This comprehensive and thought-provoking volume examines the role and function of religion in Hezbollah’s political strategy in the context of contemporary Lebanese politics and global security. The book demonstrates how Hezbollah uses religious mechanisms such as taklif shari (religious assessment), ijtihad (interpretation) of jihad, and fatwa (religious verdict) as political tools to mobilise the Shi’a in Lebanon and the Middle East and to build political support. The comprehensive content analysis scrutinised speeches of Hezbollah Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, from 2000 to 2013. The results provide and inform a wide-scoping discussion of Nasrallah’s uses of rhetorical devices and context to imbue religious elements into Hezbollah politics to mobilise and motivate supporters. Additionally, a case study analysis of Hezbollah’s intervention in the Syrian conflict is also included. This further demonstrates Hezbollah’s strategic use of political pragmatism and religious rhetoric to link its political and military agendas and to transition the Party from a resistance group in Lebanon to a regional actor with a regional priority. As such, readers are provided with new and interesting insights into Hezbollah’s ideology and identity as a domestic and regional non-state actor, and the social mobilisation of Shi'a in Lebanon and the region. Providing a nexus between religion, politics, and security, the book will be a key resource for students and researchers interested in religious studies and Middle East politics.

'Her dissection of Hizbullah's worldview is instructive. She treads carefully.' --The Jerusalem Post

The original analysis in this book presents a new and comprehensive narrative of social welfare in the Middle East through an examination of the role of religious welfare.

For thirty years, Hezbollah has played a pivotal role in Lebanese and global politics. That visibility has invited Hezbollah’s lionization and vilification by outside observers, and at the same time has prevented a clear-eyed view of Hezbollah’s place in the history of the Middle East and its future course of action. Dominique Avon and Anaïs-Trissa Khatchadourian provide here a nonpartisan account which offers insights into Hezbollah that Western media have missed or misunderstood. Now part of the Lebanese government, Hezbollah nevertheless remains in tension with both the transnational Shiite community and a religiously diverse Lebanon. Calling for an Islamic regime would risk losing critical allies at home, but at the same time Hezbollah’s leaders cannot say that a liberal regime is the solution for the future. Consequently, they use the ambiguous expression “civil but believer state.” What happens when an organization founded as a voice of “revolution” and then “resistance” occupies a position of power, yet witnesses the collapse of its close ally, Syria? How will Hezbollah’s voice evolve as the party struggles to reconcile its regional obligations with its religious beliefs? The authors’ analyses of these key questions—buttressed by their clear English translations of foundational documents, including Hezbollah’s open letter of 1985 and its 2009 charter, and an in-depth glossary of key theological and political terms used by the party’s leaders—make Hezbollah an invaluable resource for all readers interested in the future of this volatile force.

"Hezbollah provides a new, grounded analysis of the controversial and misunderstood Lebanese party. Where previous books have focused on aspects of the party's identity, the military question or its religious discourse, here Joseph Daher presents an alternative perspective, built upon political economy. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Lebanon and dozens of interviews, as well as new archival and other primary sources, Daher's analysis confidently positions Hezbollah within socio-economic and political developments in Lebanon and the Middle East. He emphasises Hezbollah's historic ties with its main sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran, its media and cultural wings and its relationship with Western economic policies. Further chapters examine the party's policies towards workers' struggles and women's issues, and its orientation towards the sectarian Lebanese political system. An analysis of a topic which remains central to our understanding of one of the world's most tumultuous and politically unstable regions."--Publisher's description.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Islamist organizations' conceptions of political order based on a comparative case study of the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah and the Sunni Palestinian Hamas. Connecting Islamism research, Critical Constructivist norm research, and resistance studies from the field of International Relations Theory, it demonstrates that resistance constitutes both organizations' core norm and is relevant for their conceptions of political order. Based on primary Arabic data the book illustrates that the core norm of resistance, deeply intertwined with both organizations' interactions towards power preservation and the specific political context they are engaged in, characterizes Hezbollah's and Hamas' respective conceptions of political order and explains the differences between them. In contrast to common perceptions presented in research, politics, and the media, the book shows that in the case of both Hezbollah and Hamas the religious orientation, i.e. Shiite and Sunni Islamist political thought, plays a secondary role only when it comes to explaining Islamist organizations' political orientation. Bringing new insights from cases that lie beyond the Western liberal world order into Critical Constructivist norm research and resistance studies, the book establishes a theoretical framework that enables scholars to comprehensively analyze Islamist organizations' political orientation in different cases without being caught in limited analytical categories. It will be of interest to students and scholars of International Relations Theory, Middle East Studies, and Global Governance.

Drawing on first-hand interviews with rank and file members of Hezbollah, the author illuminates the inner workings of this Islamist terrorist group.