Hizbu'llah

Politics and Religion

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN: 9780745317939
• eBook ISBN: 9781849641210
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political History & Theory
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Hizbu'llah is the largest and most prominent political party in Lebanon, and one of the most renowned Islamist movements in the world. In this book, Amal Saad-Ghorayeb examines the organisation's understanding of jihad and how this, together with its belief in martyrdom, brought about the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Lebanon in May 2000. Saad-Ghorayeb explores the nature of the party's struggle against the West by studying its views on the use of violence against Westerners. Crucially, she also addresses the question of whether Hizbu'llah depicts this struggle in purely political or civilisational terms. The existential nature of the movement's conflict with Israel is analysed and the Islamic roots of its anti-Judaism is unearthed. The author explores the mechanics and rationale behind the party's integration into the Lebanese political system, and sheds light on how it has reconciled its national idenitity with its solidarity with the Muslim umma.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Political Accommodation and Violence in Non- Islamic States
• 2 The Islamic State and Democracy
• 3 The Concept of the Guardianship of the Jurisprudent
• 4 Islamic Universalism and National Identity
• 5 The Struggle with the West
• 6 The Resistance to the Israeli Occupation of South Lebanon
• 7 Anti- Zionism and Israel
• 8 Anti-Judaism
• Conclusion
• Appendix One: Miladi Equivalents to Hijri Years
• Appendix Two: List of Hijri Months
• Glossary
• Notes
• Select Bibliography
• Index