Hermeneutic reading of Imam Ali’s 40th Sermon on adopting peace strategy Based on Schleiermacher’s author-centered hermeneutic theory

One of the most strategic decisions of Imam Ali (AS) during the era of the Islamic Caliphate (35-40 AH) before the beginning of the wars of the said period, was the strategy of peace and reconciliation with factions and opposition groups of his time.This paper aims to examine the veiled semantic layers of the text based on the approach of hermeneutic analysis of German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher according to Sermon 40 of Nahj-al Balaghah.The basis of the author-centered hermeneutic approach and research methods in understanding the leading texts (non-revelatory sacred religious texts such as the Nahj-al Balaghah) is based on the principle that by applying two paradigms of grammatical and psychological interpretations deal with the hermeneutic reading and scientific scrutiny of the strategy of peace and reconciliation in the practical biography of Imam Ali (AS) and answers the question of how this strategy relates to peace in the hermeneutic reading of Sermon 40 of Nahj-al Balaghah with its historical narratives. According to the available data, the category of peace and reconciliation has a very practical and obvious manifestation in Imam’s theoretical and practical biography, the implications of which are exposed in the article.One of the results of applying the theoretical framework of the stated method is that in Sermon 40 the novelty of Ali’s (AS) way of thinking regarding peace and reconciliation is emphasized and leading the society towards security and tranquility in critical social conditions is a category that Alavi discourse takes the lead.The expert audience, in the process of reading the text, is guided to ascertain the semantic layers below the text and it seems that the analysis of the semantic infrastructure of Sermon 40 from the context of grammatical and psychological interpretation paradigm in author-centered hermeneutics, can express the spirit and judgment of the Imam and his comprehensive antidote personality. He is both a hero of peace as well as of war, he makes and maintains peace as long as the Muslim community is secured, and that tranquility and dignity prevails in the society. He fights as long as it is proven that the discourse of peace has become slow.