Today is Tuesday; 5th of the Islamic month of Moharam 1434 lunar hijri; and November 20, 2012, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
Some 3,500 lunar years ago, on this day, by the command of God Almighty waters parted for Prophet Moses (PBUH) to cross into Sinai safely from Egypt along with the Israelites who had been enslaved by the Pharaoh. When the Pharaoh tried to pursue Moses, the waters merged and drowned him and his forces. Islam considers Moses one of the five great prophets – the others being Noah, Abraham, Jesus, and the last and greatest of them all, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
262 solar years ago, on this day in 1750, the Muslim king of Mysore, Fath Ali Khan, known popularly as Tipu Sultan, was born in Devanahil, near the city of Bangalore in southern India. He was the son of Hyder Ali Khan the founder of the Muslim kingdom of Mysore. Tipu Sultan, like his father, was a staunch opponent of the British presence in India, and had tried to form alliances in vain with local rulers for driving them out. He also appealed for help from the rulers of Iran, Afghanistan, the Ottoman Empire and even France, to break the British hegemony. He was in personal contact with Napoleon Bonaparte, and following the latter's conquest of Egypt, the British fearing that he may sail to India, attacked Mysore without any provocation in violation of the peace treaties they had signed. The result was the 4th Anglo-Mysore War in which during the Battle of Seringapatnam, Tipu Sultan was martyred while defending his capital on 4th May 1799 at the age of 49. He was an enlightened ruler and patronized Arabic and Persian literature. He also experimented with the manufacture of artillery rockets, which greatly alarmed the British. Among the reliable history books of the Muslim Dynasty of Mysore is the “Nishan-e Hyderi” in Persian, written by a migrant Iranian scholar to his court, Mir Hussain Ali Khan Kirmani.
124 lunar years ago, on this day in 1310 AH, the prominent Iranian scholar Mullah Ahmad Fazel-e Naraqi, passed away. He was born in Azarbaijan Province, northwestern Iran, and studied at the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq under such great scholar as Sheikh Morteza Ansari. Following his return to Iran, he groomed a large number of students. He has left behind numerous books on various topics including an exegesis of the holy Qur’an.
92 solar years ago, on this day in 1920 AD, the uprising of Iraq's long-oppressed Shi'ite Muslim majority was crushed, and this time by the new colonial rulers, the British, who had replaced the Ottoman Turks in this Land of Two Rivers, following the end of World War I. The Iraqi people’s uprising started on June 30, 1920, under the leadership of senior ulema, such as Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi and Sheikh Kashef al-Gheta, for establishment of an independent ruling system, based on Islamic rules and regulations. The British martyred Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi by poisoning his food and exiled Kashef al-Gheta, before massacring a large number of Iraqi people and installing their agent, Faisal bin Hussain of Mecca, as king in Baghdad.
28 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, the famous Urdu poet of the subcontinent, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, passed away in Lahore, Pakistan, at the age of 73. He was born in Karachi in undivided India and was named Faiz Ahmad Farooq. He was also politically active both before and after the founding of Pakistan. He opposed the dictatorial rule of General Zia ul-Haq and was imprisoned and exiled for his views, which he expressed through poetry and novels. Among his important works are "Naqsh-e Faryadi", "Dast-e Saba", and "Zindan-Namah".
