This Day in History

Date: 26 October 2020 - 21:42

News ID: ۸۴۱۸۹

(October 27)
Today is Tuesday; 6th of the Iranian month of Aban 1399 solar hijri; corresponding to 10th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1442 lunar hijri; and October 27, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1487 lunar years ago, on this day, 45 years before Hijra, Abdul-Mutalleb, the paternal grandfather of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), passed away in Mecca, when the grandson was only 8 years old. He was leader of the Quraysh tribe descended from Prophet Ishmael, and was known for his eloquence and virtues as a firm monotheist following the creed of his ancestor, Prophet Abraham (AS). He was in charge of the custodianship of the Holy Ka’ba which he had received through his father, Hashem, and his illustrious forbears. He was the guardian of his grandson, the future Prophet, following the death of the latter’s parents, Abdullah and Amena bint Wahb (SA). Eight years before Abdul-Mutalleb’s death, the Ethiopian Christian governor of Yemen, Abraha, had marched on Mecca riding an elephant with the intention of destroying the holy Ka’ba. Abraha’s army seized Abdul-Mutalleb’s herd of camels on assumption that this will make him plead for the safety of the Ka’ba. Abdul-Mutalleb, however, only asked for the release of his camel herd, and when Abraha asked him why he does not plead for the Ka’ba, he replied: I am the owner of these camels, and the Ka’ba has its own owner (God); He will take care of its safety. Soon Abraha, his elephant and his army were miraculously attacked by a flock of birds pelting them with pebbles, which routed the formidable forces and reduced them to chewed straw as the holy Qur’an records in "Surah al-Feel”. The Prophet was born in the same year of this divine miracle. On his grandfather’s death, his guardianship was taken over by his loving uncle, Abu Taleb, the consanguineous brother of his father Abdullah.
1470 lunar years ago, on this day, 28 years before Hijra, the marriage of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and Hazrat Khadija (SA) took place in Mecca. Known as "Maleekat al-Arab” (Queen of Arabia), because of her proverbial wealth that she had accumulated through trade caravans, Khadija (SA) was a pure, monotheistic and chaste lady (Tahera). Impressed by the honesty and truthfulness of her trade manager, her distant relative the future Prophet, who did not possess any material wealth, she proposed marriage to him. The two made an excellent husband-and-wife pair. Fifteen years later, when God formally ordained Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) as the Last and Greatest Messenger to mankind, she immediately believed in the mission of her husband and thereafter spent all her wealth for feeding and sheltering the persecuted Muslim community of Mecca, to the extent that when she passed away, nothing was left of her wealth or any inheritance for her only surviving daughter, the noblest lady of all time, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA). For over 25 long years, as the "Omm al-Momineen” (Mother of Believers), Hazrat Khadija (SA) was the one and only wife of the Prophet, and as long as she lived he never took another spouse. Even in the last ten years of his life in Medina when out of social necessity and to break the absurd customs of the days of ignorance, the middle aged Prophet had to marry several wives, he always used to cherish the memory of Khadija (SA), his firm support and the mother of his progeny, the Ahl al-Bayt.
1310 solar years ago, on this day in 710 AD, the first Arab invasion of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea took place, and the conquest was completed in 720, making it part of the world of Islam. Muslim rule lasted three centuries until 1016.
1263 lunar years ago, on this day in 179 AH, the jurisprudent Malek bin Anas passed away in his hometown Medina at the age of 84. For some time, along with his Iranian contemporary Abu Hanifa, he studied under Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), the 6th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He describes Imam Sadeq (AS) as the doyen of knowledge and wisdom, whom none could equal. He later founded the Maleki School of jurisprudence, regarded as one of the four official Sunni schools. His collection of hadith is titled "al-Muwatta”, although many narrations are of doubtful chains.
1113 lunar years ago, on this day in 329 AH, Raazi-Billah, the 20th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, died. A cultured person, well versed in literature and poetry, he returned the vast orchard of Fadak to the Prophet’s descendants.
977 lunar years ago, on this day in 465 AH, Alp Arsalan the second and most powerful ruler of the Iran-based Seljuq empire that encompassed Iraq, Afghanistan, parts of Turkey, Syria, Caucasus and Central Asia, died at the age of 44 after a 9-year reign, during which at the Battle of Manzikert he decisively defeated and captured Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes of Byzantine. His real name was Mohammad bin Dawoud Chaghri and his title Alp Arsalan means Brave Lion in Turkish. He was assisted in running his administration by the able Iranian vizier, Nizam ol-Molk Tusi.
689 solar years ago, on this day in 1331 AD, the historian, geographer, and statesman, Abu’l-Fida Isma’il Ibn Ali al-Hamawi, died at the age of 58.
571 solar years ago, on this day in 1449 AD, the prominent astronomer-king of the Timurid dynasty, Mirza Mohammad Taraghay Ulugh Beg, was killed by his rebellious son, Abdul-Latif "Pidarkush” (Persian for Killer of Father), while on his way to Mecca for pilgrimage after being deposed, after a reign of two years as king, and 38 years as absolute governor of Transoxiana (today’s Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and southern Kazakhstan). The crater "Ulugh Beg”, on the Moon, is named after him.
467 solar years ago, on this day in 1553 AD, Spanish physician, Michael Servetus, was burned at the stake in Geneva by the Christian Church at the age of 42 for studying the holy Qur’an, raising objections to the belief in Trinity and borrowing from Latin translations of the works of Islamic scientists to determine the correct circulation of blood in the human body.
415 solar years ago, on this day in 1605 AD, Mohammad Jalal od-Din Akbar, the 3rd Moghal Emperor of the Northern Subcontinent, died at the age of 63 after a 50-year reign.
115 solar years ago, on this day in 1905 AD, Norway seceded from Sweden to become independent.
110 solar years ago, on this day in 1910 AD, the Korean Peninsula was occupied by Japan after the defeat of Russia and China in successive wars.
62 solar years ago, on this day in 1958 AD, Pakistan’s president, Iskander Mirza, was deposed in a bloodless coup by General Ayub Khan, whom Mirza had appointed martial law enforcer 20 days earlier. Iskander Mirza belonged to the princely family of Iranian origin of Murshidabad in Bengal. He died in London and was buried in Iran in the mausoleum of Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hassani (AS) in Rayy, south of Tehran.
39 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), rejected outright the proposal of the then Saudi Heir Apparent, Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz, to try to legitimize the illegal existence of the Zionist entity under guise of a so-called peace plan. Imam Khomeini’s timely and decisive stand that was hailed by Muslims worldwide made many Muslim countries reject the Fahd Plan. The Imam’s foresight was proved true years later when the Zionist entity continued to violate the agreements it had reached with the compromising faction of the Palestinians who despite giving more and more concessions to Israel remain isolated and deprived of their basic birthrights.
29 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD Turkmenistan’s independence from the Soviet Union was ratified.
15 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, Iran launched its Sina-1 satellite from the Plesetsk launch pad in northern Russia, a major step in the country’s space programme. Sina-1 gave Iran space reconnaissance capability over the entire Middle East. Soon Iran built its own satellite launching pads and has since taken giant steps in space technology.