and August 31, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1381 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, a day after Ashura, the survivors of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala, mostly women and children of the noble household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), including Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the son and successor of Imam Husain (AS), were chained and fettered as ordinary captive by the Godless hordes of Omar ibn Sa’d and taken to Kufa to the court of the tyrant’s Yazid’s ungodly governor, Obaidollah ibn Ziyad, who tried to mock them. The Prophet’s granddaughter, Hazrat Zainab (SA) delivered a memorable sermon unmasking the hypocrisy of the Omayyads and their bloodthirsty nature. The people of Kufa, who had deserted the cause of the Ahl al-Bayt, wept and felt remorse, which alarmed Ibn Ziyad and made him quickly dispatch the caravan of captives to Damascus in Syria, but through unfrequented routes so as to avoid the anger and indignation of the people of the towns that lay in the way.
1163 lunar years ago, on this day in 279 AH, the renowned Iranian Sunni Muslim authority on hadith, Mohammad ibn Eisa Tirmizi, passed away. He was born and died in Bagh, near Tirmiz in Greater Khorasan (now in Uzbekistan). Tirmizi, who became blind in the last two years of his life, is the author of the "al-Jame’ as-Sahih”, popularly called "Sunan at-Tirmizi”, one of the six canonical hadith compilations of Sunni Muslims. He has included in his compendium authentic narrations on the unrivalled merits of the blessed household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and has said that the term Ahl al-Bayt as used by God in the holy Qur’an and by the Prophet in several hadith, is exclusive for Imam Ali (AS), Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS), and does not include the Prophet’s wife, as some allege. Tirmizi’s grave is in Sherobad, 60 km north of Tirmiz, where he is called Tirmiz Baba.
802 solar years ago, on this day in 1218 AD, al-Malik al-Adel I, the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt and Syria, died at the age of 73 after a reign of 18 years during a campaign against the European Crusader invaders, and was succeeded by his son, al-Kamel – who ruled for the next two decades. The younger brother of the famous Kurdish ruler, Salah od-Din Ayyubi, he was an able administrator and a successful general, known as a strategist, to whom the persistence of the Ayyubid state is indebted.
499 solar years ago, on this day in 1521 AD, Spanish marauder, Herman Cortez, having captured the city of Tenochtitlan, Mexico, set it on fire. Nearly 100,000 native Amerindians died in the siege and some 100,000 more died afterwards of smallpox. On return to Spain he was rewarded for his crimes against humanity, and accompanied King Charles V for the attack on Algiers that was routed by the famous Turkish Muslim admiral, Khayr od-Din Pasha (Barbarossa or Red Beard to the Europeans).
451 solar years ago, on this day in 1569 AD, the 4th Moghul Emperor of the Northern Subcontinent and Eastern Afghanistan, Noor od-Din "Jahangir” (World Grasper), was born in Fatehpur Sikri near Agra, to Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar and one of his Rajput wives.
225 solar years ago, on this day in 1795 AD, the British navy after landing on Ceylon or what is now Sri Lanka on August 26 captured all of Dutch-controlled Trincomalee by taking control of the last stronghold, Fort Ostenburghrom, in order to keep the island out of French hands. The British would go on to capture Dutch settlements in India as well, and would grant Sri Lanka independence in 1948.
199 solar years ago, on this day in 1821 AD, German physician and physicist, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, was born. He made significant contributions to several areas of modern science.
63 solar years ago, on this day in 1957 AD, Malaysia became independent from British rule.
58 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, the island state of Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean Sea gained independence from Britain, which had seized it from Spain and made it part of the West Indies Federation. The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago covers an area of almost 5128 sq km.
58 solar years ago, on this day in 1962, a massive 7.1 degree earthquake in Iran devastated the district of Boen Zahra, near Qazvin, resulting in 12,225 fatalities.
55 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, Iran established the committee for peaceful use of atomic energy, 9 years after the Majlis had passed a bill for setting up an atomic energy centre at Tehran University that started its activities in 1966 under supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), following purchase of a 5-megawat research reactor.
42 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, the Iranian religious scholar and leader of Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslims, Imam Seyyed Musa Sadr, went missing during his visit to Libya. Born in 1928 in the holy city of Qom, where he studied at the Islamic seminary, he later graduated from Tehran University. He was invited to Lebanon following the passing away of the famous scholar Allamah Seyyed Sharaf od-Din Musawi. At the time, the Lebanese Muslims were living under the worst social, political, and economic conditions. Hence, Imam Musa Sadr took a number of important measures to improve their status, and set up the Supreme Shi’ite Council. He backed the Palestinians’ struggles against the illegal Zionist entity, Israel. He fell victim to the sedition of Libyan dictator, Mo’ammar Qadhafi, who after officially inviting him to Tripoli, imprisoned and tortured him.
29 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union.
29 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Central Asian Muslim country of Kyrgyzstan became independent from the Soviet Union.
15 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, over two thousand pilgrims lost their life during a general stampede on hearing rumours of bomb blasts on the Jasr al-Aimmah Bridge over the River Tigris connecting the Baghdad suburbs of Kazemain and Azamiyya, on 25 Rajab the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
9 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, 14-year old Ali Jawad ash-Sheikh was brutally martyred on Bahrain’s Sitra Island by forces of the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime of the Persian Gulf Island state, during a peaceful protest rally. The boy who died in the hospital had injuries under his chin and bruises on his face, hand, knees and pelvic area.