Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment feeling itself a nation.
-- Lebanese Poet
Kahlil Gibran
The author of The Prophet could not have provided a more fitting epithet for his own tortured homeland. In Lebanon, moreover, even the fragments have - fragments. The country is split not just between Christians and Muslims. The Christian community is composed of both Maronites and Greek Orthodox; the Muslim one is made up of Sunnis, Shi'ites and Druze. In the chaotic redistribution of power now taking place, the most serious challenge has come from Lebanon's Shi'ites, who constitute some 40% of the population but have long been relegated to second-class citizenship. In the process of winning an enhanced status, however, the Shi'ites have become a dangerously radicalized and fractious lot. The outcome of the internecine disputes within this branch of Islam could have a profound effect on the larger struggle for political control in Lebanon and on the outcome of the current hostage crisis.
Shi'ite 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.
In 1975, by 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 was something to the recent events resembling a millennial fulfillment."
Amal became not only one of Lebanon's most potent military forces but also a major political influence. Both characteristics came into prominent display following Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Under the leadership of Nabih Berri, Amal has forged an on-again-off-again alliance with the Druze forces of Walid Jumblatt and sometimes serves as the agent of Syria, a major force in the Lebanese conflict. In February 1984, Berri persuaded Shi'ite members of the Lebanese Army to defect to Amal, which proceeded to take control of West Beirut.