A thoughtful consideration of the moral principles of Imam Ali's government

Humanitarian concerns and its related issues have always fascinated the attention of many great people throughout man’s history and they possess a unique place in human relations. The concept of humanitarianism has been probed and discussed by many experts and scholars and a great deal of ideas and notions have been expressed on it. This concept possesses a very great and vast scope and it is impossible to be explored and explained in an article such as this. Probably, careful consideration and thorough explanation of a concept like humanitarianism demands a great deal of time and effort and needs meticulous research and investigation. However, one of the issues which is closely related to humanitarianism is the manner of the interactions of the governments and the ruling regimes with their subjects, The observance of people’s rights and their self-esteems by the governments may be among the greatest issues for those who have humanitarian concerns. The present article deals with this great and important matter, that is humanitarianism, in Imam Ali’s government and shows how Imam Ali (Peace be upon Him) paid attention to this important issue and attempted to observe human rights. The present article considers the famous letter of Imam Ali (Peace be upon Him) to Malik-e Aštar in which Imam (peace be Upon Him) explicitly displays his concerns for human rights and gives advice for interacting with people. Imam cites some principles of human rights which the rulers should observe and this article deals with them. Some of these issues are: concepts such as being just with people, counseling people in the affairs of the society accepting the consequences of your behavior, and providing welfare and security for people. The aforementioned points were very important to Imam Ali (peace be Upon Him) and he emphasized them in his magnificent letter to Malek-e Aštar which is treated in this article.