The Role of the Government in Protecting Social Capital in Letter 53 of Nahj al-Balāgheh

Social capital is one of the concepts that have attracted the attention of social science researchers as well as politicians and economists during the last few decades. This category is considered more important because it has a great impact on the development of societies. At the same time, considering its wide impact, it can be emphasized in other ways, especially the politicians can pay more attention to this important element that leads to the advancement of programs and the realization of their goals in the society. Dealing with the issue of social capital with regard to its downward trend in Islamic Iran prompts us to pay attention to our rich Islamic resources while using the knowledge and experiences of others. The findings of this article show that the view of Amir Muʾminan (as) on the issue of production and preservation of social capital is a religion-oriented and value-oriented view. He considers the central role of the ruler and government officials in relation to social capital as a model of values ​​and norms. He considers the transfer of capitalist values ​​and norms to be dependent on the relationship and ethical and wise interaction of the sovereign with Allah the Almighty and the people. He emphasizes adherence and insistence on important trust-building values ​​such as sincere worship and justice. In general, it can be claimed that Ali (as) considers the production and maintenance of social capital dependent on the maintenance, strengthening and expansion of religious and divine values and norms. In this regard, seven major capitalization policies have been emphasized in letter 53, which are: Democracy, religious observance of rulers and officials, comprehensive justice, morality of the ruler and officials, meritocracy, preservation and promotion of values, wisdom. This research has used the method of document analysis and thematic analysis to answer the research questions.