2025: January 27 (27 Rajab 1446 AH - Isra' and Mi'raj)

January 27

Events

  • 661 - The Rashidun Caliphate was effectively ended with the assassination of 'Ali, the last Rashidun Caliph.

'Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashidun caliph and the first Shi'a Imam was assassinated by a Kharijite named Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Amr ibn Muljam al-Muradi on January 27, 661, at the Great Mosque of Kufah in present-day Iraq.  'Ali, who was then 62 or 63 years of age, died due to his injuries two days after Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Amr ibn Muljam al-Muradi struck 'Ali on his head with a poison-coated sword, on the 21 (or 19) Ramadan 40 AH (January 29 or January 27, 661 CC). He was the third successive caliph, after Umar and Uthman, to be assassinated.


'Ali became the caliph after the assassination of Uthman in 656. However, he faced opposition from some factions including the Levant governor, Muawiyah I.  A civil war, called the First Fitna, took place within the early Islamic state which resulted in the overthrow of the Rashidun caliphs and the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty. It began when the caliph Uthman ibn Affan was assassinated in 656 and continued through the four-year reign of 'Ali. After 'Ali agreed to arbitration with Muawiyah I following the Battle of Siffin (657), a revolt happened against him by some members of his army, later known as Kharijites ("those who leave"). They killed some of 'Ali's supporters, but they were crushed by 'Ali's forces at the Battle of Nahrawan in July 658.


Ibn Muljam met up with two other Kharijites namely al-Burak ibn Abd Allah and Amr ibn Bakr al-Tamimi at Mecca and concluded that the situation of the Muslims at the time was due to the errors of 'Ali, Muawiyah and Amr ibn As, governor of Egypt. They decided to kill the three in order to resolve the "deplorable situation" of their time and also avenge their companions killed at Nahrawan. Aiming to kill 'Ali, Ibn Muljam headed toward Kufa where he fell in love with a woman whose brother and father had died at Nahrawan. She agreed to marry him if only he would kill 'Ali. Consequently, 'Ali was stabbed by Ibn Muljam at the Great Mosque of Kufa. After Ali's death, Ibn Muljam was executed in retaliation by Hasan ibn 'Ali. 


  • 1695 - Mustafa II became the Ottoman sultan and Caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa ruled until his abdication in 1703. 
  • 1927 - Ibn Saud took the title of King of Nejd. 
  • 1980 - Through cooperation between the United States and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escaped hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper.
  • 1996 - In a military coup, Colonel Ibrahim Bare Mainassara deposed the first democratically elected president of Niger Mahamane Ousmane.  
  • 2002 - An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, killed at least 1,100 people and displaced over 20,000 others.
  • 2011 - Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution began as over 16,000 protestors demonstrated in Sana'a. 
  • 2014 - Rojava conflict:  The Kobani Canton declared its autonomy from the Syrian Arab Republic.
  • 2023 - A shooting by a Palestinian at a synagogue in Neve Yaakov, East Jerusalem, killed seven people and injured three others. 


Births

  • 1571 - Abbas I of Persia (d. 1629)
  • 1929 - Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian Swiss businessman
  • 1940 - Ahmet Kurtcebe Alptemocin, Turkish engineer and politician, 35th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1964 - Shahin Shahablou, Iranian photographer (d. 2020)
  • 1965 - Attila Sekerlioglu, Turkish Austrian footballer and manager


Deaths

  • 1988 - Massa Makan Diabate, Malian historian, author, and playwright (b. 1938)
  • 2008 - Suharto, Indonesian general and politician, 2nd President of Indonesia (b. 1921)

Suharto (b. June 8, 1921 – d. January 27, 2008) was an Indonesian politician, and military general, who served as the second president of Indonesia, holding the office for 31 years, from the ousting of Sukarno in 1967 until his resignation in 1998.  He was widely regarded by foreign observers as a dictator. However, the legacy of his 31-year rule, and his 38-billion-dollar net worth is still debated at home and abroad.


Suharto was born in a small village, Kemusuk, in the Godean area near the city of Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial era. He grew up in humble circumstances. His Javanese Muslim  parents divorced not long after his birth, and he lived with foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in Japanese-organized Indonesian security forces. Indonesia's independence struggle saw his joining the newly formed Indonesian Army.  Suharto rose to the rank of major general following Indonesian independence.


An attempted coup on September 30 and October 1, 1965, was "countered" by Suharto-led troops. According to the official history made by the army, this attempt was backed by the Communist Party of Indonesia. The army subsequently led an anti-communist purge and Suharto wrested power from Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno.   He was appointed acting president in 1967 and elected president the following year. He then mounted a social campaign known as "de-Sukarnoization" to reduce the former president's influence. Support for Suharto's presidency was active throughout the 1970s and 1980s. By the 1990s, the New Order's authoritarianism and widespread corruption were a source of discontent and, following the 1997 Asian financial crisis which led to widespread unrest, Suharto resigned in May 1998. Suharto died in 2008 and was given a state funeral.


Under Suharto's "New Order" administration, Suharto constructed a strong, centralized and military-dominated government. An ability to maintain stability over a sprawling and diverse Indonesia and an avowedly anti-Communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of the West during the Cold War. For most of his presidency, Indonesia experienced significant industrialization, economic growth, and improved levels of educational attainment.


  • 2020 - Lina Ben Mhenni, Tunisian Internet activist and blogger (b. 1983)


Holidays and Observances 

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27 Rajab

Events

  • 27 Rajab 583 AH, Conquest of Jerusalem by the Ayyubids 

Births

Deaths

Holidays and Observances

  • 27 Rajab, event of Isra' and Mi'raj. 

The Israʾ and Miʿraj (Arabic: al-’Isrā’ wal-Miʿrāj) are the two parts of a Night Journey that Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad (570 CC – 632 CC) took during a single night around the year 621 CC (1 BH – 0 BH). Within Islam, the majority of Islamic scholars claim that the journey was both a physical and spiritual one. Islamic tradition believes a brief mention of the story is found in the 17th Sura (chapter) of the Qu'ran, called al-Isra', while details of the story are found in the hadith (the later collections of the reports, teachings, deeds and sayings of Muhammad).


In the Israʾ ("Night Journey"), Muhammad is said to have traveled on the back of Buraq (a winged horse-like bird) to Al-Aqsa (i.e. the Noble Sanctuary), where he led other prophets including Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), and Isa (Jesus) in prayer. 


Muhammad then ascended into heaven during the Miʿraj (Ascension), where he individually greeted the prophets, and later spoke to God, who agreed to lower the number of required salat (ritual prayer) from 50 a day to only five. The story of the journey and ascent are marked as one of the most celebrated in the Islamic calendar -- the 27th of the Islamic month of Rajab. 


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