Thematic analysis of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali's (A.S) Covenant with Malek-i Ashtar

Letter 53 of Nahjul-Balaghah, an ordinance between Ali (A.S) and Egypt's governor, is the most famous document describing the duties of Islamic rulers. The significance of this document is that the design of the structure and arrangement of its content, not by the initiative of Sayyed Razi, was carried out by the Imam himself. The policy paper, which explains, on the one hand, the ways and means of preserving the legitimacy and political authority of the authorities responsible for the affairs of the community, and, on the other, reflects the factors of the weakening and destruction of the state and illustrates the goals, duties, the slogans and intellectual foundations of Islamic governance. This article is a descriptive-exploratory theoretical study that deals with the content of the treaty with its thematic analysis method. MAXQDA software is used to extract and codify themes and discover their relationships. The inference of relationships between themes illustrates Ali's governmental- educational model with 3dimensions: relationship with God, people and government brokers. This letter expresses the governing duties around these 3categories. The tactics and strategies to accomplish these tasks have many axes. Category1 deals with the necessity of self-realization in the form of 13axes, like ruling relationship with God, following Qur'an and Sunnah and correct consultation. Category2 refers to the popular acceptance and efficacy of governance in the form of 9axes, like tolerance with people, taking their good suspicion and paying their rights. Category3 deals with the interaction of leader with brokers in a 5axes format.