The Politicization of Shi’i Islam in Lebanon
By Meagan Dashcund
Although Shiism was always an influential force in the Lebanese government, the politicization of Shiism in Lebanon began with the rise of Musa al-Sadr and the aforementioned Movement of the Deprived. Musa al-Sadr was a highly influential political figure who was the successor of the first Lebanese Shiʿi spiritual leader, Sayyid ‘Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din. Musa al-Sadr became the founder of the Shiʿi power base in Lebanon upon Sayyid al-Din’s death in 1957 and appealed to the large Shiʿi farming communities in the south. He helped create the supreme National Shiʿi Council, which was responsible for the representation of all Lebanese Shi’a and the promotion of the underdeveloped southern Shiʿi communities. He occupied the role of the council’s presidency in 1967. The position weakened his resolve towards the use of sectarianism to be reconstructed as a form of pluralism and a balance of sects that would lead to national modernity. He eventually discovered that bridging the divide between the Lebanese Shiʿi communities and the rest of Lebanon through politics was futile and became very vocal on the importance of modern citizenry despite state support, or lack thereof. In May 1967, he led a national strike against the Lebanese government that eventually gave rise to the movement of the mahrumin, the dispossessed. The mahrumin became the voice for the lower classes and their complaints, particularly those of the agricultural and industrial communities. Once more, the political and economic inequality of the Shiʿi community was voiced, and attracted other groups such as leftists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Leninist and Maoist activists, and eventually Khomeinists. The Movement of the Deprived occurred in 1973, and was the basis for the creation of the politico-military Shiʿite organization, AMAL, in 1975. The name AMAL is an acronym meaning “hope for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments” (Afwaj al-muqawama al-lubnaniyya).
Musa al-Sadr disappeared in 1978 on a trip to Libya, but his revolutionary ideology lived on in AMAL. The group transformed from a paramilitary organization into a political party that fought for the rights and development of the southern Shiʿi communities. The group was then inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran (1979) and the Islamist movements in Najaf and Karbala. By the time Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to eradicate the Palestinian forces living there, the Lebanese Shiʿi communities had begun identifying themselves with martyrdom and self-sacrifice in the face of injustice, resulting in resentment against the Israelis. It is important to note here that many Lebanese Shia refer to the Islamic Revolution in Iran as the “pivotal catalyst for mobilization and religious reform within their community”.
The “awakening” of the Lebanese Shiʿites on the Lebanese and international political stages was only realized by others in 1983 when the community became politically and militarily invested in the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) had made part of the land in southern Lebanon their sphere of operations. The region of land taken up by the PLO was often a battleground between Palestinian and Israeli forces, and was the stage for many of the conflict between the two groups, which escalated in the 1970’s. The Lebanese Shiʿi community was divided on this matter with individuals either aiding the Palestinians in the south or resisting their presence through armed conflict. The ideologies of the Iranian Revolution alongside the pressures of Israeli forces from the south encouraged the impending Islamist revolution in Lebanon and paved the way for the rise of Hezbollah.