Social Justice of Agents in Letters of Nahj al-Balaghah (Audience-Oriented Approach)

Justice has been a high human ideal throughout history, and Imam Ali (AS) is a prominent symbol of justice who manifested it during his individual and social life. Many studies have been done about justice in his life, yet this issue still needs to be investigated. This research examines social justice in the Imam Ali (AS) letters through an audience-oriented approach. To this end, a thematic analysis method and MAXQDA software were used. The research findings indicate that social justice among agents according to its audiences can be divided into two primary levels: under the government and outside the government. The government section is divided into two categories, upstream and downstream of the agent, and duties are assigned to the agent accordingly. The most important responsibility of an agent is to obey his superiors. The lower level is also divided into two sections, agents and vassals, each of which has several basic themes. The macro-level outside of the government refers to obvious enemies and includes four basic themes of intensity against the enemy: the principles of war against the enemy, the principles of peace with the enemy, and the principles of alliance with the enemy.