TEHRAN – The Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia has published an entry on the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in a separate book.

Entitled “Spring of Knowledge: A Survey of Life Story and Thoughts of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei”, the book is authored by Ali-Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to the Leader.

Containing 208 pages, the book has been written in three chapters, the first of which gives a biography of the Leader and provides an introduction to his ancestors.

The Leader’s scientific and cultural background and his early political and social life are also examined in this chapter.

The second chapter covers Ayatollah Khamenei’s activities during the first decade after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. His works in the Revolution Council and Islamic Republican Party, and his role as a Friday prayer leader are also discussed in this section. 

The Leader’s positions on various issues as an MP in the Iranian Parliament, his role as a commander during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, his struggles against the liberals and former Iranian president Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, and his life as a president are illustrated in this chapter.

The third chapter provides a deep insight into the life of Ayatollah Khamenei after he was declared the Leader of the Islamic Revolution following the demise of the founder of the revolution, Imam Khomeini.

The Leader’s role in formulating the country’s foreign and domestic policy, as well as in military, defense and legal affairs is studied in this part.

In a preface to the book, Velayati said that writing the entry on Ayatollah Khamenei was proposed by Seyyed Kazem Musavi Bojnurdi, director of the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia.

Velayati agreed to make the contribution to the encyclopedia after getting the Leader’s approval.

He went on saying that the entry, which was published in the 21st book of the encyclopedia, was warmly welcomed by the general public.

Subsequently, Musavi Bojnurdi announced the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia’s plan to publish the entry in a separate book and asked Velayati to write a preface to the publication.

On his colleague’s advice, Velayati put his spotlight in the introduction on the necessity of the velayat-e faqih system of governance in Shiism during the absence of Imam Mahdi (AS).

Velayati is the author of the 15-volume collection “The Ancient and Contemporary History of Iran”.

The last book of the collection was published in 2017 under the subtitle “Iran during the Leadership of Hazrat Ayatollah Khamenei”.

Photo: Copies of the book “Spring of Knowledge: A Survey of Life Story and Thoughts of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei” by Ali-Akbar Velayati.

MMS/YAW