Cultural pathology of the Islamic society from the perspective of Imam Ali (as) in Nahj al-Balaghah

Any civilization may encounter injuries and challenges in its path of formation and continuation. These issues may divert that civilization from its true path. In the meantime, cultural harms and soft warfare play a unique role in declining civilization and its destruction. Through a descriptive-analytical approach, the present study aims to extract the harmful cultural components of Islamic society and civilization based on Amir al-Mu'minin Ali's (AS) point of view in Nahj al-Balaghah and provide solutions. According to Nahjul Balagha, studies show that components such as cultural influence, deviation of distinguished ones, sedition, heresy, intellectual rigidity, power-seeking, and negligence are among the harmful factors that threaten health of Islamic society. In letter 53 of Nahj al-Balaghah, the treaty of Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) to Malik Ashtar, some of these components include revealing people's flaws, regret of forgiveness, joy over punishment, slander about past caliphs, and failure to keep promises have been mentioned.