Interpretation of Letter 6 of Nahj-ul-Balagha based on Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis Model

To present some new readings of religious texts, in the present study we sought to extract the principles of Imam Ali's political positions in letter 6 of Nahj-ul-Balagha addressed to Muʿāwiya. To do so, Fairclough's critical discourse analysis model at three levels, i.e., descriptive, interpretive, and explanatory was employed. Findings indicated that at the descriptive level, Imam Ali had political inclinations in affirming his legitimacy and political legitimacy as the caliph. In the interpretation stage, examining the situation and intertextuality, the factors involved in the formation of the text of the letter, namely temporal, spatial conditions, and the impact of the political, and social environment of the society have been displayed. In the explanation stage, examining ideology and hegemony in his expressions, the power and authority of the Imam to express political goals have been illustrated. In the last stage, the political and social ideas of the Imam derived from these three stages including the criterion for selecting the caliph and confirming his own election based on those criteria have been illuminated.