A 250 Years Old Person (book)

Priority: c, Quality: c
From wikishia
A 250 Years Old Person
AuthorAyatollah Khamenei
Original titleانسان ۲۵۰ ساله
LanguageEnglish
Series3 vols.
SubjectPolitical life of Imams of the Shia
Genrehistorical-analytical
Published2014
PublisherSahba center, Tehran
English translation


A 250 Years Old Person is a book, including speeches by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, concerning the political life of Imams of the Shia. The book revolves around the Theory of a 250-Year-Old Person on which, despite their apparent differences, the lives of Imams of the Shia constitute a continuous movement that began since the demise of the Prophet (s) and lasted until 260/874 for 250 years. On this account, they all sought to establish an Islamic government.

The book is a selection of speeches by the Supreme Leader of Iran from May 1980 to March 2011. A short time after its publication, its content was restructured and material from other speeches by Ayatollah Khamenei were incorporated, which was republished under the first and the third cycles.

The book, A 250 Years Old Person, was written in Persian. The original version of the book was reprinted 85 times. It was translated into different languages.

Place and Significance

The book, A 250 Years Old Person, includes speeches by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a Shiite authority, concerning the theory of a 250-year-old person. The speeches were delivered before the Islamic Revolution of Iran during the uprising of Iranian people against the Pahlavi government.[1] The book was frequently reprinted in Persian and was translated to more than ten languages.[2] Furthermore, educational courts[3] and contests[4] were held in Iran about this book.

Sayyid Hassan Ali al-Imad, the general secretary of the movement of Tanzim Mustaqbal al-'Idala in Yemen, believes that this book has changed the perspective of Yemeni Shias on jihad.[5]

Title of the Book

The 250-year-old person refers to the 250 years of the Imamate of Imams of the Shia since the demise of the Prophet (s) in 11/632 until the beginning of the Minor Occultation in 260/874, which Ayatollah Khamenei likens to a 250-year-old person.[6]

Subject and Approach

According to the preface of the book, it presents the following perspectives on Imams of the Shia:

  • Imams of the Shia did not just believe in scholarly, doctrinal, and theological fight. They also displayed political orientations.[7]
  • The Infallible Imams had the same character, approach, goal, and direction. Since the Prophet’s demise until 260/874, they always sought to establish an Islamic government.[8]
  • Imams of the Shia did not seek an armed encounter with the government. While they never condemned those who engaged in military combat against unjust government, they never engaged in such combats.[9]

Chapters and Structure

The book, A 250 Years Old Person, consists of a preface, an introduction, and seventeen chapters.

Chapter 1: The Great Prophet (s)

Chapter 2: Imamate

Chapter 3: Amir al-Mu'minin (a)

Chapter 4: Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a)

Chapter 5: Imam al-Hasan (a)

Chapter 6: Imam al-Husayn (a)

Chapter 7: The movement of Lady Zaynab and the messengers of Karbala

Chapter 8: Social and political circumstances after the Event of Karbala

Chapter 9: Imam al-Sajjad (a)

Chapter 10: Imam al-Baqir (a): period of intellectual and organizational construction

Chapter 11: Towards the end of the Umayyad government and the Imamate of Imam al-Sadiq (a)

Chapter 12: Imam al-Sadiq (a)

Chapter 13: Secret organizations

Chapter 14: Imam al-Kazim (a)

Chapter 15: Imam al-Rida (a)

Chapter 16: Imam al-Jawad (a), Imam al-Hadi (a), and Imam al-'Askari (a)

Chapter 17: The goal of the movement of the 250-year-old person

Supplementary Cycles

In 2019, a proposal was published for supplementary cycles of the book, A 250 Years Old Person, based on different groups of audience.[10] In that proposal, 600 other speeches of Ayatollah Khamenei (delivered up to 2017) were used to compile two other works:[11]

  • First cycle: The first published book (originally released in 2011) was rewritten for teenagers. This cycle included illustrated examples.[12]
  • Third cycle: This cycle was published in 900 pages to supplement the first and second cycles as an in-depth study of the lives of Imams of the Shia. This is intended for an audience of researchers and those interested in a closer study of the lives of the Imams.[13] This cycle includes 260 speeches, in which further details and analyses of historical events are provided.[14] Here are the chapters of this cycle:
  • Period of silence and cooperation: from the Prophet’s demise to the murder of 'Uthman
  • Period of power and being victimized: from the murder of 'Uthman to the peace treaty of Imam al-Hasan (a)
  • Period of short-term constructive efforts: from the peace treaty of Imam al-Hasan (a) to the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a)
  • Period of long-term constructive efforts: from Imam al-Husayn’s martyrdom to Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari’s martyrdom.[15]


Publication and Translation

The book, A 250 Years Old Person, was written in Persian and it was published by Sahba Publication Center in 375 pages.[16] The original version of the book was reprinted 85 times.[17] It was translated into different languages. This book has been translated into different languages ​​such as Arabic, English, Urdu, Azeri, Kurdish, Istanbul Turkish, Hindi, Sindhi, German, Thai,[18] Hausa and French.[19]

See olso

Notes

References

Further Reading