Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (; 16 November 1935 – 4 July 2010) was a prominent Lebanese-Iraqi Twelver Shia cleric. Born in Najaf, Iraq, Fadlallah studied Islam in Najaf before moving to Lebanon in 1952. In the following decades, he gave many lectures, engaged in intense scholarship, wrote dozens of books, founded several Islamic religious schools, and established the Mabarrat Association. Through the aforementioned association, he established a public library, a women's cultural center, and a medical clinic.
Fadlallah was sometimes called the "spiritual mentor" of Hezbollah in the media, and is the Marja' of Naim Qassem, although his mentorship of Hezbollah was disputed by other sources. He was also the target of several assassination attempts, including the 1985 Beirut car bombing.
His death was followed by a huge turnout in Lebanon, visits by virtually all major political figures across the Lebanese spectrum, and statements of condolence from across the greater Middle East region; but it also led to controversy in the West and a denunciation in Israel.
Early life
Fadlallah was born in the Iraqi Shia shrine city of Najaf on 16 November 1935. His parents, Abdulraouf Fadlullah and al-Hajja Raoufa Hassan Bazzi, had migrated there from the village of 'Aynata in south Lebanon in 1928 to learn theology. By the time of his birth, his father was already a Muslim scholar.
Education
Fadlallah began his education starting with learning the Quran and the alphabet in seminary classes in a Quranic Kuttab School in Najaf, including basic skills of writing and reading. He later on began in an Islamic School in Najaf called Muntada al-Nashir which was recently formed at that time.Aziz, Talib. "Fadlallah and the Remaking of the Marja'iya". Published August 2001. Retrieved May, 2024.https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137996.003.0013
Poetry gave great inspiration to Fadlallah from magazines such as al-Katib published in Egypt and already from a teenager, he began to write poetry himself. He also showed critical views towards the occupation of Palestine in 1947 by publishing a poem for the public by the age of 12. By that time, he had begun his religious studies in a Hawza school. However, the Hawza school in Najaf focused exclusively on legal studies and his poetry was not well received. This did not stop him from continuing writing poetry and Najaf had a guiding school for poets called Muntada al-Nashir which he joined later on. He also got support from his uncle who was also a poet himself and meant that poetry was important to achieve greater understanding of Islam.Aziz, Talib. "Fadlallah and the Remaking of the Marja'iya". Published August 2001. Retrieved May 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137996.003.0013
Return to Lebanon After 21 years of studying under the prominent teachers of the Najaf religious university he concluded his studies in 1966 and returned to Lebanon. He had already visited Lebanon in 1952 where he recited a poem eulogizing Muhsin al Amin at his funeral.
In 1966 Fadlallah received an invitation from a group who had established a society called "The family of Fraternity" (جمعية أسرة التآخي Jam'iyat Usrat at-Ta'akhi) to come and live with them in the area of Naba'a in Eastern Beirut. He agreed, especially as the conditions at Najaf impelled him to leave.
In Naba'a, Fadlallah began his work by organising cultural seminars and delivering religious speeches that discussed social issues as well. These social issues encompassed improving education and expertise among the population in Lebanon. Fadlallah was quoted as saying, "We have to improve our education and gain more scientific knowledge. If we do not make the best of our time now, we will not be able to build our future or develop in the future." In addition to the academic work that Fadlallah did, he also opened up schools like the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib school in South Lebanon, Islamic centres like the large Islamic Center in Beirut, and orphanages like the Imam Al-Khoei Orphanage in Beirut.
His political activism thus mainly concerned improving education, healthcare and social services in Lebanon. During the Lebanese Civil War nevertheless, Fadlallah and his political activism was at its peak. His views then were against Western powers such as Israel and the United States, but also conservative Arab regimes, especially against the monarchy of Saudi Arabia, that allegedly tried to murder him while also killing several innocent people.
Fadlallah and Hezbollah
Many scholars and media in the Western and Arab world argued that Fadlallah was part of Hizbollah as they meant that the organization was heavily inspired by his ideas and guidance when they emerged and developed as a group. However, Fadlallah was never part of a political organization or any public religious institutions as he was 'above' politics. Hizbollah has also rejected this statement, claiming that Ayatollah Khomeini was their source of spiritual and political guidance, especially with regards to their resistance against injustice and occupation from Western powers. Fadlallah even chose to separate himself from the Iranian revolution, however he had a similar anti-west stance.
Some scholars, on the other hand, argue that Fadlallah had a clear relationship with Hizbullah . His ideas were inspired by religious thought but developed as a response to social and political struggles in the society, and he believed in empowering Islamist movements. His thought and guidance were connected to religious and political activism directed at fulfilling aims of Islam, and Hizbollah was central in the political field in Lebanon. Furthermore, Hizbollah's Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, has mentioned that Hizbollah was initially composed of fractions of different Islamic movements inspired by Fadlallah and his vision for the future.
Assassination attempts
As one of the alleged leaders of Hezbollah, a status both he and the group denied he was the target of several assassination attempts, including the allegedly CIA-sponsored and funded 8 March 1985 Beirut car bombing that killed 80 people.
On 8 March 1985, a car bomb equivalent to of dynamite exploded 9–45 metres from his house in Beirut, Lebanon. The blast destroyed a 7-story apartment building and a cinema, killed 80 people and wounded 256. The attack was timed to go off as worshippers were leaving Friday Prayers. Most of the dead were girls and women who had been leaving the mosque, though the ferocity of the blast "burned babies in their beds," "killed a bride buying her trousseau," and "blew away three children as they walked home from the mosque." It also "devastated the main street of the densely populated" West Beirut suburb. but Fadlallah escaped injury. Journalist Robin Wright quotes articles in The Washington Post and The New York Times as saying that according to the CIA, those responsible for the bombing were "Lebanese intelligence personnel and other foreigners" who had been "undergoing CIA training"The Washington Post, 12 May 1985 but that "this was not our [CIA] operation and it was nothing we planned or knew about."The New York Times 13 May 1985 "Alarmed U.S. officials subsequently canceled the covert training operation" in Lebanon, according to Wright.Wright, Robin, Sacred Rage : The Wrath of Militant Islam, Simon and Schuster, 2001 p. 97. According to Bob Woodward, CIA director William Casey was involved in the attack, which he suggests was carried out with funding from Saudi Arabia. "In his book Woodward portrays Casey as a wily and aggressive director who made the CIA his personal instrument of foreign policy. In early 1985 Woodward reports, Casey went "off the books" to enlist Saudi help in carrying out three covert operations. One was the attempted assassination of Sheik Fadlallah, who had been linked to the bombings in Beirut. After that plot failed, Woodward writes, the Saudis offered Fadlallah a $2 million bribe to cease his terrorist attacks. He accepted, and the attacks stopped. Woodward's account of the incident was denied last week by the Saudi press agency and by Fadlallah's office." Former Lebanese warlord and statesman late Elie Hobeika was accused as one of those likely responsible for the actual operation.
During the 2006 Lebanon War, Israeli warplanes bombed his two-story house in Beirut's southern Haret Hreik neighborhood. Fadlallah was not at home at the time of the bombing, which reduced the house to rubble.
Views
Fadlallah supported the Iranian Islamic Revolution in the beginning and criticized US and Israel for their policies in the Middle East which he often mentioned in his prayer sermons. In 1995 the US branded him as a terrorist and got therefore blacklisted. His views towards the Iranian revolution and the cleric changed over the years as his ideological standpoint became more moderate compared to the clerics in Iran.
U.S. foreign policy Due to US and their continuous support for Israel, Fadlallah called on countries in Middle East to boycott Israeli and American products and replace these products with European and Asian goods.
In November 2007, Fadlallah accused the United States of trying to sabotage the election in Lebanon: "The insanity of the U.S. president and its administration is reflected in Lebanon by their ambassador pressuring the Lebanese people and preventing them from reaching an agreement over the presidential election."
Though he welcomed the election of Barack Obama as the American president, the following year he expressed disappointment with Obama's lack of progress in the Middle East peace process saying he appeared to have no plan to bring peace to the region. Despite his criticism of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, he condemned the September 11 attacks in the United States as acts of terrorism.
Israel Fadlallah made statements in favour of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens. In a 2002 interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said:
His support for suicide bombings against Israel were based on the grounds that the latter uses advanced weaponry; it was also claimed that he wished that the state of Israel would cease to exist due to its occupation of Palestinian lands. Following the Mercaz HaRav attack, Fadlallah called the attack "heroic." Western sources also cite his favour for suicide bombings against Israeli citizens. Fadlallah explained the religious basis for suicide attacks in an interview with Daily Star."Fadlallah explains religious basis for suicide attacks " by Ibrahim Mousawi, 8 June 2002
In September 2009, Fadlallah issued a fatwa banning normalisation of ties with Israel. He also objected to any territorial settlement, saying "the entire land of Palestine within its historical borders is one Arab-Islamic country and no one has right to spare on[e] inch of it."
Fadlallah was often criticised for his attitude towards Israel and suicide attacks or martyrdom. He stated that if you get attacked you should be allowed to defend yourself in all possible ways. If suicide attacks are the last instance of self-defence, in Fadlallah's view this is justified even though they are directed against the civilian population.
For Fadlallah, Israel is the aggressor against whom one may defend oneself in any way due to Israel's strong superiority. Fadlalla argues that the West acts similarly and that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an example of how desperation justifies the use of weapons that are usually not considered normal in warfare.
Islamic governance