A Word to the Readers

“Imam Ali and Political Leadership (Siyāsat Nāmeh)” is the most comprehensive and useful part of “The Encyclopedia of Imām Ali (a.s.) (Mawsu`a al-Imām Ali ibn Abi Tālib)”. It is the most perfect asset, for the organization of a well-founded Islamic Civilization and a system of ruling a state in today’s human society.
In reality, Imam Ali and Political Leadership is a book that speaks about the sovereignty of human values. Thus, this work is extremely helpful and instructive not only for the Islamic world and statesmen, but also for all those who suffer from the dominance of power, wealth and fraudulence under various names, and for those who yearn for the prevalence of values (of which its foremost is justice). Thus and for this reason, this part of the “Encyclopedia” was translated prior to other sections of this collection and presented as a separate volume to the interested readers.
Before reading this volume, respected readers are requested to consider the following points:
1. Imam Ali and Political Leadership is a complete translation [into English] of the fourth volume of The Encyclopedia of Imām Ali (a.s.) that also includes the Arabic text for those interested in hadith and historical texts in its source language.
2. The Introduction to this version of “Imam Ali and Political Leadership” is more detailed than the fourth volume of the Encyclopedia, consisting along with new points, an analytical explanation for the reasons of Imām Ali’s (a.s.) solitude towards the end of his ruling and also the reasons behind the disruption and discontinuity of his government despite his efficient policies.¹