The Causes of Social Sustainability in Nahj-al-Bilaghah

The present article seeks to demonstrate the causes of social sustenance in Nahj-al-Bilaghah. For the purpose, other than focusing on the classical sociologists’ concerns and observing their conformity with the principles of the definition of the social organization, the method of text analysis and the technique of frequent codification were used to determine the elements of social sustainability in Nahj-al-Bilaghah. The main findings of this research include: firstly, paying attention to the concerns of the classical sociologists (Comte: sustainability of interaction, Weber: meaning of interaction, Durkheim: The sense of coherence, Spenser: the emergence and growth of societal differentiation especially in situations and roles, Marx: distinction in social class) makes it clear that these concerns compose the main aspects of the social order. Secondly, the careful and methodical review of Nahj-al-Bilaghah shows that the social sustainability factors in this book comply with these aspects and: reviewing the characteristics of the sustainable and successful societies and comparing them with the characteristics of the declining societies in the words of Imam Ali (PBUH) shows that three central factors contribute to the sustainability and success of societies: monotheism, intense affinity and overall unity, and distributional and retributive justice. Ali (PBUH) counts a list of ethical characteristics and warm connections in Nahj-al-Bilaghah as the characteristics of the people in successful societies, the opposite of which stands for the decline of the society. This idea could be compared with the definition of the social organization: monotheism is a cultural element that determines the direction and meaning of the interaction. Affinity and unity are the strengthening element in groups and societies, while justice is the best form of regulating distinctions that makes the coming upon distinctions acceptable and sustaining. Therefore, it is presumed that the grand theories of sociology inform the theory exerted from the Nahj-al-Bilaghah.