Shi’i Islam in Lebanon
By Meagan Dashcund
The Shiʿi community in Lebanon has been prevalent since the early 7th century, although the specific way in which the religion was introduced to the region is uncertain. The divergence between Sunni and Shiʿi Islam began at the time of the death of Mohammad. Shiʿi Muslims believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) cousin and son-in-law, is the true successor to the Prophet himself. Sunni Muslims, however, believe that the Prophet’s father-in-law, Abu Bakr, is the successor and was, therefore, appointed as the first caliph after Mohammad’s death. After Abu Bakr’s death in 634, almost all the tribes within the Arabian Peninsula had been introduced to Islam to some extent.
The debates around the issue of succession and the identity of the imam (leader) have resulted in numerous splits in the Islamic umma (community), and are the main distinctions between the beliefs of the dominating Sunni community and those of the Shiʿi community. The relationship between these two communities within Lebanon has continued to influence the development of the two sects, but the growing divide between the two has not solely relied upon the disputes of succession. Further aggravation of the hostility between the two came with the Iraqi revolution in 1920. This revolution was led by Shi’i religious scholars who had created an army intended to push the British out of Mesopotamia. Their eventual defeat forced many to flee or enter into exile, inspiring an increase of religious scholars in Iran. While this event did not affect the Shia in Lebanon, the rise in Shiism in Iran would impact the Iranian Revolution almost half a century later. Significant for Lebanon’s Shi’i influence was after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, when Greater Lebanon was created under French colonial rule. While not under British rule, Lebanon was open to the Shi’i, and this led to exiles settling there.
The major Shiʿi populations within Greater Lebanon resided in Ba’labak in North-Eastern Lebanon and al-Hirmil in the South. These populations were much poorer than other religious communities throughout Lebanon, particularly in comparison to the Maronite and Sunnis. They were vastly illiterate, had the lowest representation of all Lebanese religious groups within the government, and lived in isolated, rural areas where private sharecroppers were often exploited within a quasi-feudal system. In 1930, a French report on the southern Lebanon Shiʿi communities noted the cultural inferiority of the communities in comparison to the rest of Lebanon due to the communities’ isolation. This cultural “retardation” resulted from the low priority given to the Shiʿi communities from the French colonials, which consequently pushed the Shiʿi communities away from the nationalism of Grand Liban.
In 1943, the Maronite and Sunni leaders of the Lebanese government created the National Pact. The Pact declared Lebanon an independent state. It was also an agreement between the Maronite president and the Sunni prime minister at the time that a Maronite would always hold the office of presidency and a Sunni would always be the prime minister. It was as recent as 1947 that the speakership of the parliament was reserved for a Shia. This was an unwritten agreement that influenced the way power would continue to be distributed in the Lebanese government until today. It also encouraged the government system to use confessionalism to structure the religious affiliation of its citizens. This term is considered anti-government in Iraq, but the Lebanese consider it a fact of life. Thus, many Lebanese parties are overtly organized along sectarian lines, most notably Amal and Hezbollah.