The Principles and Foundations of Council in Imam Ali's Viewpoint

Council is one of the self-evident and necessary rules of Islam. It is an institution which has an important role in administrating a society and consolidating its social relations with other societies. In this regard، there are some rules and standards that prevent wrong decisions and lead one''s attempts to eliminate disadvantages and gain advantages and satisfy public interests. Therefore، there is nobody who doesn''t need to consult with other people or to ask their opinion or to refer to committed and expert counselors. Besides the clear-defined verses of Holy Qur''an about council and consulting، infallible Imams (AS)، especially Imam Ali (AS)، discussed this subject from different points and talked innovatively about its principles and rules، which needs to be studied carefully and extensively. This article tries to study the principles of council in Alavi thoughts and opinion with exalted content and emphasizes the greatness of Imam Ali''s (AS) thoughts and their supremacy over the thoughts of human beings. For this، the article begins with introducing a plan for comparing Imam Ali''s (AS) opinion with the verses about council in which there are some explanations about council and its importance، necessity، advantages and outcomes، authenticity، authoritativeness، domain، and position. Then the article states some of the positive and negative aspects of council in a broad spectrum which conveys the anthropology of council in Imam Ali''s (AS) point of view.