Khamenei.ir

Imam Ali prohibited people from flattering and complementing him

Another characteristic of the political behavior of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was that he genuinely - not insincerely - asked the people to avoid flattering and sweet-talking him. He asked them to avoid behaving in an insincere way towards him. In the middle of one of the sermons of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) - which was one of his very articulate and astonishing sermons - someone stood up and began to praise and compliment him. He gave the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) plenty of praise because of his sermon and the things which he was saying. When this person finished praising, Hazrat turned to him and advised him - almost as much as this person spoke - to avoid speaking to the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) in this way. I am saying this on the basis of Nahjul Balaghah and the selected text of Sayyid Radhi. One of the sentences that he uttered in this sermon was: "Do not speak to me the way you speak to oppressive kings and rulers. Do not evade me as the people of passion are to be evaded". Some people avoid saying certain things to other people so that they do not make them annoyed and displeased. Imam Ali (a.s.) said that they should not show such considerations for him. "Do not meet me with flattery and do not think that I shall take it ill if a true thing is said to me" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 216]. He said that people should not think Ali would be annoyed if they say a true thing to him. It was not the case that he found it hard to accept the truth. This is another characteristic of the political behavior of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.).

Imam Ali (a.s.) would never resort to atrocities in order to achieve victory

Another characteristic of the political behavior of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was that he did not resort to oppressing people, telling lies and carrying out oppressive measures. In the beginning of the Commander of the Faithful's (a.s.) caliphate, some people said to him that he should show some consideration for the influential personalities in society and that he should give them a larger share of public funds. They said, "Do not make them disobey you. Rather, you should attract their hearts". He said, "Do you command me to achieve victory with oppression. By Allah, I won't do so as long as the world goes on and as long as one star leads another in the sky" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 126]. It was not possible for the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) to make friends by showing oppression and by adopting wrong and non-Islamic methods.

How did Imam Ali (a.s.) treat his enemies and opponents?

One of the characteristics of the political behavior of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was that he used to reason with his enemies and opponents. He even used to reason with Muawiyah in his correspondence with him. Although the enmity between Muawiyah and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was fierce, Muawiyah used to write letters to the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) in which he used to insult him and say things which were not true. After Talha and Zubair pledged allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), they got out of Madina and went towards Makka with the excuse that they intended to go on a hajj pilgrimage. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was vigilant. From the beginning, he used to say that they do not intend to go on a hajj pilgrimage. They went and hatched certain plots. Of course, it is a long story why they did this. Hazrat said, "Both of you frown over a small matter and leave aside big ones" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 204]. He said that they used a small matter as a tool to create discord, that they ignored many positive points and that they intended to show enmity and disobey his commands. Despite these things, the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) spoke in a humble way to them. He explained that he was not after creating enemies for himself. So, he showed tolerance. But when tolerance is not sufficient, there is room for Alavi decisiveness. For example, he showed his decisiveness towards the Khawarij in such a firm way that he himself said, "I tore out the eye of fitna" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 92]. And no one else could do this except for Ali, as he himself said in Nahjul Balaghah.

One of Imam Ali’s political manners was tolerating the enemies as much as possible

On the issue of the political behavior of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) I should say that he used to tolerate his opponents and even his enemies as much as possible. Although it is true that he experienced three wars during his nearly five-year rule, he fought in these wars after he showed all kinds of tolerance. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was not a person to draw his sword without showing proper tolerance towards his opponents. Now, I want you to listen to a number of hadiths narrated by him. In the beginning of his caliphate, a number of people gathered around the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and they insisted that he deal with some of his opponents. They firmly insisted that he should do this. In response, the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) advised them to be patient. One of the things that he said was, "One group will think as you do, but another will not think as you think, and there will be still another group who will be neither this way nor that way". There are some people who have the same opinion as you do and there are some people who believe something that you do not. There is another group of people who do not take sides at all. These people have a different opinion. "Therefore, you should be patient". He said that they should be patient so that he can carry out his responsibility with acumen. "Be patient until people quieten down and hearts settle in their places so that rights can be achieved for people easily". He said that they should allow him to establish people's rights in a calm and peaceful way. "But if I do not find another way, the last treatment, of course, will be branding with a hot iron" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 168]. We should do our best to establish and achieve people's rights in a patient and kind way. If we realize that there is no other alternative, then we should "brand with a hot iron". This is a well-known Arabic saying. It means that the last alternative is behaving in a firm way. We should treat the wound with medicines and ointments as much as possible. We should use ointments in order to clean the wound. If it is not possible to do this, then the last treatment will be to heat it with a hot iron because there is no other way.

In Imam Ali's governance there was no room for deception, malicious deeds and intentions

One of the characteristics of his politics is that it was free of any deception and trickery. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) has narrated, "If it were not for piety, I would be able to use tricks better than all deceitful Arabs" [al-Kafi, Volume 8, page 22]. When comparing himself with Muawiyah, he says, "I swear to God that Muawiyah is not more clever than me" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 200]. But what should Ali do? When he is committed to piety and morality, then his hands and his tongue are tied. This is the method of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). If one is not pious, his hands and his tongue are free and they can do and say whatever they want. If we are not pious, we can say things which are not true, we can engage in slandering, we can tell lies to people, we can break our promises, and we can become attached to the enemies of the straight path. When piety does not exist, this is the way we behave. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said that he chose politics and piety together. This is why there was not any deception and dishonesty in the methods that he adopted.

Imam Ali's view of governance and politics

The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) describes his rule, during which three all-out wars were waged and thousands of soldiers were killed, in a way that it shows his contempt. You should take a look at Nahjul Balaghah in order to see what he has said in this regard. Once, when addressing ibn Abbas, he described it as something which is even less worthy than his old and patched up shoelaces. In another part of Nahjul Balaghah, he said, "Then you would have seen that in my view this world of yours is no better than the sneezing of a goat" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 3]. What value does the sneezing of a goat have? It has no value. He says that this power and this rule is even of less worth and less significance than the sneezing of a goat. In the same sermon, he explains why he accepted government: "If people had not come to me and supporters had not exhausted the argument, [I would not have accepted caliphate]". He said that he accepted caliphate because the people insisted and pledged allegiance to him. He goes on to explain, "If there had been no pledge of Allah with the learned to the effect that they should not acquiesce in the gluttony of the oppressor and the hunger of the oppressed I would have cast the rope of caliphate on its own shoulders". He says that Allah the Exalted has commanded scholars and knowledgeable personalities to avoid enduring the oppression of oppressors and the hunger of the oppressed. These were the things which drew the Commander of the Faithful towards caliphate. He showed resistance, and even fought against those who plotted against him and who went back on their pledge of allegiance. If it had not been for such things, caliphate would have been worthless to him.

Imam Ali proved politics and ethics can go together

The political behavior of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was not separate from his spiritual and moral behavior. The politics of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) interrelated with his spirituality and morality. In fact, his politics originated from his spirituality and morality. If one's politics originate from morality and feed from spirituality, then it will be a tool for the people who are faced with it, to achieve perfection and paradise. But if politics become separate from morality and spirituality, then it will be demagoguery. It will be a tool for gaining power at any price, for accumulating wealth and for furthering one's own interests. This kind of politics is like a pest.

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