Some Important Events

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz

Emir Saif od-Dowla, the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo
On February 9, 967 AD, Emir Saif od-Dowla, the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo and most of Syria, passed away. Named Ali, he was the son of Abu'l-Hayja Abdullah bin Hamdan, and was a staunch follower of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt. He was the younger brother of Nasser od-Dowla the Emir of Mosul.
He distinguished himself in battles against the Byzantines and could be called the Warden of the Marches of the Islamic frontier of those days by checking the bid by the Christians to plunder Syria. Saif od-Dowla was a man of letters and surrounded himself with prominent intellectual figures, notably the great Arabic poets, al-Mutanabbi and Abu Firas Hamdani, as well as the noted Iranian Islamic philosopher Abu Nasr Farabi. Saif od-Dowla himself was a poet; his delicate short poem on the rainbow shows high artistic ability.

Fakhr ol-Molk, the able prime minister of the Buwaihid dynasty of Iran and Iraq
On 28th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal in 407 AH, the able prime minister of the Buwaihid dynasty of Iran and Iraq, Abu Ghalib Mohammad ibn Ali Waseti, titled Fakhr ol-Molk, was martyred in Ahwaz. He was the Minister of Emir Baha od-Dowla Daylami, and was a very virtuous and pious person, known for his charity.
He started the practice of distributing among the needy people the 'Halva' or a sweet dish on the auspicious eve of 15th Sha'ban which also marks the birth anniversary of the Lord of the Age, Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) 12th and Last Infallible Successor, Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice). Fakhr ol-Molk built the walls around the holy shrine of Imam Hussain (AS) in Karbala, and after Ibn-e Abi Amid and Saheb bin Abbad was the third most prominent vizier of the Bouyid or Daylamite dynasty of Iran and Iraq that ruled for over a hundred years.

The Mamluks of Egypt defeated the Ottomans
On February 9, 1486, the Mamluks of Egypt defeated the Ottoman general, Qaragoz Mohammad, near Adana in Cilicia in what is now south central Turkey, following an invasion of Anatolia by Sultan Bayezid II, who started the 6-year war with the Egyptians. A stronger force dispatched from Istanbul was again defeated by the Mamluks in March and Cilicia returned to Egyptian control.
The relationship between the Ottomans and the Mamluks was adversarial as both states vied for control of the spice trade and domination of Syria. The two empires were, however, separated by a buffer zone occupied by Turkmen states such as Qaramanids, Aq Qoyunlu, Ramadhanids and Zulqadarids, which regularly switched their allegiance from one power to the other. The war ended in 1491 with the boundaries remaining unchanged. Some 26 years later, the Ottomans overran Syria and Egypt and ended the fellow Turkic Mamluk Empire.

The great scholar Seyyed Ali Tabatabaie
On 28th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal in 1160 AH, the great scholar Seyyed Ali Tabatabaie was born in holy Kazemain in Iraq. He wrote several books including commentaries on the "Mafatih" of Faiz Kashani, and the "Mukhtasir an-Nafe'" of Muhaqqiq Awwal. His famous work was "Riyadh al-Masa'el", and for this reason, he is also known as Saheb-e Riyadh.

The Iranian scholar Taj od-Din Mohammad bin Abdur-Rahman Khorasani
On 29th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal in 584 AH, the Iranian scholar Taj od-Din Mohammad bin Abdur-Rahman Khorasani, passed away in Damascus. He was an authority on Hadith and Arabic lexicography. Among his works is a commentary on the famous literary masterpiece "Maqamat Hariri".

The Spanish Muslim scientist, Mohammad Mohiuddin Maghrebi
On 29th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal in 682 AH, the Spanish Muslim scientist, Mohammad Mohiuddin Maghrebi, passed away. He learned jurisprudence in Andalusia or Islamic Spain, and mastered astronomy and mathematics as well. He travelled widely and spent some years at the Maragheh Observatory in northwestern Iran under the supervision of the famous Iranian Islamic genius, Khwajah Naseer od-Din Tousi. "Shakl al-Qate" and "Tahrir Usool Oqlidas fi’l-Ashkaal al-Hindesa" can be mentioned as his prominent works.

Sultan Mohammad Khodabanda, the Fourth Shah of the Safavid Empire
On 30th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal in 1578 AD, Sultan Mohammad Khodabanda was proclaimed the 4th Shah of the Safavid Empire at Qazvin, on the sudden death of his malicious younger brother, Ismail II, who a year earlier had seized the throne following the long 52-year reign of their father, Shah Tahmasp I, and was planning to execute him. Of weak eyesight as well as weak-willed, the mild-mannered Khodabanda ruled for 9 years, mostly with the help of his wife, Khayr on-Nisa Begum, until replaced by his teenaged energetic son, Shah Abbas the Great. Sultan Khodabanda's reign was marked by court intrigues by factionalism amongst the powerful Qizilbash tribes that allowed foreign encroachments on Iranian territories, by the Ottomans in the northwest and Caucasus, and by the Uzbegs in Khorasan. He was a poet as well and wrote under the penname "Fahmi". He died in Qazvin in 1596, 9 years after being deposed.

Formation of the Islamic Revolutionary committees
On February 11, 1979 AD, a day after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the provisional government appointed by Imam Khomeini (RA), started its formal activities, while the people, faced by pockets of resistance from remnants of the ousted Pahlavi regime overpowered them to take over key governmental installations. To ensure order in society, the Late Imam issued orders for formation of the Islamic Revolutionary committees which ensured peace in the various localities through timely action against anti-revolutionary and foreign-funded mischievous elements.

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s US-supported tyrannical president toppled by the popular uprising
On February 11, 2011, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s US-supported tyrannical president, was toppled by the popular uprising in the country. He had taken over the presidency in October on the revolutionary execution of President Anwar Sadaat by Khalid Islamboli during a march past the treasonous signing of the scandalous Camp David Accord with the illegal Zionist entity.
Mubarak was a client of the usurper state of Israel and an enemy of the Muslim people of Egypt and other countries including the Islamic Republic of Iran. For 30 years he ruled Egypt by clamping a state of emergency, brutally suppressed people, denying participation to Islamic groups in the state-managed elections. He also ruined Egypt’s economy, before finally falling victim to the wave of Islamic Awakening sweeping North Africa that had erupted in Tunisia. Egyptian people made history by assembling in millions in Cairo’s Tahrir Square where the revolutionaries stayed day and night for 18 days despite the threats and attacks of the regime’s forces. On this day, Mubarak yielded to popular demands and ceded power to a council of generals, who a few months later were forced to try him and his corrupt sons in a bid to calm down the Egyptian nation.