The Shifts in Hizbullah’s Ideology

by Joseph Alagha

The Lebanese Shi‘ite resistance movement, Hizbullah, is going through a remarkable political and ideological transformation. Hizbullah was founded in 1978 by various sectors of Lebanese Shi‘ite clergy and cadres, and with Iranian backing as an Islamic movement protesting against social and political conditions. Over the years 1984/85 to 1991, Hizbullah became a full-fledged social movement in the sense of having a broad overall organization, structure, and ideology aiming at social change and social justice, as it claimed. Starting in 1992, it became a mainstream political party working within the narrow confines of its pragmatic political program. The line of argument in this dissertation is that Hizbullah has been adjusting its identity in the three previously mentioned stages by shifting emphasis among its three (1) from propagating an exclusivist religious ideology (2) to a more encompassing political ideology, and (3) to a down-to-earth political program.

380 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2006

Reviews

[Mona · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the few books available on the subject that does not depict Hezbollah from an orientalist point of view and rather aims to show the different stages of evolution the movement has been through. From strictly religious to political resistance against the Israeli occupation, Hezbollah has known many developments and Alagha does a very thorough job in explaining them all. The author also gives a lot of context, for example about Shia Islam, which is necessary to mention to understand the roots of the movement.

[Ege Efecik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Türkçe çeviri yazım hatalarıyla dolu.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The part arguing that Hizbullah has become independent - to a certain extent - from Iran and its Waliy al-Faqih was not convincing. I found that Alagha relies a lot on internal Hizbullah sources, and those will only give the image they want to give about themselves. Thus, in some parts, it seems that he is writing an official history of/for Hizbullah.
However, it gives a good (linear, somewhat boring) historical review about Lebanon, and a very good description, for example, of the role of the Waliy al-Faqih and the shifts in Hizbullah's official/declared positions and views.

[Bill Kyzner · Rating 5 out of 5]

In depth description of Hizbullah's tranformation from a strictly paramilitary organization to a hybrid political organization. In addition, there is an excellent section that describes some fundamental differences between shi'a and sunni muslims.