Shi'a Islam in Lebanon
Encyclopedia
Shi'a Islam
constitutes between 40% to 47% of Lebanon's population, forming the fastest growing population (and the poorest) in Lebanon. Most of its adherents live in the northern and western area of the Beqaa Valley
, southern Lebanon and Beirut
's southern suburbs. The great majority of Shi'a Muslims in Lebanon are Twelvers, with a hundreds-large community of Ismaili
s.
and Mediterranean regions, and has been considered the Y-haplogroup most characteristic of the Phoenicians.
Lebanese Shi'a are said to have been among the original inhabitants of the Kesrewan region in the Mount Lebanon District, and it is also known that many Shi'a Lebanese come from Christian
and Pagan origins. They were converted at the hand of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari
. Abu Dharr was the prophet's companion; he was known for his strict piety and his opposition to the caliph
Uthman ibn Affan for his mishandling of power and wealth as a caliph. He was exiled by Uthman to Sham (modern day Syria
and Lebanon
), so that he would be under the eyes of Muawiya. That is when he converted the people of Lebanon to the Shi'a Muslim faith in the early 7th century AD. Later a Shi'a emirate was established in Keserwan. The growth of Shi'a Islam in Lebanon stopped around the late thirteenth century, and subsequently Shi'i communities decreased in size. This development may be traced to 1291, when the Sunni Mamluks sent numerous military expeditions to subdue the Shi'is of Kesrawan, a mountain region overlooking the coastal area north of Beirut. The first two Mamluk expeditions, sanctioned by the blood-thirsty jurist Ibn Taymiyyah the Takfiri
, were defeated by the Shi'a in Keserwan. The third expedition, on the other hand, was overwhelmingly large and was able to defeat the Shi'a in Keserwan; many were brutally slaughtered, some fled through the mountains to northern Beqaa
while others fled moving through the Beqaa plain, to a new safe haven in Jezzine
. Keserwan began to lose its Shi'i character under the Assaf Sunni Turkomans whom the Mamluks appointed as overlords of the area in 1306. The process intensified around 1545 when the Maronites started migrating to Keserwan and Jbeil, encouraged by the Assafs, who sought to use them as a counterweight to the Shi'i Himada sheikhs who reemerged in Kesrewan. When in 1605 the Druze emir Fakhr al-Din Ma'n II
took over Kesrewan, he entrusted its management to the Khazin Maronite family. The Khazins gradually colonized Kesrewan, purchasing Shi'i lands and founding churches and monasteries. They emerged as the predominant authority in the region at the expense of the Shi'i Hamedeh clan. By the end of the eighteenth century, the Khazins owned Kesrewan and only a few Shi'i villages survived. During the time of the Ottoman Empire
the Shi'as suffered religious persecution and were often forced to flee their homes in search of refuge in the South. One example is the Lebanese city of Tripoli
, which had formerly had a Shi'a Muslim majority. Many Lebanese Shi'a are rumored to have concealed their religious sect and acted as Sunni Muslims in fear of persecution. It is also rumored that some of the Shi'a permanently adopted the Sunni Muslim sect. The Ottomans and Druze
were well allied and a Druze family seized power of Tripoli. Maronites
who were persecuted by the Ottoman's and the Druze, sought refuge amongst the newly relocated Shi'a population in the South. Jezzine, once famously known as a Shi'a capital in Lebanon, is now known as a major Christian
city in the South. The Shi'is withdrew further south and eventually had to abandon even Jezzine, which until the mid-eighteenth century had functioned as a center of Shi'i learning in Lebanon.
Although the Jabal 'Amil enjoyed a degree of autonomy in the eighteenth century, this ended with the Ottoman appointment of Ahmad al-Jazzar as governor of Sidon province (1775–1804). Jazzar crushed the military power of the Shi'i clan leaders and burned the libraries of the religious scholars using the Druze tribes established in the Shouf, mainly the strong Nakad family, allied to the Maan. He established a centralized administration in the Shi'i areas and brought their revenues and cash crops under his domain. By the late eighteenth century, the Shi'is of the Jabal 'Amil lost their independent spirit and adopted an attitude of political defeat. Al-Jezzar was nicknamed "the butcher" and a big population of the Shi'a were killed under his rule in Lebanon.
During most of the Ottoman period, the Shi'a largely maintained themselves as 'a state apart', although they found common ground with their fellow Lebanese, the Maronites
; this may have been due to the persecutions both sects faced. They maintained contact with the Safavid dynasty, which they help establish the Shi'a Islam as the state religion of Persia. These contacts further angered the Ottoman Sultan, who had already viewed them as religious heretics. The Sultan was frequently at war with the Persians, as well as being, in the role of Caliph, the leader of the majority Sunni community. Shi'a Lebanon, when not subject to political repression, was generally neglected, sinking further and further into the economic background.
following the establishment of the Safavid state in 1501.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century the Comte de Volmy was to describe the Shi'a as a distinct society. The Sunni had attempted to resist the French mandate; and when they were defeated, refused to participate in the administration of what they considered to be an artificial political entity. Sunni opposition had aimed at the creation of a 'greater Syria', where the Shi'a would have been a permanent minority. Some Shi'a fought on the side of the French against the Druze
and Sunni Muslims. In the new state of Lebanon they acquired both an independence and a far greater political significance in relation to the size of their community. This was further emphasized by French colonial policy, which sought to reach out to the Shi'a, with the intention of preventing a possible alliance with the Sunni.
After independence in 1943, although the Shi'a remained part of Lebanon's delicate confessional and political balancing act, their homelands were still economically among the most backward areas. Many of them gravitated towards the slums of Beirut. In 1959 the Shi'a acquired a more determined and unique voice, when Musa al-Sadr
arrived from Qom to take up the position of Mufti. In 1967 he established a Supreme Islamic Shi'a Council, regulating the affairs of the community, and giving it as high a profile in the state as the corporate bodies set up by the Maronite, Sunni and Druze. People who had been carried along by left-wing and secular currents were slowly drawn back into a reinvigorated Islam, many joining Amal
, the militia founded by Sadr in 1974. The Amal movement was created to expel foreign forces from Lebanese land, solely the PLO at the time. During the late 1960s, the new home of the Shi'as in the South was to become home to Palestinian militants. The PLO set up a state within a state in South Lebanon and this angered the Shi'a community. Their fate had been sealed, once again living under an oppressor, the PLO wreaked havoc on the Shi'a of the South. The Shi'a feared an Israeli retaliation on the PLO because this meant they would have to pay the price for the actions of others. The PLO in Lebanon has been credited for destabilizing the country and causing religious tensions that led to the Lebanese civil war. For the people of the South their worst fear was realized when Israel invaded South Lebanon in 1978 in response to PLO rockets. Originally the Shi'a of Lebanon had welcomed the Israelis without hostility. The Israelis retaliated against the PLO severely and this resulted in a high number of Lebanese civilian casualties. Hostilities between the Shi'a of Lebanon and the PLO further deteriorated after this and the Shi'a created their own militia that aligned with the Christians against the PLO. The PLO did not stop in their rocket attacks against Israel nor did they stop terrorizing the Shi'a civilians of the South, Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. This resulted in a 20 year occupation of South Lebanon that ended in 2000 when the Israelis retreated. Hezbollah was originally created by the Iranian Revolution Guards using the Israeli 1982 invasion of South Lebanon,to spread their dogma all over Lebanon, in 1985. The invasion and occupation was devastating for the Palestinians while the Shi'a of the South under Amal
took upon themselves to cleasen the Palestinian Refugee Camps from the P.L.O. and other Palestinian Fidayeen. Thousands of Palestinain civilians were kidnapped to never be heard from again. This caused hostility against the Israelis. It is estimated that between June 6, 1982–January 1985 at least 30,000 Lebanese leftists and Palestinians civilians were killed.
Metawali refers to the Shia Muslim community with a significant presence in North Lebanon
(Kesrawan and Batroun
) and in the south, in the Beqaa
and the coastal towns south of Beirut
.
The jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire
was merely nominal in the Lebanon. Baalbek
in the 18th century was really under the control of the Metawali.
Seven Metawali villages that were included within the boundaries of the British Mandate of Palestine were depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
and repopulated with Jews. The seven villages are Qadas
, Nabi Yusha, al-Malikiyya
, Hunin, Tarbikha
, Abil al-Qamh
, and Saliha
.
Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī , meaning "followers of Ali", "faction of Ali", or "party of Ali".Like other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is...
constitutes between 40% to 47% of Lebanon's population, forming the fastest growing population (and the poorest) in Lebanon. Most of its adherents live in the northern and western area of the Beqaa Valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
, southern Lebanon and Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
's southern suburbs. The great majority of Shi'a Muslims in Lebanon are Twelvers, with a hundreds-large community of Ismaili
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
s.
History
Recent genetic testing has shown that nearly 40% of Lebanese Shi'a belong to the Y-DNA haplogroup J2. The J2 haplogroup is found at its highest frequency in the Fertile CrescentFertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, nicknamed "The Cradle of Civilization" for the fact the first civilizations started there, is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia. The term was first used by University of Chicago...
and Mediterranean regions, and has been considered the Y-haplogroup most characteristic of the Phoenicians.
Lebanese Shi'a are said to have been among the original inhabitants of the Kesrewan region in the Mount Lebanon District, and it is also known that many Shi'a Lebanese come from Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and Pagan origins. They were converted at the hand of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari
Jundub ibn Junādah ibn Sakan , better known as Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī was an early convert to Islam. When he converted, Muhammad gave him a new name, Abdullah. He belonged to the Banu Ghifar, the Ghifar tribe. No date of birth is known...
. Abu Dharr was the prophet's companion; he was known for his strict piety and his opposition to the caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Uthman ibn Affan for his mishandling of power and wealth as a caliph. He was exiled by Uthman to Sham (modern day Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
), so that he would be under the eyes of Muawiya. That is when he converted the people of Lebanon to the Shi'a Muslim faith in the early 7th century AD. Later a Shi'a emirate was established in Keserwan. The growth of Shi'a Islam in Lebanon stopped around the late thirteenth century, and subsequently Shi'i communities decreased in size. This development may be traced to 1291, when the Sunni Mamluks sent numerous military expeditions to subdue the Shi'is of Kesrawan, a mountain region overlooking the coastal area north of Beirut. The first two Mamluk expeditions, sanctioned by the blood-thirsty jurist Ibn Taymiyyah the Takfiri
Takfiri
A Takfiri is a Muslim who practices Takfir, which is to accuse other Muslims of apostasy. The term Takfir derives from the word kafir and is described as when "...one who is, or claims to be, a Muslim is declared impure." Those to whom Takfir is applied are considered excommunicated in the eyes...
, were defeated by the Shi'a in Keserwan. The third expedition, on the other hand, was overwhelmingly large and was able to defeat the Shi'a in Keserwan; many were brutally slaughtered, some fled through the mountains to northern Beqaa
Beqaa
Beqaa can refer to two places in Lebanon:* Beqaa Governorate* Beqaa Valley...
while others fled moving through the Beqaa plain, to a new safe haven in Jezzine
Jezzine
Jezzine is a town in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests, and at an average altitude of 950 m , it is the main summer resort and tourist destination of South Lebanon...
. Keserwan began to lose its Shi'i character under the Assaf Sunni Turkomans whom the Mamluks appointed as overlords of the area in 1306. The process intensified around 1545 when the Maronites started migrating to Keserwan and Jbeil, encouraged by the Assafs, who sought to use them as a counterweight to the Shi'i Himada sheikhs who reemerged in Kesrewan. When in 1605 the Druze emir Fakhr al-Din Ma'n II
Fakhr-al-Din II
Emir Fakhr-al-Din ibn Maan was the 1st prince of the State of Lebanon which has self-governed under the Ottoman Empire between the 17th and 19th centuries. Son of Prince Qorqmaz ibn Maan and Sit Nasab of the Tanukhi family, he was given the title "Emir" or Prince in Arabic because the Maan...
took over Kesrewan, he entrusted its management to the Khazin Maronite family. The Khazins gradually colonized Kesrewan, purchasing Shi'i lands and founding churches and monasteries. They emerged as the predominant authority in the region at the expense of the Shi'i Hamedeh clan. By the end of the eighteenth century, the Khazins owned Kesrewan and only a few Shi'i villages survived. During the time of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
the Shi'as suffered religious persecution and were often forced to flee their homes in search of refuge in the South. One example is the Lebanese city of Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
, which had formerly had a Shi'a Muslim majority. Many Lebanese Shi'a are rumored to have concealed their religious sect and acted as Sunni Muslims in fear of persecution. It is also rumored that some of the Shi'a permanently adopted the Sunni Muslim sect. The Ottomans and Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
were well allied and a Druze family seized power of Tripoli. Maronites
Maronites
Maronites , is an ethnoreligious group in the Middle East that have been historically tied with Lebanon. They derive their name from the Syriac saint Mar Maron whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria establishing the Maronite Church....
who were persecuted by the Ottoman's and the Druze, sought refuge amongst the newly relocated Shi'a population in the South. Jezzine, once famously known as a Shi'a capital in Lebanon, is now known as a major Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
city in the South. The Shi'is withdrew further south and eventually had to abandon even Jezzine, which until the mid-eighteenth century had functioned as a center of Shi'i learning in Lebanon.
Although the Jabal 'Amil enjoyed a degree of autonomy in the eighteenth century, this ended with the Ottoman appointment of Ahmad al-Jazzar as governor of Sidon province (1775–1804). Jazzar crushed the military power of the Shi'i clan leaders and burned the libraries of the religious scholars using the Druze tribes established in the Shouf, mainly the strong Nakad family, allied to the Maan. He established a centralized administration in the Shi'i areas and brought their revenues and cash crops under his domain. By the late eighteenth century, the Shi'is of the Jabal 'Amil lost their independent spirit and adopted an attitude of political defeat. Al-Jezzar was nicknamed "the butcher" and a big population of the Shi'a were killed under his rule in Lebanon.
During most of the Ottoman period, the Shi'a largely maintained themselves as 'a state apart', although they found common ground with their fellow Lebanese, the Maronites
Maronites
Maronites , is an ethnoreligious group in the Middle East that have been historically tied with Lebanon. They derive their name from the Syriac saint Mar Maron whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria establishing the Maronite Church....
; this may have been due to the persecutions both sects faced. They maintained contact with the Safavid dynasty, which they help establish the Shi'a Islam as the state religion of Persia. These contacts further angered the Ottoman Sultan, who had already viewed them as religious heretics. The Sultan was frequently at war with the Persians, as well as being, in the role of Caliph, the leader of the majority Sunni community. Shi'a Lebanon, when not subject to political repression, was generally neglected, sinking further and further into the economic background.
Historically
The Shi'i ulama of South Lebanon became famous not because of their activities in Ottoman Lebanon, but because of the role they played in spreading Shi'ism in IranSafavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism
The Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism made Iran the spiritual bastion of Shia Islam against the onslaughts of orthodox Sunni Islam, and the repository of Persian cultural traditions and self-awareness of Iranianhood, acting as a bridge to modern Iran...
following the establishment of the Safavid state in 1501.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century the Comte de Volmy was to describe the Shi'a as a distinct society. The Sunni had attempted to resist the French mandate; and when they were defeated, refused to participate in the administration of what they considered to be an artificial political entity. Sunni opposition had aimed at the creation of a 'greater Syria', where the Shi'a would have been a permanent minority. Some Shi'a fought on the side of the French against the Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
and Sunni Muslims. In the new state of Lebanon they acquired both an independence and a far greater political significance in relation to the size of their community. This was further emphasized by French colonial policy, which sought to reach out to the Shi'a, with the intention of preventing a possible alliance with the Sunni.
After independence in 1943, although the Shi'a remained part of Lebanon's delicate confessional and political balancing act, their homelands were still economically among the most backward areas. Many of them gravitated towards the slums of Beirut. In 1959 the Shi'a acquired a more determined and unique voice, when Musa al-Sadr
Musa al-Sadr
For the Twelver Shī‘ah Imām, see Mūsá al-KāżimMūsá aṣ-Ṣadr , also Musā-ye Sader and Moussa Sadr), was an Iranian-Lebanese philosopher and Shī‘ah religious leader who disappeared in August 1978...
arrived from Qom to take up the position of Mufti. In 1967 he established a Supreme Islamic Shi'a Council, regulating the affairs of the community, and giving it as high a profile in the state as the corporate bodies set up by the Maronite, Sunni and Druze. People who had been carried along by left-wing and secular currents were slowly drawn back into a reinvigorated Islam, many joining Amal
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...
, the militia founded by Sadr in 1974. The Amal movement was created to expel foreign forces from Lebanese land, solely the PLO at the time. During the late 1960s, the new home of the Shi'as in the South was to become home to Palestinian militants. The PLO set up a state within a state in South Lebanon and this angered the Shi'a community. Their fate had been sealed, once again living under an oppressor, the PLO wreaked havoc on the Shi'a of the South. The Shi'a feared an Israeli retaliation on the PLO because this meant they would have to pay the price for the actions of others. The PLO in Lebanon has been credited for destabilizing the country and causing religious tensions that led to the Lebanese civil war. For the people of the South their worst fear was realized when Israel invaded South Lebanon in 1978 in response to PLO rockets. Originally the Shi'a of Lebanon had welcomed the Israelis without hostility. The Israelis retaliated against the PLO severely and this resulted in a high number of Lebanese civilian casualties. Hostilities between the Shi'a of Lebanon and the PLO further deteriorated after this and the Shi'a created their own militia that aligned with the Christians against the PLO. The PLO did not stop in their rocket attacks against Israel nor did they stop terrorizing the Shi'a civilians of the South, Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. This resulted in a 20 year occupation of South Lebanon that ended in 2000 when the Israelis retreated. Hezbollah was originally created by the Iranian Revolution Guards using the Israeli 1982 invasion of South Lebanon,to spread their dogma all over Lebanon, in 1985. The invasion and occupation was devastating for the Palestinians while the Shi'a of the South under Amal
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...
took upon themselves to cleasen the Palestinian Refugee Camps from the P.L.O. and other Palestinian Fidayeen. Thousands of Palestinain civilians were kidnapped to never be heard from again. This caused hostility against the Israelis. It is estimated that between June 6, 1982–January 1985 at least 30,000 Lebanese leftists and Palestinians civilians were killed.
Metawali
- Mutawili or mutawalli is also the name of a trustee in Islamic waqfWaqfA waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
-system.
Metawali refers to the Shia Muslim community with a significant presence in North Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
(Kesrawan and Batroun
Batroun
The coastal city of Batroun located in northern Lebanon is one of the oldest cities of the world. Batroun is home to a Lebanese Red Cross First Aid Center.- Etymology :...
) and in the south, in the Beqaa
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
and the coastal towns south of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.
The jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
was merely nominal in the Lebanon. Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
in the 18th century was really under the control of the Metawali.
Seven Metawali villages that were included within the boundaries of the British Mandate of Palestine were depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
and repopulated with Jews. The seven villages are Qadas
Qadas
Qadas was a Lebanese village located 17 kilometers northeast of Safad that was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. One of seven Shiite Muslim villages called Metawalis that fell within the boundaries of British Mandate Palestine, Qadas lay adjacent to Nebi Yusha, near the tel of the...
, Nabi Yusha, al-Malikiyya
Al-Malikiyya
al-Malikiyya was a Lebanese village located in the Jabal Amil district of Lebanon. In a 1920s census, the village was registered as Lebanon. It was later placed under the British Mandate of Palestine. Its population was Metawali Shiite, and were originally considered to be from Lebanon...
, Hunin, Tarbikha
Tarbikha
Tarbikha is a former Palestinian village. It was located 27 km northeast of Acre in the British Mandate District of Acre that was captured and depopulated by the Israel Defence Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.-History:...
, Abil al-Qamh
Abil al-Qamh
Abil al-Qamh was a Palestinian Arab village located north of Safad and south of the Lebanese-Israeli border. It was built in a hilly area north of the Hula Valley.-History:...
, and Saliha
Saliha
Saliha is one of the Seven Lebanese Villages that was later transferred to the British Mandate of Palestine. Originally part of the Jabal Amel district of South Lebanon, this term has been historically used to denote the homeland of Shi'a Muslims in Southern Lebanon...
.
Notable Lebanese Shi'a Muslims
- Hassan NasrallahHassan NasrallahHasan Nasrallah, became the third Secretary General of the Lebanese political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah after Israel assassinated the previous leader, Abbas al-Musawi, in 1992. Hezbollah in its entirety is considered a terrorist organization by The United States, the Netherlands,...
- Leader of the group Hezbollah. - Bushra KhalilBushra KhalilBushra Khalil is a lawyer from Southern Lebanon. Originally from the town of Jwaya, Khalil graduated from the Lebanese University in 1979 with a Law degree....
- Lebanese lawyer, represented Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
during his trial - Musa al-SadrMusa al-SadrFor the Twelver Shī‘ah Imām, see Mūsá al-KāżimMūsá aṣ-Ṣadr , also Musā-ye Sader and Moussa Sadr), was an Iranian-Lebanese philosopher and Shī‘ah religious leader who disappeared in August 1978...
- Spiritual leader and founder of the Amal movementAmal MovementAmal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa... - Amal Saad-GhorayebAmal Saad-GhorayebAmal Abdo Saad-Ghorayeb is a Lebanese writer and political analyst known for her writings on the Israeli-Lebanese conflict and Hezbollah.-Life:...
- Lebanese writer and scholar