Hizbu'llah

Abstract

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb's recently published and extensively researched study of the Lebanese lslamist group Hizbu'llah is a welcome addition to the literature on lslamist groups, especially given the present global climate that instinctively - but usually unsubstantially - associates Islamist groups with antiwestern terrorist activities. Based as it is on a select number of high-level interviews with senior Hizbu'llah leaders; numerous interviews with local, regional, and, functional Hizbu'llah officials; and an extensive analysis of Hizbu'llah's publications in both print and television media, Saad-Ghorayeb offers us a rare but thorough glimpse into "the political mind of Hizbu'llah," one that its officials themselves must have endorsed, given the ready availability of the book in Lebanese bookstores. This is a work, first and foremost, about Hizbu'llah's political thought, which is designed to unravel the "central pillars of Hizbu'llah's intellectual stnicture." In addition to an introduction and a conclusion, there are eight chapters that examine several issues and moral precepts that feature prominently in the deliberations and pronouncements of Hizbu'llah officials. The first four chapters focus on broader, more timeless questions that confront Islamic - particularly Shi'ah Islamic - groups, such as the choice between ...