ATLANTA, USA, Oct 1 (IPS) – There is no doubt that Hassan Nasrallah was a powerful orator. He could delight – even adoration – millions of followers through his deep voice, logic, passion and humor.
Now that he is gone, the powerful Shiite organization Hezbollah in Lebanon has been greatly weakened – experts say. While that may be true in an operational sense in the short term, it may not prove to be the case in the long term. Nasrallah is much stronger dead than alive.
The reason is that martyrdom has a unique place and power in Shia Islam from the beginning until now. The many historical martyrs from Ali, the seventh-century son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Shia Imam, to the recent messiah-like figure Ayatollah Khomeini (1902-1989) continue to be honored, celebrated, and petitioned for. for help today.
They are much like Catholic saints, only their powers are much greater in stirring and motivating their followers, even centuries later.
Consider the annual Ashura commemorations on the tenth day of the month of Muharram, which mourn the martyrdom of Husayn, the third Shia Imam, who died in Karbala, Iraq, in 680 AD. Ashura, and especially the death of Husayn, captures the eternal struggle of good versus evil, which is why it remains such a powerful force in Shia Islam today.
No one should take lightly this passion for justice, shared by millions of people.
Until recently, Ashura in Shia Islam consisted of thousands of condomless men beating themselves with knives, swords or sharp whips until blood flowed in mourning for Husayn’s martyrdom.
Controversial within Islam and now banned in its extreme forms in Iran and southern Lebanon, whips or chains are used instead, but in a few other places the bloody processions still continue.
Nasrallah’s death will inevitably lead to a similar sacrificial devotion, leading to more and more martyrs. In this sense, Shia Islam is uniquely equipped among the world’s religions to maximize mourning for martyrs and convert it into political-cum-military power.
Go to Iran and you will see processions of silent mourning and wild religious fervor. Visit the gigantic mosque dedicated to Khomeini, attracting hordes of pilgrims. Read the hagiographies written about him, which make him not just a messiah figure, but something akin to an angel from heaven.
What else can be the result of such devotion but a firm adherence to a policy of retaliation for the shedding of the blood of God’s holy saints and messengers?
But “Hezbollah is a terrorist organization,” some will say. Try telling that to the hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled this month’s Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon, or to those who endured a year of terrible terror, night after night, under Israeli bunker bombs in Gaza.
US President Biden said killing Nasrallah provides “a measure of justice”, but terror today is an equal opportunity tool used by both sides.
The history of Israeli terror in Lebanon is far greater than that of the combination of militias arrayed against Israel. It goes back at least four decades to their first major war and occupation of Beirut and South Lebanon in 1982. The killing of 106 children by the IDF in a school in Qana, South Lebanon in 1996 is one such example.
At this moment, no one on either side seems to have remembered the teaching of the greatest martyr of all: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Today’s Middle East is stuck in a cycle of retaliation. By weakening Hezbollah, Israel has sown the seeds of its future problems. The first rule of holes is: if you’re in a hole, stop digging.
James E. JenningsPhD is chairman of Conscience International www.conscienceinternational.org and executive director of US Academics for Peace. He provided medical aid to Palestinians during the siege of Beirut and in Gaza under Israel’s numerous occupations and bombardments.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service