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skirmishes with the surrounding provinces. Darius proved to be quite the tactician. His trusted generals used the small army of Medes and Persians to great advantage and were able to solidify Darius’s rule over the entire Persian Empire.
    Darius was a forward-thinking ruler whose legal expertise produced the “Ordinance of Good Regulations” used to create a uniform code of law throughout the empire. He created a system of mail transport much like the Pony Express. Darius built a system of roads that reached 1,500 miles from Sardis in Turkey to Shustar (the site of Daniel’s overnight visit to the lions’ den). Darius I was succeeded by his son, Xerxes I—also known as Ahasuerus—the king who took the Jewess Hadassah (better known as Esther) as his queen.
    The story of Esther has all the elements of a modern-day love story: a beautiful young Jewish girl torn from her homeland and taken as a captive to Persia; a tyrannical ruler who banishes his queen from the royal throne—and initiates a search for her successor; and, of course, a dastardly villain, Haman, who desires to perpetrate genocide against the Jews:
     
    Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.”
    —E STHER 3:8
     
    Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, challenges the queen to approach the king (a move that could be punishable by death) and ask for the salvation of her people. In encouraging her to do so, Mordecai confronts Esther with these timeless words:
     
    For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?
    —E STHER 4:14
     
    Esther’s response to Mordecai is magnificent:
     
    Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.
    —E STHER 4:16
     
    With great trepidation, Esther approaches Ahasuerus and is granted an audience with the king. The plan for the destruction of the Jews by the foul villain, Haman, is thwarted, and Esther’s people are allowed to live in peace in Shushan.
    Many empires fall prey to the march of time. However, in Persia—or Iran—the Arab onslaught produced a cultural mix that was unique. Persia would forever be dramatically influenced by the armies of Muhammad, but so would the conquerors be influenced by their Persian subjects. Arabic became a new language in addition to Farsi, Islam became the new religion, mosques were built, and Islamic customs became the norm for the people of Persia.
    Political correctness is not an invention of modern-day America; it has dictated the actions of people from the beginning of time. For many Iranian nobles, conversion to Islam was a politically correct move that enabled them to keep their vast holdings and coveted social position.
    For others, the impetus for conversion was tax evasion. Their Muslim superiors had levied an exorbitant tax against all non-Muslims, which they wished to avoid. Some Jews living in Iran were forced, on forfeiture of their lives, to convert to Islam. Many, such as the Zoroastrian priests, simply fled the country.
    Although the conquest of Iran by the Arab hordes was relatively violence-free, the ensuing struggle for leadership culminated in a bloody and lopsided battle. Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and forces loyal to Caliph Yazid met on the plains of Karbala—today one of the holiest cities in Iraq. (It was to be a watershed event in Islam, for it was here that Hussein died, and it was here that the irreparable