Critical Discourse Analysis of Imam Ali (AS) on Imamate with Emphasis on Sunni Resources

Using content analysis method as well as critical discourse analysis approach based on Norman Fairclough method, this article explains the mindset and outlook of Imam Ali (AS) while analyzing his discourse on Imamate. The discourse of "appointed Imamate", as opposed to the discourse of "elected leadership" which introduces the opinion and consensus of community as the criterion for recognizing the leader, is a discourse that did not develop in the sociological context and, in turn, social thought moved towards the ideology of "choice" in the matter of prophetic caliphate. In defense of the ideology of divine power and leadership, Imam Ali (AS) presented his rational arguments and strategies at different times in order to prove his appointed succession by recording the document of the legitimacy of the genuine Islamic belief in the field of Imamate. Considering that the position of the appointed Imamate and its related discourse are emerging in Shiism, in order to accept the subject trans-religiously, the research is based on Sunni narrations and historical texts. The results indicate that Imam Ali (AS) by using linguistic and ideological structures in criticizing the ruling discourses sought to reproduce the prophetic discourse on guardianship and leadership.