Word: sadr
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...fortunes began to change in the 1960s, following the arrival in the coastal city of Tyre of Moussa Sadr, a highly educated Shi'ite cleric from the holy city of Qom in Iran. A charismatic preacher and shrewd organizer, Moussa Sadr formed a devoted following and in 1969 founded the Higher Shi'ite Council to represent Shi'ite interests to the Beirut government. The council worked for improved schools and hospitals in Shi'ite communities and distributed some welfare funds...
...then adorned with the messianic title of Imam, Moussa Sadr established and funded a Shi'ite militia named Amal, the Arabic word for "hope." Celebrating the deeds of Shi'ite warriors of the past, the Imam declared, "Arms were the adornment of men." Moussa Sadr then vanished in a manner guaranteed to immortalize him to his followers. On a visit to Libya in 1978, he simply disappeared. Many Shi'ites still believe that he remains the captive of Libyan Strongman Muammar Gaddafi...
Lebanese Shi'ites soon gained another source of inspiration: the Iranian revolution led by the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini. Moussa Sadr had supported Khomeini during the Ayatullah's long exile in Iraq and later in France. Fouad Ajami, director of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, describes the galvanizing effect of the Iranian upheaval in the spring issue of Foreign Affairs. "For the moderate Shia mainstream, this was a chance for the country's largest group to lay claim to its legitimate share of power," he says. "For more marginal and intemperate men, there...
...dramatic act of violence momentarily distracted Beirut last week: a Shi'ite Muslim splinter group blew up the Libyan embassy to protest the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr, their spiritual leader, who vanished while visiting Libya in 1978. Aside from that, life in the city was normal. On Wednesday four men were kidnapped, allegedly by Christian vigilantes. The next day, three Christians were abducted. And somewhere in the city, several more women suddenly agonized over whether they should hope or mourn. -By James Kelly...
Despite its increasing military muscle, the Amal has steered a relatively moderate course, rejecting the fanatical Islam associated with the Shi'ites of Iran's Ayatullah Khomeini. When Moussa Sadr mysteriously disappeared after a falling-out with Muammar Gaddafi during a visit to Libya in 1978, he was soon succeeded by the forceful Berri, a lawyer by training, who quickly won a reputation for keeping his own counsel. Like other Muslim leaders, Berri has fiercely opposed the Christian Phalangists. But although the Amal gets much of its financial and military support from the Syrians, Berri has refused...