Hizbullah : Politics and Religion
KN Daruwalla ·       

The Hamas has overshadowed the Hizbu?llah for the time being, because the theatre of conflict and attrition has shifted to Israel and the West Bank. But when Lebanon was the main battlefield where the war, as also the proxy war between the Israeli and the Arab nations were being fought, the Hizbu?llah (or Hezbollah, as normally spelled) was very much in the eye of the storm. There were occasions when it was the storm itself. Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, was born in England to Lebanese parents, but emigrated to Lebanon, and is now an Assistant Professor at the Lebanese American University. She makes her intentions quite clear in her introduction when she says ??I was fascinated by this staunchly anti-Western, anti-Zionist, martyrdom-loving organization. As a Lebanese, I was appalled by the apparent ease with which this movement was accused of sundry terrorist activities by Western journalists and policy makers, and their insistence on referring to its guerrilla fighters, who were practicing their legitimate right to resist a foreign occupation, as terrorists.?

What Prof. Saad Ghorayeb sets out to prove is that Hizbu?llah is the largest political party in Lebanon and ?one of the most renowned Islamist movements in the world,? that it has to an extent freed itself from the Iranians, who had sired the movement, that its origins should be traced back to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and not to some messianic, fundamentalist motivation. She insists that the ?exclusionary? and intolerant policies followed by the first Secretary General Shaykh Subhi al-Tufayli, have given way to a ?politically inclusive and conciliatory discourse? initiated by Tufayli?s successors. The term inclusionary implies acceptance of living with Judaism and Christianity, political participation and acceptance of democracy and of the Taif Agreement and the Lebanese state as it exists. The trouble is you can?t run away from facts, and much of the evidence that she produces runs contrary to her thesis.

She produces no evidence to negate Hizbu?llah?s involvement in the kidnapping of Terry Waite, in the bombing of the US embassy in Beirut in April 1983 (63 killed), in the bombing of the US Marines? Barracks (241 killed), the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina (29 killed) or the attack on a Jewish cultural centre in London in 1994 which took a toll of hundred lives. Nor does she produce any evidence to prove that the roots of political mobilization of the Lebanese Shiites lie in political philosophy and not fundamentalism. There is no evidence to show that Hizbu?llah is now branching out on its own, cutting the umbilical ties with Iran, which had sent 1500 Pasdaran to Bekaa, triggering off the Hizbu?llah ?movement?. Its absolute hatred of Zionism, and by implication of Jews, its description of USA and Israel as the ?greatest abomination of our era,? its faith in the Vilayat-e-faqih concept, its criticism of democracy, its belief in the future reappearance of the hidden twelfth Imam who is in ?occultation? and who will come and turn the world into an ideal Islamic state are all typical of orthodox Shiite political philosophy-cum-theology. Obviously much of this stems from Iran, As also its division of the world into mustakbirin (oppressors) and mustadafin (oppressed) smacks of the influence of Ayatullah Khomeini.

The book elaborates on the orthodox Islamic opposition to democracy, firstly due to the tyranny of the majority, secondly the tyranny of the minority ( the elites, economic or social, capturing power and enslaving others) and lastly the odd objection that the present generation of voters can betray the cause of future generations , obviously without their consent. (Can?t the Vilayat-I-Faqih betray future generations?)

Her contention that Hizbu?llah?s anti-West stance is Israel-related is contradicted by her own quotes. Al-Mussawi, the Hizbu?llah leader declares that ?Islamic civilization is desired as an alternative to all civilizations? thus corroborating Samuel Huntington?s view that while political Islam ?is a problem for the West?, it is Islam, the civilization, ?whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture.? Islam especially resents the efforts of the West to ?civilize? the Muslims. Imperialism, colonialism, arrogance, blasphemy all these charges are leveled by Hizbu?llah, as by any other Muslim theologian from Syed Qutb to Maudoodi.

The author ignores lay readers. She never elaborates on the momentous 1943 National Pact which divided all public offices and seats in the legislature according to the 1932 population census. Nor are we given details of the Taif Agreement which negated the above pact. The chapter entitled ?Anti-Judaism? makes for sad reading. The Quranic Verses 79 and 80 of the ?Table? are quoted which ?explicitly characterize the Jews as evil.? Jews are even ?associated with Satan in verse 102 of the ?Cow?.? (Page 179) She justifies Hizbu?llah?s stance: ?The Quran?s depiction of the Jews as evil is echoed by Hizbu?llah ?? The Hizbu?llah has taken the political route and won 12 seats in the 1992 elections. It has followed the militant Islamic political philosophy of joining the democratic bandwagon, till it gets power. This book deserves to be studied to gain insights into the Hizbu?llah point of view.