Milestones in the Imam Moussa Sadr’s Journey Imam Moussa Sadr Cultural & Research Institute-Tehran www.imamsadr.ir Born in Qom on 4 June 1928, and disappeared in Libya on 31 August 1978. 1928 Musa As-Sadr was born on 4th June in the city of Qom, Iran, to a family of scholars originating from Jabal Amel (South Lebanon). His great- Imam Moussa Sadr great-grandfather, Sayyid Salih, during his years of was born in Shhur, a village in studying at the hawza southern Lebanon, and traces his (Muslim faculty of jurisprudence) in genealogy to the seventh Imam of Qom the Shi‘i tradition, Musa Ibn Ja‘far (d.799). 1934 Enrolled in Qom elementary school, finishing his secondary school 3 studies in 1947. 1941 Began his religious studies in the Qom seminary (hawza), and continued his scholarly education, reaching the rank of mujtahid (scholar authorized to issue rulings independently) at an unusually young age. 1950 Enrolled in the faculty of law, within the department of economics at the University of Tehran. Graduated in 1953. Sadr was the first religious scholar to also receive a modern degree in law while continuing his studies and teaching in the hawza. Members of the Relief Committee for the South, Kfarshouba, following the Israeli aggression, 10/6/1975. Left to right: Pastor Basile Khoury, Maronite bishop of Saida and Deir el-Qamar; Sheikh Najib Qais, 1954 Druze cadi of Hasbaya; Imam Moussa Sadr, Chairman of the Committee; Pastor Boulos Khoury, Travelled to the holy city of Najaf to pursue higher religious studies. Greek-Orthodox bishop of Saida, Tyre and Marjeyoun; Sheikh Ahmad Zein, Sunni cadi of Saida and Hasbaya; Pastor Georges Haddad, Greek-Catholic bishop of Tyre and Marjeyoun Participated in the “Muntada Al-Nashr” group in Najaf and became Imam Moussa Sadr blessings and encouragements of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Borujerdi. with his paternal cousin, Ayatollah 1961 martyr Sayyid Sadr launched his social and institutional work, beginning with the Mohammad Baqer reorganization of Al-Birr wal-Ihsan Association”, a local charity which Sadr, summer of 1969 he overhauled and enlarged. This was followed by the establishment of educational, vocational training, healthcare, social and religious institutions, seeking in particular to empower women in social development work. He ran literacy courses, succeeded in abolishing beggary in Tyre and its environs, and established a charity fund for a vocational school in Jabal Amel. He appointed Dr. Mustafa Shumran to administer the vocational school which eventually graduated the leading figures in the resistance to Israeli repeated aggressions against Lebanese territory. 4 member of its administrative committee. The Muntada organized 5 cultural fora with the leading intellectual figures of the city. 1958 Returned to the hawza in Qom, where he participated in the establishment of Maktab-i Islam Magazine and became soon its chief editor. Maktab-i Islam was the first Islamic cultural magazine published in Qom, and was important in Iran’s intellectual renaissance. 1959 Participated with other leaders (including Ayatollahs Beheshti, Azari Qomi, and Makarem Shirazi) in the draft reforming the academic curricula in the hawza. At the end of the year, Sadr arrived in the city of Tyre (Sur) in Dr. Mustafa Shumran surrounded by Lebanon (after two previous visits in 1955 and 1957), where he started students at the Jabal working as cleric (imam with a small i), succeeding Sayyid Abd Al- Aamel Technical Hussein Sharafaddin, the leading Shi‘i scholar in the country, with the School 1963 1969 After a two-month visit to Europe, Sadr announced that the tour’s May 23 Sadr voted head of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council. Called objective was to get acquainted with new cultures and reach a better for the unification of religious rituals between all Muslim sects. understanding of their progress. He hoped that this would reflect on Warned about the rising Israeli threats, and emphasized his support for the development of work methodologies in charity, social and religious Palestinian resistance. institutions. June In a speech on 2 June, stated that the many sects of Lebanon are 30 June Sadr participated in the coronation of Pope Paul VI upon an windows of culture to the entire world. official invitation. He is the only Muslim cleric to be invited to the ceremony. In his meetings in the Vatican, exposed the suffering of the 1970 Iranian people and religious scholars under the rule of the Shah. Launched a media campaign to defend South Lebanon against Israeli Imam Moussa Sadr violations. Requested arming citizens and training them for defense giving a lecture in 1964 and called on people to stand their ground in their villages and not Dakar, Senegal, 1967 Began a cooperation with the members of “Al-Nadwa Al-Lubnaniyya emigrate. Also called for the activation of the conscription laws and the (the Lebanese Cénacle)”, which hosted him several implementation of development projects in the South. times for lectures on Lebanon. This forum, founded and directed Michel Asmar, was an important venue for May Formed “the Commission for Assisting the South” with the 6 intellectuals and scholars, and became a celebrated forum participation of the heads of the Lebanese sects. Called for a peaceful 7 for participants from all Lebanese communities. national strike. On 26 May, some fifty thousand people gathered near the Supreme Islamic Shia Council in Hazmiyya, Beirut. In response, 1966 the Lebanese government formed the “Council of the South”, with the August Held a press conference at the Press Syndicate aim of developing the south and alleviating its poverty. for a better organization of Lebanese Shi‘is. Based on wide-ranging studies and consultations, his efforts made August Toured several European countries to support the Palestinian cause, the Lebanese Parliament approve a law establishing the and held a press conference in Bonn to condemned the Judaization of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council in 1967. holy city of Jerusalem to the detriment of the other two world religions. 1967 Speech at a press meeting in France: “The catastrophe of Palestine is a Travelled to West Africa to meet with leading members black smear on the world’s conscience. The struggle of the Palestinian of the Lebanese community and connect them more people is in defense of all religions and the sanctity of Jerusalem. Israel intensively with the homeland. Met the presidents of Côte is a racist and expansionist state, and Lebanon’s coexistence of religions d’Ivoire and Senegal. President of Senegal and man of is a religious and cultural need for the world.” letters Léopold Sédar Senghor praised the Imam’s efforts March Mentioned again in Cairo that the coexistence of the sects in to spread kindness and nonviolence among citizens. Lebanon as a unique cultural experience in the world. 1971 1973 Sadr, now widely referred to as Imam (with a capital I), left Lebanon Imam Sadr announced in successive Friday prayers that efforts to seek on a tour which included Morocco, where, upon the invitation of freedom in Palestine also free Islamic and Christian holy sites, and King Hassan II, he lectured at the University of Al Qarwiyyin in Fes. humankind. Upon the outbreak of the October/Ramadan war between Visited Mauritania, Nigeria, and Egypt, where he participated in the Israel and the Arab countries, called for jihad and led a campaign to sixth conference of the Azhar Islamic Research Academy. Imam Sadr collect donations for the families of fighters. had been an active member of the Academy since 1968. Presented the Azhar public with 1974 several suggestions on national and Islamic Called in March for a rally in Baalbek, attended by a hundred thousand issues. people, and another in Tyre in May, attended by 150,000 people. Participants took an oath to stay mobilized until no deprived person or Visited in Egypt the front at Suez, where he area remain in Lebanon. The rallies led to the creation of the Movement spent several weeks and met the military of the Disinherited, and the issuance of the “Document of intellectuals” staff, acting as imam for prayer in its in support of the Movement. The document was signed by more than Imam Moussa Sadr mosques. Called for upholding religion and 190 leading public figures in Lebanon, representing all sects and at the Tyre rally, 5/5/1974 for jihad to free Palestine. Also suggested segments of society. a project of “jihad bonds” to activate grass root participation in the war against Israel. In a letter to British vicar Herbert Adams, talked about the harsh reality of the human condition in the Middle East. Emphasized the positive role of sects in Lebanon, but denounced the country’s sectarian regime as evil that covers up political feudalism. Imam Moussa Sadr dur- 1972 ing the sixth conference of the Islamic Research Issued a call from Jwaya, South Lebanon, on the dangers of Israeli Institute (Majma’), Cairo, aggression. To support the resilience of the people in the region, he 30/3/1971; Grand Imam intensified his political and media activities in statements to the national of Al-Azhar, Sheikh and international media, lectures and preaches in mosques, churches Mohammad Fahham, can and universities, warning from the consequences of the government’s also be seen in the picture neglect of its responsibilities in defending the South and in developing Lebanon’s deprived regions. Called for a regime based on religious values to replace both secular and sectarian regimes. Imam Moussa Sadr during a and end the sectarian conflict in Imam Moussa Sadr press conference, 1/1/1974; the two villages. protesting against the Sheikh Mohammad Yaacoub civil war in Lebanon at and Mr. Nabih Berri can also Announced the birth of the Al-Safa Mosque, summer be seen in the picture Lebanese Resistance Detachments, of 1975 ‘Amal’ in the Arab acronym.