Table Of ContentLEBANESE SHI‘ITE
LEADERSHIP,
1920–1970S
Personalities, Alliances,
and Feuds
Omri Nir
L ebanese Shi‘ite Leadership, 1920–1970s
O mri N ir
L ebanese Shi‘ite
Leadership,
1920–1970s
P ersonalities, Alliances, and Feuds
O mri N ir
I slamic and Middle Eastern Studies
H ebrew University
J erusalem, I srael
I SBN 978-3-319-43013-3 ISBN 978-3-319-43014-0 (eBook)
D OI 10.1007/978-3-319-43014-0
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M ap of Lebanon
v
C ONTENTS
1 I ntroduction 1
2 M ain Classes in the Traditional Lebanese
Shi‘ite Community 1 5
3 T he Centers of Power 35
4 T he Speakership of the Parliament 79
5 T he Intellectuals and the Power Centers 87
6 T he Decline of the Zu‘ama 9 5
Conclusions 17
Bibliography 121
Index 127
vii
C HAPTER 1
I ntroduction
A bstract T he chapter introduces the background required to understand
the Shi‘ite leadership in Lebanon from 1920 to the 1970s. It provides a
brief history of Shi‘ies in Lebanon and explains the differences, relevant to
the book, between the Shi‘ies of Jabel-‘Amil (south Lebanon) and those
of the Lebanese Biqa‘ (eastern valley). It also explains the inf uence of
certain elements of Shi‘ite life in Lebanon, such as communal elites, back-
wardness and poverty versus modernity, as well as geographical and demo-
graphic impacts.
K eywords J abel-‘Amil • a l-Biqa‘ • T he Lebanese question
T his book deals with the leadership of the Shi‘ite community in Lebanon,
in the period between the establishment of the Lebanese State in 1920
and the late 1970s. During these years, Lebanon evolved from a French
mandate to an independent state, struggling with internal problems and
regional challenges. The book focuses on the structure of power groups
and alliances within the Lebanese Shi‘a leadership, including key person-
alities. It does not deal with the role of the Shi‘ite leadership in issues on
the Lebanese agenda or its inf uence on Lebanese politics.
T he Lebanese Shi‘ies belong to Twelver Shi‘ism, which is the main-
stream of Shi‘ite Islam. It considers itself a continuation of the dynasty
of ‘Ali Iben Abu Talib, the fourth Islamic Khalifa and the f rst Shi‘ite
© The Author(s) 2017 1
O. Nir, Lebanese Shi‘ite Leadership, 1920–1970s,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43014-0_1
2 O. NIR
I mam. The Twelver Shi‘ies believe in the dynasty of I mams, ending with
the twelfth and last Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, who disappeared in
874 C E. In the past, the Lebanese Shi‘ies were called “Mutuala”, a term
that apparently originated from the letters ‘A.l.i, which stand for loyalty,
reliability, sponsorship, kinship and ally. The term M utawila became com-
mon after the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), based on the appellation
“Tawilat Aahl al-Bayt”, meaning trustees or representatives of Islam. It
was a common term among the Shi‘ies, who used it to inspire faith and
1
pride among the young in times of crisis.
S hi‘ite Islam arrived in Lebanon in the mid-seventh century when
Dhaher al-Ghafri, one of the Prophet Mohammad’s escorts, was sent into
exile in Syria by Khalif ‘Othman ben ‘Afan. Mu‘awiya ben Abu-Safyan,
the governor of Damascus and nephew of the Khalif, kept him away from
D amascus, so he settled in the southwest of the city, in the area later called
J abel-‘Amil. The name originated from the settlement in this area of the
al-‘Amila tribe, which had traveled from Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula.
Al-Ghafri lived in the village of Miss-Jbeil and preached Shi‘ite Islam
among the sparse C hristian population living in the area. At the beginning
of the Abbasid period in the mid-eighth century, during the days of the
Shi‘ite Imam Ja‘af ar al-Sadiq, Shi‘a had become an existing religious in
Lebanon. It accepted J a‘afari jurisprudence (a l-Madhab al-Ja‘afari) in
Islam, which includes a complementary system of beliefs, a legal theory
and an entire way of life.
T he decline of the Abbasid Sunni regime in Baghdad during the tenth
century led to the weakening of Sunni leaders around the Muslim world
and strengthened local Shi‘ite dynasties. In northern Syria, Twelver
Shi‘ism f ourished in several places: around the city of A leppo through the
H amadi (Hamadeh) dynasty (945–1055), in the city of Tripoli under the
emirate of A bu Talib ben ‘Ammar, in the area of S idon (Saida) under the
emirate of B ani-Mirdas (1021–1028) and in the city of Tyre under ‘ Ein
2
al-Dawla bin Abi ‘Aqil.
D uring the f rst centuries of Shi‘ite settlement in geographic Syria
(B ilad a-Sham ) , the Twelvers settled in K israwan in the northern part
of M ount Lebanon and in the Biqa‘ (the Lebanese valley). However, as
Abbasid rule declined and the Mamluk sultans rose to power, the new rul-
ers pushed the last of the Crusaders out of Syria and directed their military
campaigns against Kisrawan. In the last campaign, which took place in
July 1305, the M amluks, who were characterized by religious intolerance,
drove most of the Shi‘ies out of the area. Some Shi‘ies sought refuge in
the towns of Ba‘albek in northern Biqa‘, J ezzine in the mountains to the
INTRODUCTION 3
south and in several points around the cities of B eirut and Sidon. Most of
them, however, settled in the hills south of Mount Lebanon, in the region
3
of Jabel-‘Amil. During this period an ethnic shift occurred, resulting in
the dominance of Christian Maronites in Mount Lebanon. As a result,
many Shi‘ies exercised the religious duty called T aqiya , which requires
concealment of the Shi‘ite faith in times of danger. By doing so, they also
managed to preserve small communities of Shi‘ies in the mountains north
of Jbeil.
T he state of Lebanon, or “G reater Lebanon” (G rand Liban, L ubnan
al-Kabir) , was established by F rance in September 1920 as a separate
entity from Ottoman Syria. From the 1516 Ottoman occupation of
Lebanon to the F irst World War in 1914–17, the territory of what is today
Lebanon evolved in a way that was unique in the Arab Middle East. Under
the Ottomans, Syria was divided into administrative provinces (V illayet) .
The Shi‘ies in the Biqa‘ became part of the province of Damascus, while
the Shi‘ies of Jabel-‘Amil lived in different provinces, such as Damascus,
Beirut and Sidon, according to the Ottoman administrative divisions,
which were modif ed from time to time. The Shi‘ite population was not
directly governed by Ottoman rule, but, rather, lived under the system
of I qta‘, in which local people, M uqta‘ajiyun (M uqta‘aji for an individ-
ual), were given the authority to collect taxes. This system was established
during the Mamluk period and was preserved until the radical Ottoman
reforms introduced from 1839 (a l-Tanzimat) . The Muqta‘aji stood at the
top of the social pyramid and had full control over social and economic
life, as well as limited judicial status in the area under his control (known
as A uhda) . The M uqta‘aji became the major intermediary between the
Ottoman rulers and the residents, mostly due to his authority as tax col-
lector for the Ottoman central treasury. This title was inherited and thus
“dynasties” of I qta‘ were established. Prominent among them in Jabel-
‘Amil were the Shi‘ite families of ‘ Ali al-Saghir, al-As‘ad, a l-Sa᾿ab and a l-
Munqir , and in Ba‘albek-H irmal in the western Biqa‘, the tribes H amadeh
and H arfush. Below the M uqta‘ajiyun in the social pyramid, with a lesser
degree of independence, were families of ‘ Ulama (religious scholars) who
came from all classes of society. At the bottom of the social pyramid were
commoners, known as the A ‘awam, or ‘Aamt al-Nas. Although the gov-
ernment, and thus the tax collection system, were replaced, this social
structure continued to characterize the Shi‘ite community until the last
quarter of the twentieth century, albeit with minor changes such as replac-
ing the M uqta‘ajiyun with Z u‘ama and creating sub-classes within the
three layers of the society.
4 O. NIR
T HE SHI‘IES OF JABEL-‘AMIL
T he political history of the Shi‘ies in Jabel-‘Amil can be divided into six
periods. The f rst period was from the arrival of the al-‘ Amila bin Saba tribe
from Yemen in the seventh century until the Ottoman conquest in 1516.
The second was from the beginning of Ottoman rule until the death of the
great Shi‘ite feudal leader ‘ Ali Bek al-As‘ad in 1865, which symbolized, in
many respects, the decline of the M uqta‘ajiyun in Jabel-‘Amil. Following
the death of ‘Ali Bek al-As‘ad, the u niformity of Jabel-‘Amil, which was
unique in its consisting of one feudal unit, and the dominance of the al-
As‘ad family declined. The third period was from 1865, when the area was
under direct Ottoman rule, until 1918 (although off cially 1915), when
the Ottoman Empire collapsed during the First World War. The fourth
was from 1918 to 1943 or 1946, the period during which Jabel-‘Amil
was under European rule, mostly French but also British. During the f fth
period it was part of the independent Lebanese state, and during the sixth
it was under I sraeli occupation, in the years 1982–2000.
T he traumatic c ollective memory of t he Shi‘ies in Jabel-‘Amil goes
back to the mid-eighteenth century. This memory is the basis for some
behavioral patterns. At that time, the Shi‘ies supported the Ottoman W ali
(governor) of Sidon, D hahir al-‘Omar, who rebelled against the Ottoman
Sultan over high taxes. The good relations between the Shi‘ies and the local
ruler came to an end in 1770 at the initiative of the Shi‘ies, a move that
demonstrated the strength of the Shi‘ite s ociety in Jabel-‘Amil. However,
with the assassination of Dhahir al-‘Omar in 1776, the residents of Jabel-
‘Amil faced a diff cult period, the trauma of which left marks on the
Shi‘ite community for generations. ‘Omar’s successor, A hmed al-J azzar,
moved decisively and ruthlessly against anyone who had acted in the past
against the Ottoman regime. He killed thousands of Shi‘ies in Jabel-‘Amil,
including the Shi‘ite armed forces under the leadership of Sheikh Nasif
4
al-Nasser. According to Shanahan, the effects of al-Jazzar’s punitive rule
5
were still being felt by the Shi‘ies in the middle of the nineteenth century.
However, Shi‘ies subsequently established a pattern of collective resistance
against any occupying power and l ocal opposition movements became an
integral part of the local scene in Jabel-‘Amil. In later years, resistance was
directed against Ottoman rule, against the French Mandate and against
the Israeli occupation. After the death of al-Jazzar in 1804, Jabel-‘Amil
returned to the Iqta‘ system following an agreement between the new
6
W ali of Sidon and the local strongman of Jabel-‘Amil, F ares al-Nassef.
