Imam Ali ΄s Studies
Year:2011 | Volume:2 | Issue:1 (3)|Papers Count:7

Supervision is one of the important issues in all political and managerial systems. Because of this importance, the present writing tries to reflect upon the Quranic verses and the prophetic tradition in this regard, study the place and foundations of supervision and its characteristics in the Alawi political system and thought, and prove that to the important concept of supervision which is classified under the title "promotion of good and prevention of evil" so attention has been paid in the Alawi thought and system; and two inter-related mechanisms of the internal and external supervision have been employed to limit and control power, and make political and social controls and inspections.

Knowledge of the methodologies of the Infallibles (pbut) and in particular that of Imam Ali (pbuh) as the inheritor of the Holy Prophet's (pbuh) knowledge will help us to make correct and systematic uses of the Holy Quran. Treating this point will appear as some very necessary undertaking if we know that a considerable number of hadiths of this Imam (pbuh) has been mentioned and referred to in interpretations made by Sunni scholars.In a descriptive-library manner, at first, the present article extracts Imam Ali's interpretive hadiths from these sources and then goes to discuss their types and methodologies. Finally, it comes to the conclusion that in his valuable words, depending on the prevalent situation, the Imam (pbuh) has explained the Holy Quran in various ways among which are explanation of the Holy Quran by the Holy Quran, narrative and lexical methods, the method of making references to instances, and analogical explanation.

The Battle of Saffayn between Imam Ali (pbuh) and Mu'awiyah occurred in 36 AH Lunar. This battle was a very important event in the history of Islam. In various historical sources such as Waq'at Saffayn, detailed reports have been included about this battle, development of various events in it, and names of the slain of two parties of the battle. About some details including Imam Ali's path to Saffayn, however, there is not much information. Relying on dispersed reports existing in the historical sources and employing geographical sources, the present writing seeks to depict Imam Ali's approximate path to and from Saffayn to Kufa as well as the geographical location of the battle. Also, the author has tried to introduce points and sanctuaries located in this path and attributed to Imam Ali (pbuh).

Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (pbuh) is an unrivalled figure whom many poets of various sects have admired. In this regard, Sunni poets are among the pioneers. If we search in panegyrics composed to admire the Commander of the Faithful, we will come to an ode composed by a not so well-known poet who, in spite of his talent and ability to compose sweet poems, has been ignored and no attention has been yet paid to him. Since this Iraqi poet lived in the Ottoman period and during the period of literary stagnation and has devoted his collection of poems to the Household (pbut) and in particular Imam Ali (pbuh), it is not so fair to introduce Burdah Busiri as the [only] eminent ode composer of that time. For the same reason, in the present article, the authors have tried to introduce 'Abdul Baqi al-Amari to the people of knowledge and literature, discuss themes wrought and style adopted by him in his 'Ayniyah ode and Imam Ali's profile in this ode.

In the Holy Quran and tradition, a unique place has been devoted to the Household (pbut). If these were not ignored, after the demise of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), the Household (pbut) would be expected to take the control of Islamic government as well as the unrivalled leadership in various political, social, economic, and cultural fields within the Islamic society. After the events of Saqifah-yi Bani Sa'idah and then 50 years later the event of Karbala, cruel oppression of the Household followed. And even speaking of their virtues was forbidden and considered as a dangerous act.Because of his deep knowledge of discourse with the Household (pbut) during in his own time as well as in future, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (pbuh) proceeded to discuss the theoretical foundations of the existence of the Holy Prophet's Household and their numerous, positive effects on human life and in particular on the Islamic society. Adopting a historical-analytic approach, the present article discusses the way in which the Imam has discussed this point for the Islamic Ummah. Then, his attempts to make ignorant consciousnesses aware of their duties before these Divine leaders will be discussed. Finally, effects of his guidance on a part of the society in spite of numerous obstacles as well as characteristics of the lovers of the Household (pbut) and those of their opponents will be introduced.

In the present article, the authors have tried to show that, in Imam Ali's rule, five managerial duties or functions (planning, organizing, leadership, coordination, control and supervision) have been paid attention to, emphasized, and fulfilled. Thus, while speaking of such duties or functions, the authors have selected examples from Imam Ali's sermons, letters, and wisdoms as well as other relevant sources to discuss.Under planning, points such as objectives, predictions made for future, management of time, continuation of plans, and reflexibility have been discussed. Organization begins with division of labour and includes issues such as obedience, delegation of power, profession, and scope of supervision.Under leadership, properties such as piety, knowledge, patience, accountability, forgiveness, self-education, humility and the like will be mentioned.The fourth duty, coordination and guidance, concerns benefits of union and detriments of disunion. In this field, issues such as guidance, motivation, encouragement, punishment, and morality are spoken of.The fifth duty or function refers to control and supervision. Having explained necessity of control and supervision as well as taking necessary actions, authors have discussed kinds of classifications made in management discipline (and in particular Islamic discipline).It should be noted that, in the conclusion of each section, the results of analysis of findings have been demonstrated in tables and graphs.

Though, according to the Islamic political outlook, the original rule is specific to God, belief in superiority of Divine rule and religious laws does not mean limitation of the role played by people to promote the performance of the Islamic government in the large-scale social and political management at all. In the field of the Islamic politics, some schools of thought maintain that the Caliph and the Islamic government take their power directly from God, and consider no role for people to play and contribute in the institution of power in fulfilling duties and expectations resulted from its existence in the public sphere. The Holy Prophet's (pbuh) tradition to construct the edifice of government, on the other hand, proves the opposite of this idea. After opposition of Meccans to the Holy Prophet's (pbuh) mission and his forced migration to Medina, with the help of the people of Medina he managed to found a government on the basis of social justice. It is, to be sure, in line with such a manner that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) continues his mission and perfects his religion through the process of appointing his successor in Ghadir Khum. In spite of having the right and full authority to appoint Ali Ibn Abi Talib directly, explaining the various kinds of competence which such a person should have to administrate Muslims' affairs, he seeks to make acceptance of Imam Ali (pbuh) internalized by the audience, and emphasize necessity of making the Islamic government efficient through public assistance and cooperation.