By Nohad Topalian | 2023-09-11

BEIRUT -- An attempt at silencing a Lebanese Shia cleric and several of his colleagues is part of Hizbullah's efforts to silence dissent among the sect, say observers.

The General Directorate for Religious Advocacy of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council of Lebanon, the country's top Shia religious authority, on August 16 issued a statement deeming 15 clerics -- most notably Sheikh Yasser Aoude -- unqualified to provide religious guidance.

Aoude was almost stripped of his religious status until the council later issued a statement saying that the position of the directorate did not represent its point of view.

The directorate's statement said the decision was based on a recommendation by the Evaluation and Co-ordination Committee of the Seminary Affairs Office.

It justified its decision by accusing the clerics of either ideological or behavioral "deviation" or ignorance of religious matters.

Despite the retraction, the directorate ordered the Jaafari courts not to recognize signatures from the 15 clerics on documents related to personal status law.

'Immense pressure'

Aoude, one of Hizbullah's most prominent critics, studied under late Shia scholar Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah.

He is known for speaking out against political and sectarian corruption in Lebanon and for his television programs that deal with jurisprudential, religious and social issues.

Aoude told Al-Fassel that he was targeted because "I exposed the corrupt, and because I am one of the clerics whose word is respected, and because I do not fear the corrupt."

"All my words and criticisms are directed at everyone, not just the Amal Movement-Hizbullah duo, because everyone took part in the corruption and bears responsibility -- from 30 years ago to date -- for the collapse that we have reached," he said.

"But my words bother the [Amal-Hizbullah] duo the most because there is a voice tweeting in disharmony with their internal politics."

The motive behind the statement was to silence dissent "because Hizbullah, in particular, does not tolerate dissenting voices, be they politicians or clerics," Aoude said.

"The Shia duo does not like me because I accuse them of corruption and signing laws that waste Lebanon's public funds, and they do not accept any criticism," he said.

The decision to strip Aoude and the other clerics of their qualifications "does not make any sense" because his rhetoric is "patriotic and inclusive," said opposition political activist Malik Mroueh.

He has taken positions that are "supportive of the demands of the Lebanese, which are also the demands of the members of the Shia community," he said.

The statement came at the demand of the Amal Movement and Hizbullah, who are irritated by the clerics' dissent, according to Mroueh.

"Hizbullah in particular is fearful of the growing opposition movement against it, which is a natural repercussion of the economic collapse. And so, we are seeing a major effort by it to silence dissent and stifle freedoms within the Shia community, culminating with the attempt to silence patriotic clerics."

Persistence

Aoude's steadfastness has encouraged other scholars as Hizbullah promotes the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardian of the Jurist), which calls for allegiance to Iranian leader Ali Khamenei.

The doctrine advocated and promoted by Hizbullah "cannot bear or deal with opposition forces, no matter how limited their reach and influence," said Lebanese Center for Research and Consulting director Hassan Qutb.

"The use of religion ... as a tool to steer the public ... does not accept the existence of other visions or interpretations of religious text, nor allow a different understanding of the keynotes of Hizbullah's religious project," he said, referring to Wilayat al-Faqih.

Hizbullah's policies are based on religious keynotes, terminology and vocabulary that are binding and restrictive for the public, he added.

Some Shia scholars have objected to some of these concepts, especially Wilayat al-Faqih, and Hizbullah's overreach in linking political activity to religious concepts.

Hizbullah and its Iranian religious authority reject dissent "because the spread of opposition led by Shia clerics undermines the Iranian project that Hizbullah is promoting," Qutb added.

Some Shia scholars no longer see Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hizbullah, and other Hizbullah leaders as religious authorities amid Lebanon's security, economic and political crisis and the group's loyalty to Iran without regard to Lebanese interests, he said.

Aoude's persistence "annoyed Hizbullah and encouraged others to follow his lead and continue on his path, which prompted the ruling duo to issue the decision to stop these scholars from giving speeches and teaching under the pretext of incompetence," Qutb said.