*The Hijri Calendar in Islamic Thought: Time, Hijrah and the Journey of Divine Guidance*

By Dr. Sabiu Adamu FPCPharm 

Tuesday, 1st Muharram, 1448

The Hijri calendar is not merely a system of dates. In Islamic thought, especially within the school of Ahlul Bayt (as), it is a reminder that history is not measured by kings, wealth or military victories, but by faith, sacrifice and obedience to Allah.

The Islamic year begins with an event that changed the course of humanity: the Hijrah of Prophet Muhammad (S) from Makkah to Madinah in 622 CE.

For Muslims, the Hijrah was more than relocation. It marked the beginning of a society guided by revelation and prepared the ground for the continuation of divine leadership after Prophet Muhammad (S).

*The Historical Beginning of the Hijri Calendar*

Before Islam, Arabs already followed a lunar system. However, they sometimes manipulated the calendar through a practice known as Nasi’, shifting sacred months to suit political or economic interests. The Qur’an condemned this alteration because sacred time belongs to Allah alone.

Years after the migration, during the period of the expanding Muslim state, the need arose for a unified system to record dates for administration and correspondence. According to in historical tradition, consultation took place regarding what event should become the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

Different possibilities were considered. It was Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) who proposed that the calendar should begin from the Hijrah of Prophet Muhammad (S). This proposal carried profound meaning.

The Hijrah represented the moment Islam moved from persecution to establishment. It marked the transition from hidden struggle to organised worship, justice and social order under divine guidance. The suggestion was accepted, and the Muslim calendar began from that turning point. Muharram was retained as the opening month of the year due to its recognised position among the sacred months. Thus began the Hijri era. Unlike solar calendars, the Hijri calendar remains fully lunar, consisting of twelve months and following the cycle of the moon as ordained by Allah.

*The Twelve Months Through the Lens of Spiritual Memory*

Each month carries lessons and memories for believers.

Muharram

The opening of the year and one of the sacred months. In Shia tradition, Muharram occupies a unique place because of the sacrifice of Imam Husayn (as), his family and companions in Karbala. The month teaches dignity, resistance against oppression and loyalty to truth.

Safar

A month remembered for continuation of the suffering of the household of Prophet Muhammad (S) after Karbala and their journey through hardship.

Rabi’ al-Awwal

Associated with the birth of Prophet Muhammad (S), the mercy sent to humanity.

Rabi’ al-Thani

A continuation of reflection upon the mission and teachings of Islam.

Jumada al-Ula

A month remembered in many communities for historical events connected to Lady Fatimah al-Zahra (as).

Jumada al-Akhirah

A period associated with remembrance of sacrifice, patience and devotion within Ahlul Bayt (as).

Rajab

One of the sacred months and a month of immense spiritual importance. It includes the birth anniversaries of several Imams (as) like Imam Ali (as), and is associated with preparation for deeper worship.

Sha’ban

The month connected to abundant devotion and anticipation of mercy. It includes the birth anniversary of Imam al-Mahdi (aj), the awaited Imam.

Ramadan

The month of fasting and revelation of the Qur’an. It is also the month in which Imam Ali (as) was struck and later attained martyrdom.

Shawwal

A month of gratitude and renewal after Ramadan.

Dhul Qa’dah

One of the sacred months and historically a period of restraint and peace.

Dhul Hijjah

The month of Hajj, sacrifice and profound historical events. For Muslims, it includes occasions such as Eid al-Ghadir, commemorating the declaration of leadership after Prophet Muhammad (S).

*Why the Hijri Calendar Matters*

1. It Connects Worship with Divine Order

Acts of worship in Islam are inseparable from sacred time. Fasting, Hajj, Eid celebrations, Zakat and remembrance all follow the lunar calendar established by Allah. Time itself becomes an act of obedience.

2. It Preserves the Legacy of Ahlul Bayt (as)

The Hijri calendar does not merely count months. It preserves memory. Muharram recalls Karbala. Ramadan recalls Imam Ali (as). Dhul Hijjah recalls Ghadir. Sha’ban recalls hope in Imam al-Mahdi (aj). Every year becomes a journey through the history of faith and divine guidance.

3. It Teaches That Sacrifice Builds Civilisation

The Hijrah teaches sacrifice. Karbala teaches sacrifice. Together they form two foundations of Islamic consciousness. One established the community. The other preserved its moral soul. The calendar therefore reminds believers that truth often demands patience, courage and steadfastness.

4. It Gives Muslims a Spiritual Understanding of Time

Modern life measures time by productivity and achievement. Islam measures time by closeness to Allah.

*The moon disappears and returns*

Months pass and return. Generations come and go. But divine truth remains. Allah says:

“They ask you concerning the new moons. Say: they are measurements of time for people and for Hajj.”

(Qur’an 2:189)

*The Hijri Calendar Today*

Today Muslims may use the Gregorian calendar for public life and administration, but the Hijri calendar remains the spiritual heartbeat of the Muslim community. For followers of Ahlul Bayt (as), it is more than a calendar. It is a map of remembrance. It allows believers each year to relive Hijrah, honour Karbala, celebrate Ghadir, await justice and renew commitment to Allah.

*Final Reflection*

The Hijri calendar began with movement. Not movement of armies, but movement of faith. Prophet Muhammad (S) left Makkah for Allah. Imam Husayn (as) gave everything for Allah. The Ahlul Bayt (as) carried that trust through history. Every new Hijri year quietly asks the same question: Where is our own Hijrah? What must we leave behind to move closer to Allah?

Iran is forcing America to deal with the real balance of power on the ground

 By Batool Subeiti

LONDON - A new equation was imposed by Iran when it struck the Israeli occupation entity in response to its attack on Dahiye in Beirut. If there is aggression against Iran or its allies, then Iran will respond immediately and in proportion.

The Israeli occupation entity is emboldened in its attacks on southern Lebanon, as no final agreement is in place between Iran and America. Otherwise, such a deal to hold will require the Americans to restrain the Israelis from attacking. This would take a long time to reach, and the memorandum of understanding has not yet been signed due to the need for an in-depth review of all the complex files.

The American and Israeli occupation entity's delay made this period take a long time, allowing them to gain during the truce what they had not achieved during the war. Under a hybrid ceasefire arrangement, military operations proceed without comprehensive escalation, and the Israeli occupation entity achieved its objectives of striking southern Lebanon as it pleases. Iran stepped in and put a limit on Israeli transgression in this transitional phase. The entity advanced in the South, whilst the resistance continued to fight it and imposed high costs on the occupation.

The Israeli occupation entity tried to escalate gradually, to test the Iranian reaction to the gradual breach of the agreement. It wanted to extend its violations to the southern suburb of Beirut, and for war to break out comprehensively in Lebanon. This is based on the fact that the memorandum of understanding has not been signed.

Iran put an end to all that and established a new equation, whereby the Israeli occupation entity cannot carry out comprehensive escalation on one of the allies' fronts, while escalation remains limited on the main front. However, when matters reached a dangerous stage, by testing the transgression against Dahiye, it became necessary to put a stop to it. 

The new equation has been established, and this result is an additional victory for Iran. It has become certain, and the world has begun to acknowledge, that America cannot stop Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz. Neither can they fragment the resistance fronts, nor be allowed to negotiate over Iran's defensive capabilities, including its hypersonic missiles and their ranges. They certainly cannot transgress Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy. 

The world is beginning to accept what it had previously rejected, and even America has begun to realize that it cannot bypass this matter. After three and a half months of confrontation, it was unable to achieve its goals, and time is in favor of establishing this new equation. The world needs the Strait of Hormuz, and countries need energy exports. For this reason, America must deal with the new situation as it is.

The equation of the actual balance of power on the ground is what governs, not the equations they try to impose through statements that are not based on real capability. The American talk is simply a mirage, and it is Iran that imposes the realities on the ground, through the real balance of power that it possesses.

However, America imposes realities based on an illusion that lacks real means of implementation. This includes America imposing a comprehensive naval blockade on Iran, which cannot be comprehensive or sustainable. Or America imposing a security route for ships at the expense of Iran's national security. 

At the level of reality and action, Iran possesses the ability to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz and to ensure a safe passage of ships through it. This is sought by undertaking consensual arrangements in a way that preserves its national security.

Tags

• Iran
• U.S.
• military power
• new order

Iran ranks among world’s top 14 countries in AI knowledge creation: Official

Iran has secured a place among the world's top 12 to 14 countries in artificial intelligence knowledge creation.

Iran has secured a place among the world's top 12 to 14 countries in artificial intelligence knowledge creation, according to the Vice President for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy.

"Iran's scientific rank in AI knowledge creation places the country among the world's top 12 to 14 nations," Hossein Afshin said during a press conference on Monday.

Afshin noted that insufficient computing infrastructure had long been one of the main obstacles to converting scientific capabilities into technological products and services. 

Afshin explained that recent government investments have significantly strengthened the country’s AI infrastructure and helped address this challenge.

"A major investment was made to expand the country's processing capacity, creating the foundation for stronger AI infrastructure," he stated.

According to the vice president, the development of national AI platforms and enhanced computing resources has improved Iran's position in AI application indicators while enabling dozens of technology firms to expand their activities in the field.

Afshin added that Iran's scientific standing in AI reflects years of research achievements that are now being translated into practical applications.

He also identified microelectronics as a strategic priority, emphasizing its role as a critical enabler of technologies ranging from artificial intelligence and smart systems to the automotive and home appliance industries.

"Advanced technologies today are heavily dependent on microelectronics, making their development a strategic necessity," Afshin said.

Afshin stressed that in strategic and emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, microelectronics, and cybersecurity, the government plays a guiding role by creating markets and providing targeted support for innovation.

"This policy aims to create sustainable markets for strategic technologies and to bridge the gap between the country's needs and the technological capabilities of knowledge-based companies," he noted.

The remarks come as recent data from the Islamic World Science Citation and Monitoring Institute (ISC) show that Iran has become the leading producer of scientific research in microelectronics among Islamic countries. 

The country ranks first among 57 member states in most major microelectronics disciplines and has also advanced into the upper tier of global scientific producers in the field, underscoring Tehran's broader ambitions to strengthen its position in cutting-edge technologies.

From battlefield superiority to strategic leverage: Iran’s new post-war doctrine takes shape

By Press TV Strategic Analysis Desk

The memorandum of understanding (MoU), intended to end the latest phase of the US-Israeli war of aggression, is essentially the political codification of a battlefield reality.

What has unfolded over recent weeks is not merely a ceasefire process or a temporary de-escalation arrangement. Rather, it marks the transition from direct military confrontation into a highly complex political struggle – one that may at any moment revert to open warfare, particularly with the unhinged and bloodthirsty Zionist regime.

The point here is that the absence of war does not necessarily mean peace. In this context, the end of military war signifies the beginning of a political war, which can once again intersect with military fire, especially given that the adversary is the Zionist regime.

For Iran and the broader resistance axis, the enemy has failed to achieve any of its declared military or political objectives in this war, despite unprecedented military aggression, high-profile assassinations, and systematic bombardments of civilian and critical infrastructure.

It is this military failure – not diplomatic goodwill – that forms the bedrock of the current understanding, which is in an ideal situation expected to evolve into a long-term agreement.

This distinction matters significantly. Tehran does not perceive the current moment as the end of the imposed war. It views it as the opening stage of a new phase within the same war, a phase in which diplomacy itself becomes another battlefield.

Post-war period and new doctrine

The first and most fundamental point to consider is that Iran rejects the simplistic and deceptive binary of war versus peace. Although the understanding to end the imposed war stands as a document of Iran's authority, achieved after the enemy failed on the battlefield to reach its objectives, it is, in reality, only the beginning of a path of political war.

This is no exercise in semantic hair-splitting but a strategic reality. A defeated enemy does not transform into a cooperative partner; it becomes a resentful time bomb. And a resentful enemy, particularly one with the Zionist regime's proven appetite for preemptive strikes, will exploit any intermission to rearm, recalculate, and eventually violate the terms of calm.

The first and perhaps most significant political consequence of the war is therefore the consolidation of this resistance framework. The notion that pressure on one front can be isolated from the others has collapsed entirely. Any future confrontation with one component of the axis now carries the risk of activating multiple arenas simultaneously.

This is precisely why southern Lebanon occupies such strategic significance in the current negotiations. The continuation of any act of aggression or occupation, specifically in southern Lebanon, is neither a gray zone nor a technical delay. It is a clear violation of the understanding to end the war. In any war, immediately after hostilities cease, the occupying side is expected to evacuate occupied territories without delay.

The enemy must choose: either withdraw fully and immediately, thereby admitting that its presence was always illegitimate, or remain, in which case Iran will declare the ceasefire void. There is no third option.

 

✍️ Analysis - How Iran turned battlefield gains and regional power into strategic postwar leverage against US

By Press TV Strategic Analysis Deskhttps://t.co/6OAI0n8FS8 pic.twitter.com/Wo53HsrrN4

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) June 14, 2026

Tehran’s position is that military escalation and diplomacy can no longer be separated into parallel tracks. A strike on Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, or Iranian interests elsewhere would not be treated as an isolated security event. It would be viewed as a deliberate disruption of the negotiation process and therefore demand a proportional response.

On the surface, proportionality sounds measured and restrained. But within Iranian strategic doctrine, it means painful enough to restore deterrence. A single Israeli overflight could be answered with a missile salvo. A limited ground incursion could invite a multi-front response from Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. In this reading, proportionality becomes an escalatory ladder whose first rung is already set perilously high.

The coming days, particularly until the anticipated formal signing of the understanding on Friday in Geneva, are therefore being treated in Tehran as a critical verification phase. It is testing whether Washington and Tel Aviv are genuinely prepared to fulfill the obligations associated with ending the illegal and unjust war across all fronts, including Lebanon.

The architecture of zero trust

This emphasis on “verification” reveals one of the deepest and logical structural realities that have shaped Iranian strategic thinking, which is absolute distrust toward the United States.

Owing to the repeated experience of American betrayal and bad faith over the years, the emerging understanding is built on zero trust toward the other side. That phrase “zero trust” is not diplomatic venting but a notion formed by bitter experience.

Iranian officials and commentators point to decades of American bad faith, broken promises, sanctions escalation, assassinations, and military attacks occurring even amid diplomatic engagement. The phrase “bombing the negotiating table” has become particularly important in Iranian discourse because it encapsulates the belief that Washington frequently uses diplomacy tactically while simultaneously applying military pressure.

It means that any agreement, now or in the future, must function as if the other side will break it tomorrow. And the only agreements that survive that assumption are those backed by immediate, inherent, and effective guarantees.

Rather than relying on guarantees from international institutions or Western commitments, Iran is determined to anchor deterrence in its own immediate capabilities. Two instruments stand at the heart of this deterrent framework: the Strait of Hormuz and the threat of decisive military retaliation.

The Strait of Hormuz remains under Iran's de facto sovereignty. Twenty percent of the world's oil passes through that narrow chokepoint. Every tanker, every insurer, every oil-importing nation knows that Iran can, within hours, throw global energy markets into chaos.

It gives Iran enormous leverage during periods of crisis like this, but also acts as an active enforcement mechanism capable of ensuring compliance with future agreements. In other words, deterrence itself is no longer a temporary wartime behavior, but it is becoming institutionalized as a permanent component of Iran’s diplomatic architecture. 

 

The second guarantee is the integration of the Resistance Front and the ability to respond militarily on multiple fronts, because military readiness is not treated as an obstacle to diplomacy but as its essential guarantor. Iran proved, in the lead-up to the current understanding, that it could unify Hezbollah, Iraqi resistance groups, and Yemen's Ansarullah movement into a coordinated strategic network against the enemy.

This is not an alliance of convenience but a well-organized regional deterrence system. An attack on Iranian interests no longer necessitates an Iranian military response. A rocket from Lebanon, a drone from Yemen, a strike from Iraq – all of these can be framed as autonomous acts of resistance, yet each serves strategic calculations. This grants Iran asymmetric dominance and the ability to inflict pain on its enemies without becoming directly involved.

This explains why Iran insists that military options, economic leverage, and the possibility of suspending negotiations must all remain available until a final agreement comes into effect.

The nuclear issue occupies a distinct but important place within this framework. Iran's commitment not to produce nuclear weapons is not a new statement or a surprise announcement. It is one of the enduring principles of Iran's defense doctrine.

By restating an existing position rather than offering a fresh concession, Iran neutralizes any Western attempt to demand "nuclear rollback" as a victory in negotiations.

The message is loud and clear: We already told you we do not want a bomb. That was true before the war, during the war, and after the war. So do not ask us to give up something we never sought, as if you have won some new prize. This effectively closes off a major bargaining chip.

The people as the key guarantee

Yet perhaps the most consequential dimension of the emerging doctrine concerns the role of public mobilization. The active presence of the people in the field is necessary to guarantee the integrity of future negotiation processes after the end of the third imposed war. When there are naval choke points, ballistic missiles, and front-line militias, why invoke the crowd? The answer is deeply rooted in recent Iranian political history.

The 1979 Islamic Revolution was a popular uprising. The Imposed War of the 1980s was sustained by volunteer paramilitary forces. In the last two imposed wars, the people stood on the frontlines, supporting both the leadership and the armed forces.

Public participation, therefore, serves several purposes simultaneously: it reinforces national cohesion, strengthens deterrence by signaling resilience, and prevents external actors from exploiting internal divisions during sensitive negotiations.

By calling for an active popular presence as a guarantee for negotiations, Iran is accomplishing two things at once.

First, it is externalizing internal pressure. A mobilized population creates a political reality that no negotiator can ignore. If the other side expects Iran to compromise under economic duress, a mobilized populace signals that the costs of walking away are lower than the costs of a bad deal. Second, the very act of mobilization is itself a victory. The people become both shield and sword against any enemy that mistakes popular silence for weakness.

The enemy's humiliation, disgrace, and defeat must be constantly recalled. In any future negotiations, one must appear from the position of a victorious power on the battlefield, holding the upper hand against a defeated side that has no option but to accept the end of a war it imposed on a nation of nearly 90 million people.

The prerequisite for such a spirit is a correct understanding of the conditions in which the enemy finds itself. Victory, in this framework, is not a slogan. It is a data-driven assessment of the enemy's supply lines, political fractures, economic exhaustion, and morale.

Only by knowing exactly how broken the enemy is can you negotiate from a position of genuine strength and undeniable authority

Iran’s Supremacy Affirmed, Along with Honour and Dignity

Iqbal Jassat

The deal struck by the Islamic Republic of Iran with the United States has been defined as a significant moment in its short yet dynamic and challenging history since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

While a great deal of speculation on the details contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exists, what remains clear is that the Trump regime has conceded defeat.

Equally stark is the fact that notwithstanding the military might and power it possesses, the US failed in the most humiliating way to subdue Iran and impose its will on the country.

That none of the goals it set out, having been misled by the settler colonial regime’s notorious war criminal Netanyahu, that a joint US-Israel war would lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic and result in regime change, added to Trump’s frustration and woes.

He realised, as did his rightwing war cabinet led by zionist fanatics such as Pete Hegseth, that Iran is not Venezuela.

The strategic calculus behind the February 28, 2026 decision appeared unmistakable: replicate the “Venezuelan model,” decapitate the leadership, and the regime’s behavior would change, if not collapse altogether.

The gambit failed.

The reasons for that failure reveal the Islamic Republic’s durability and ideological strength, and yet again vindicated by Trump’s admission of defeat.

Given that Iran has remained steadfast in defence of the Axis of Resistance, one would expect the Arab regimes to display a modicum of “independence” by resisting Israeli dictates.

The situation in Lebanon for instance and how its government relates to Israel’s bombing and carnage is both revealing and shocking.

We learn from Amal Saad, a scholar on Hizbullah, that the ceasefire agreement signed by Lebanese representatives with Israel and the US belongs to a category of political submission with little or no precedent.

“Lebanon, a state under attack, co-signs a document that conditions a ceasefire not on the withdrawal of the occupying power from its territory, but on the withdrawal of its own citizens from their land,” she wrote.

Any framework for negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, if tilted in favour of zionist expansionism and occupation, will repeat a fundamental contradiction that has long shaped Lebanon’s security and political landscape: the Lebanese state conducts diplomacy and negotiates agreements, while Hizbullah remains the country’s principal military actor in confronting Israel.

This disconnect continues to complicate efforts to reach a durable settlement and raises questions about the viability of any agreement that lacks the support of both actors.

Viewed against the current US/Iran MOU, unless the Lebanese government desists from accepting Israel’s one-sided demands and insists on tying its fortune to that of Hizbullah’s, it will continue to be bullied by Netanyahu and his criminal gang of warlords.

As for Iran’s supremacy, an article in Israel Hayom headlined “Complete Failure: Netanyahu’s strategy toward Iran has collapsed,” highlights that “Israel’s strategic position” in its war on Iran has deteriorated dramatically.
The article emphasizes that the new strategic reality will make it “far more difficult for Israel” to confront the “Iranian threat” in the years ahead, explaining that the root of this “failure” lies in the “arrogance and miscalculations” that prevailed within “Israel’s” security establishment.
Israel Hayom said that Iran has demonstrated a willingness to take significant risks to impose new rules of engagement, including preventing “Israel” from carrying out aggression on Beirut.
It described the emerging strategic landscape as “increasingly complex,” adding that it presents “Israel” with greater “challenges”, especially given its dependence on the United States.
The Israeli outlet said that a return to a US agreement with Iran, even if it addresses the nuclear issue, would underscore “Israel’s strategic limitations.”
Israel Hayom said that the recent military campaigns have been an “outright failure,” adding that they neither succeeded in “deterring” Iran nor shifted the “balance of power,” and instead left “Israel” in a weaker strategic position.
Iqbal Jassat, Executive Member, Media Review Network, Johannesburg, South Africa

US defeatedIslamic Republic of IranTehranIslamic ResistanceHizbullahzionist war crimesBenjamin NetanyahuDonald Trump

Iranian movie “K-Poper” wins top award at Eurasian Creative Guild Film Festival

TEHRAN – The Iranian feature film “K-Poper” directed by Ebrahim Azizi has won the top award of the 9th Eurasian Creative Guild (ECG) Film Festival in London, England.

A production of 2025, the drama received the Best Feature Film Award of the festival, which was held last week, Honaronline reported.

“K-Poper” follows a teenage girl who becomes fascinated by a Korean pop star and dreams of traveling to Seoul, despite her mother’s opposition. It is a story rooted in Iran, but its subject is immediately recognizable: pop culture, generational tension, and the private worlds young people build for themselves.

In the 83-minute movie, Maede is a 16-year-old girl who lives in the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. Her life completely revolves around K-pop, and her biggest dream is to travel to Seoul to meet her idol and participate in a young music talent competition that could change her whole life. 

But the journey towards her dreams is not easy: the girl's passion collides with a strict home upbringing and her mother's deep concern about whether such a world is safe and suitable for her daughter. The focus of the film is a young woman's struggle for her dreams in a cultural space that may not always understand or support her choices. 

Maede's inner growth, decisions, failures, and small victories form a deeply personal yet universal story of self-discovery. 

It is a tense drama that gives voice to a generation of young people whose lives and dreams are closely intertwined with global pop culture and local values.

The cast includes Sareh Bayat, Setayesh Dehghan, Mehdi Hashemi, and Ali Bagheri

ECG Film Festival is a platform for the development of cinema in the Eurasian region. The aim of the festival is to promote Eurasian cinema in the English-speaking space and to acquaint Eurasian representatives of the film industry with professionals from all over the world. To acquaint the world with the works that personify the connection of the Eurasian countries and peoples. Show opportunities for collaboration, joint development, and growth.

For 8 years, the festival has been held in partnership with the Romford Film Festival. Romford Film Festival is a stable, well-established festival that is attended by a large number of experts. This association is the surest solution for attracting the maximum amount of attention from the press, viewers, and experts to the Eurasian cinema.

The ECG film festival features such works as feature films, short films, animated films, documentaries, book trailers, screenplays, mobile video, and music clips.

Other winners of this year’s edition of the festival showcased the range of the program. The animation prize went to Swiss photographer Bellopropello for a film about the way smartphones are reshaping human behavior. Best Documentary was awarded to Russian director Vladimir Sumashedov for a film about an artist who tries to confront the violence of World War II through art. The Best Book Trailer award went to Armenian writer Elena Aslanyan’s “The Gold of the Aryans”.

Tags

• “K-Poper” by Ebrahim Amini
• Eurasian Creative Guild Film Festival
• Romford Film Festival

Book on brave women in early Islam published in English

TEHRAN – The English translation of Fatima Daulati’s novel “I Will Return” has been released on the international publishing market by Lantern Publications.

Titled “Voices of the Veiled Age: The Forgotten Chronicles of Zubayda Bint Ja'far,” the book has been translated into English by Sara Brown, Mehr reported.

The work, which was previously published in Persian by Ketab Jamkaran Publications, introduces the steadfast women who shaped Islamic history to a global audience through a narrative and historical approach. In the book, the author seeks to present a realistic portrayal of the role and bravery of women in early Islam.

At the height of the Abbasid Empire, when Baghdad stood as the center of power and learning, Zubayda bint Ja'far lived at the heart of the empire as the wife of Caliph Harun al-Rashid and a witness to its moral contradictions. From within the palace, she saw both the splendor of rule and the cost at which it was sustained.

When an elderly woman named Hababeh arrives bearing memory rather than wealth, Zubayda is drawn into a lineage of stories rarely granted space in the historical record. Through these accounts emerge women whose faith endured under persecution: Umm Ayman, who stood beside the Prophet, Sumayya, the first martyr of Islam, and others who defended the Household of the Prophet and safeguarded the Imams when power sought to erase them.

These narratives reveal a consistent truth: women often bound to unjust men or violent systems retained moral independence through unwavering loyalty to the true guides of Islam: the Prophets and Imams. Their courage was not accidental but born of proximity to truth and an instinctive need to protect it.

Grounded in authentic Islamic tradition and written with historical discipline, “Voices of the Veiled Age” restores to view the women whose fidelity preserved guidance itself, offering a compelling meditation on faith, conscience and the quiet courage that shapes history long after empires fall.

Alongside the book’s engaging content, the author’s smooth writing style adds to its value. Fatima Daulati is a committed writer whose main focus is religious and historical fiction, and she has previously published successful works such as “The Fortieth Night,” “On the Lap of the Moon,” and “Sajjad”.

Lantern Publications produces beautifully crafted books that preserve, articulate, and inspire engagement with the rich intellectual and moral tradition of Shia Islam.

It was founded on a simple but urgent conviction: that meaningful books shape meaningful lives. In an age of noise and distraction, the publications brings out works that endure, illuminate, and reconnect readers to truth, purpose, and intellectual depth.

Lantern Publications is dedicated to producing high-quality Islamic literature, with a particular focus on the rich intellectual, spiritual, and historical legacy of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS). Its catalogue spans theology, hadith, history, ethics, and children’s literature—each title carefully curated to educate, inspire, and elevate. 

Tags

• Fatima Daulati
• Voices of the Veiled Age: The Forgotten Chronicles of Zubayda Bint Ja'far
• Lantern Publications