Abbas al-Musawi ( ; ; 26 October 1952 – 16 February 1992) was a Lebanese Shia cleric who served as the second

secretary-general of Hezbollah The secretary-general of Hezbollah () is the highest position within Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. The current holder of the position is Naim Qassem, who was appointed on 29 October 2024, a mo ...

from 1991 until his assassination by Israel in 1992.

Early life and education

Al-Musawi was born into a

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

family in the village of

Al-Nabi Shayth Al-Nabi Shayth (, lit. Prophet Seth) is a village in eastern Lebanon, located in the Beqaa Valley and Baalbek District. The village's name comes from the considered burial-site of Seth the son of Adam. A mosque was built on the burial site and i ...

in the

Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley (, ; Bekaa, Biqâ, Becaa) is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to th ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

on 26 October 1952. He spent eight years studying theology in a religious school in

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

, Iraq, where he was deeply influenced by the views of Iranian religious leader

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

. Al-Musawi was a student, at the ''

hawza A hawza () or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah () is the collective term (plural hawzat) for a ''madrasa'' (i.e. seminary) where Marja', Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated. The word ''ḥawzah'' is Arabic, and has been adopted into Persian as a loan word. ...

'' in Najaf, of

Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (; 1 March 1935 – 9 April 1980), also known as al-Shahid al-Khamis (), was an Iraqi Islamic scholar, philosopher, and the ideological founder of the Islamic Dawa Party. He was the father-in-law to Muqtada al-Sadr, ...

, an influential Shi'a cleric, philosopher, political leader, and founder of the Da'wa Party of Iraq.

Activities

Al-Musawi returned to

in 1978. Along with Subhi al-Tufayli he spearheaded the formation of

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

movement in the

in 1982, one of the three major areas of Shia population in Lebanon. From 1983 to 1985 he was reported to have served as operational head of the Hezbollah Special Security Apparatus. From late 1985 until April 1988 he was head of Hezbollah's military wing, the Islamic Resistance. According to some reports (while others attribute the act to

Subhi al-Tufayli Subhi al-Tufayli (; born 1947) is a Lebanese senior Shi'ite cleric and politician who helped found Hezbollah in 1982 and served as its first Secretary-General of Hezbollah, secretary-general from 1989 until 1991. From a comparatively young age, ...

), al-Musawi was responsible for the abduction of Lt. Col William Higgins while commander of Hezbollah's Islamic Resistance (military wing). In 1991, Hezbollah had entered a new era with the end of both the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

and

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

as well as the

Taif Agreement The 1989 Taif Agreement (, ), officially known as the ('')'', was reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon". Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was designed to end the 15 y ...

and the release of the Kuwait 17 bombers. A new leader was thought to be needed to facilitate the release of the Western hostages held by Hezbollah and, more importantly, to shift Hezbollah's focus to resistance activity against Israel. Al-Musawi also promised to "intensify ezbollahmilitary, political and popular action in order to undermine the peace-talks." He did not support entering mainstream politics. Unlike other Hezbollah figures, he advocated the acceptance of Taif Agreement, which was the rejection of a theocratic state in Lebanon.

Assassination

Abbas al-Musawi Shrine in Seth Prophet Town

On 16 February 1992, Israeli Apache helicopters fired missiles at the three vehicle motorcade of al-Musawi in southern Lebanon, killing al-Musawi, his wife, his five-year-old son, and four others. Israel said the attack had been planned as an assassination attempt in retaliation for the kidnapping and death of missing Israeli servicemen in 1986 and the abduction of US Marine and UN peace-keeping officer

William R. Higgins William Richard Higgins (January 15, 1945 – July 31, 1989) was a United States Marine Corps Colonel (United States), colonel who was captured in Lebanon in 1988 while serving on a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission. He was held hosta ...

in 1988. Later it was revealed by Dieter Bednarz and

Ronen Bergman Ronen Bergman (; born June 16, 1972) is an Israeli investigative journalist and author. He previously wrote for ''Haaretz'', and as of 2010, was a senior political and military analyst for ''Yedioth Ahronoth''. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his co ...

that the original plan of Israel had been just to abduct al Musawi to ensure the release of Israeli prisoners. However,

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

, then Israeli chief of staff, convinced then Israeli Prime Minister

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir (, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh prime minister of Israel, serving two terms (1983–1984, 1986–1992). Before the establishment of the State of Israel, ...

to order his assassination. Bergman also said that some Israeli military officials had opposed the assassination, warning: "Hezbollah is not a one-man show, and Musawi is not the most extreme man in its leadership... l-Musawiwould be replaced, perhaps by someone more radical.” In retaliation, the

Islamic Jihad Organization The Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO; (OJI); ) was a Lebanese Shia Muslims, Lebanese Shia militia known for its activities in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War. The organization, advocating for the withdrawal of all Americans from Leba ...

attacked the Israeli Embassy in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, killing 29 civilians. After the attack, the Islamic Jihad Organization declared that it was carried out as revenge for the martyr infant Hussein, al-Musawi's five-year-old son, who had been killed with his father. On 7 February 1994, four Israeli soldiers were killed and three wounded in an ambush in southern Lebanon which Hezbollah announced was to mark the anniversary of al-Musawi’s death. There were no Hezbollah casualties in the attack. Al-Musawi was succeeded as Secretary General of Hezbollah by

Hassan Nasrallah Hassan Nasrallah (, ; 31 August 196027 September 2024) was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024. Bor ...

. Nasrallah would prove to be a more effective leader than Al-Musawi, increasing Hezbollah's power and influence significantly. Nasrallah was assassinated in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

by an Israeli airstrike on 27 September 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Musawi, Abbas 1952 births 1992 deaths Aerial operations and battles involving Israel Assassinated Shiite clerics Musawis Hezbollah founders Assassinated Hezbollah members Assassinated Lebanese politicians 20th-century Lebanese politicians Lebanese Islamists Lebanese Shia clerics People murdered in Lebanon Secretaries-general of Hezbollah South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) Twelvers Islamic Dawa Party politicians Targeted killing by Israel Assassinations in Lebanon People killed in the Lebanese Civil War Asian politicians assassinated in the 1990s Politicians assassinated in 1992 Deaths by Israeli airstrikes