Jump to content

Letter of Imam Ali (a) to 'Uthman b. Hunayf

Add links
Priority: c, Quality: c
Without photo
Without infobox
From wikishia
This article is an introduction to the Letter of Imam Ali (a) to 'Uthman b. Hunayf; to read its text see Text:Letter of Imam Ali (a) to 'Uthman b. Hunayf.

The Letter of Imam ʿAlī (a) to ʿUthmān b. Ḥunayf (Arabic:رسالة الإمام علي إلى عثمان بن حنيف) is a letter written by Imam Ali (a) and addressed to 'Uthman b. Hunayf, his governor in Basra. It is one of the letters in Nahj al‑balagha, and its main theme is the reproach of 'Uthman b. Hunayf for attending an aristocratic banquet from which the poor were excluded.[1] Some scholars have regarded this letter as the strongest example of the maximalist theory of religion.[2] It has also been said that this letter provides insight into Imam Ali's personality in the realms of politics and governance.[3] For this reason, the letter has been discussed in works that seek to explain the political theory of Islam.[4]

Since this letter sets forth Imam Ali's approach to governance, it has been identified as one of his most important letters to his officials.[5]

In various manuscripts of Nahj al-balagha, it is numbered differently: 45 in Subhi Salih, Fayd al-Islam, Mulla Salih, Ibn Abi al-Hadid, and Abduh; 44 in al-Khu'i, Ibn Maytham, and Fi Zilal; and 48 in Mulla Fath-Allah.[6]

Some of the points that Imam Ali (a) emphasizes and recommends observing in this letter are as follows: chastity, piety, attentiveness to the poor and needy, control of carnal desires, contentment, avoidance of extravagance, empathy with the people, simple living, following the Imam's way of life, and exercising caution regarding invitations and banquets.[7]

In this letter, in addition to diagnosing the harms of aristocratic tendencies, Imam Ali (a) also presents solutions for confronting them.[8] According to researchers, this letter offers an appropriate ethical–social model for dealing with aristocratic behavior.[9]

Parts of Imam Ali's letter to 'Uthman b. Hunayf have been transmitted in al-Amali by al-Shaykh al-Saduq[10] as well as in other works.[11] According to some researchers, this letter was written to 'Uthman b. Hunayf at the beginning of Imam Ali's rule, in the year 36 AH/656.[12]

In addition to the explanations and translations of Letter 45 of Nahj al-balagha found in complete translations and commentaries on Nahj al-balagha, independent and specialized explanations and translations of this letter have also been written in Persian and Arabic. Some of these include:

  • The Open Letter of Imam Ali (a) to 'Uthman b. Hunayf, Governor of Basra, by Muhammadi Ishtahrdi in Arabic.[13]
  • Governance and Piety, by Mustafa Dilshad Tihrani in Persian.[14]
  • Sharh Kitab Amir al-Mu'minin (a) ila 'Uthman b. Hunayf al-Ansari, by Hashim Milani in Arabic.[15]
  • Ali and the Officials of Governance, by Ali Akbar Hamidzada in Persian.[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ Muntaẓirī, Dars-hāʾī az Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 13, p. 120.
  2. ↑ Manṣūrī Lārījānī, ʿIrfān-i sīyāsī, p. 57.
  3. ↑ ʿItratdūst & Aḥmadī, Rāhkārhā-yi muqābila bā ashrāfī-garī, p. 89-90.
  4. ↑ See: Manṣūrī Lārījānī, ʿIrfān-i sīyāsī, p. 5-57; Akhlāqī, Rābiṭa-yi qudrat wa ʿidālat dar fiqh-i sīyāsī, p. 275; Īrawānī, Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi iqtiṣād-i Islāmī, p. 362; Murtaḍawī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Khomeini, vol. 2, p. 6743.
  5. ↑ ʿItratdūst & Aḥmadī, Rāhkārhā-yi muqābila bā ashrāfī-garī, p. 70-71.
  6. ↑ Dashtī & Muḥammadī, al-Muʿjam al-mufahras, p. 515.
  7. ↑ Sayyid Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, p. 416-420.
  8. ↑ ʿItratdūst & Aḥmadī, Rāhkārhā-yi muqābila bā ashrāfī-garī, p. 90.
  9. ↑ ʿItratdūst & Aḥmadī, Rāhkārhā-yi muqābila bā ashrāfī-garī, p. 70.
  10. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 620-623.
  11. ↑ Ḥusaynī al-Khaṭīb al-, Maṣādir Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 3, p. 362.
  12. ↑ Sayyid Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, p. 553.
  13. ↑ Muḥammadī Ishtihārdī, Nāma-yi sargushāda-yi Imām ʿAlī (a) bi ʿUthmān b. Ḥunayf, p. 1.
  14. ↑ Dilshād Tihrānī, Zimāmdārī wa pārsāʾī, p. 1.
  15. ↑ Mīlānī, Sharḥ-i kitāb Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), p. 1.
  16. ↑ Ḥamīdzāda, ʿAlī wa kārguzārān-i ḥukūmat, p. 1.

References

  • Akhlāqī, Ghulām Sarwar. Rābiṭa-yi qudrat wa ʿidālat dar fiqh-i sīyāsī. Qom: Markaz-i Bayn al-Milalī-yi Tarjama wa Nashr-i al-Muṣṭafā (s), 1390 Sh.
  • Dashtī, Muḥammad & Muḥammadī, Kāẓim. Al-Muʿjam al-mufahras li alfāẓ Nahj al-balāgha. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Farhangī Taḥqīqātī-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), 1375 Sh.
  • Dilshād Tihrānī, Muṣṭafā. Zimāmdārī wa pārsāʾī. Tehran: Daryā, 1397 Sh.
  • Ḥusaynī al-Khaṭīb al-, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Zahrāʾ. Maṣādir Nahj al-balāgha wa Asānīduh. Beirut: Dār al-Zahrāʾ, 1409 AH.
  • Ḥamīdzāda, ʿAlī Akbar. ʿAlī wa kārguzārān-i ḥukūmat. Isfahan: Uqiyānūs-i Maʿrifat, 1389 Sh.
  • Īrawānī, Jawād. Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi iqtiṣād-i Islāmī. Mashhad: Dānishgāh-i ʿUlūm-i Islāmī-yi Raḍawī, 1393 Sh.
  • ʿItratdūst, Muḥammad & Aḥmadī, Mahdīyya. Rāhkārhā-yi muqābila bā ashrāfīgarī bar mabnā-yi taḥlīl-i muḥtawā-yi nāma-yi Imām ʿAlī (a) bi ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf. Journal of Islām wa Muṭālaʿāt-i Ijtimāʿī. No 34. (1400 Sh).
  • Muḥammadī Ishtihārdī, Muḥammad. Nāma-yi sargushāda-yi Imām ʿAlī (a) bi ʿUthmān b. Ḥunayf; ustāndār-i Baṣra. Qom: Akhlāq, 1383 Sh.
  • Murtaḍawī, Sayyid Ḍiyāʾ. Dānishnāma-yi Imām Khomeini. Tehran:Muʾassisa-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khomeini, 1400 Sh.
  • Muntaẓarī, Ḥusayn ʿAlī. Dars-hāʾī az Nahj al-balāgha. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Sarāʾī, 1395 Sh.
  • Manṣūrī Lārījānī, Ismāʿīl. ʿIrfān-i sīyāsī. Tihran: Mahd al-Qurʾān, 1385 Sh.
  • Mīlānī, Hāshim. Sharḥ-i kitāb Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a) ʾilā ʿUthmān b. Ḥunayf al-Anṣārī. Najaf: Al-ʿAtabat al-ʿAlawīyyat al-Muqaddasa, 1433 AH.
  • Sayyid Raḍī, Muḥammad b. Ḥusayn. Nahj al-balāgha. Translated by Muḥammad Dashtī. Qom: Mashhūr, 1379 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. Tehran: Kitābchī, 1376 Sh.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikishia.net/w/index.php?title=Letter_of_Imam_Ali_(a)_to_%27Uthman_b._Hunayf&oldid=199237"