The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon [Paperback]

Fouad Ajami (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Sayyid Musa al Sadr came to Lebanon in 1959 and disappeared during a visit to Libya in 1978. What begins as a narrow study of a relatively minor figure becomes a sensitive and probing analysis of current Middle Eastern society. Ajami elucidates, for the general reader as well as the specialist, a charismatic and enigmatic man, combining religious and political leadership in contemporary Lebanon, a country torn by religious and political conflicts. In portraying this striking individual, Ajami brilliantly illustrates the religious and social conservatism of the Shiite community. He avoids the facile characterization of fanatic and provides an understanding of the tensions building in the Shiite community before erupting into bloody civil war and fueling international terrorism. Highly recommended. Elizabeth R. Hayford, President, Assoc. Colls. of the Midwest, Chicago
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (August 25, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801494168
• ISBN-13: 978-0801494161
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #369,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Islam > Shi'ism
  • #36 in Books > History > Middle East > Lebanon

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the mysterious shi'a, May 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Vanished Imam: Musa Al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon (Hardcover)

Though the place is Lebanon and the time is mid-20th century, the story it tells offers a lot of insight into the present situation in Iraq. Ajami gives a brief, cogent history of Shi'a religious beliefs, history and politics. Musa al-Sadr, the vanished imam of the title, is a tantalizing individual who tried to bridge the abyss between the Shi'a past and its future. I found the book and the bespoke imam fascinating. Lebanon in the 1970s was a misunderstood religious, political and international disaster and there are frighening parallels to the events of today.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ajami's best, October 22, 2007

By 

Hussain Abdul-Hussain (Washington,DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon (Paperback)

This book is Ajami's best. It creates the ideological, sociological and historic context for the career of one of the most illustrious Iranian-born Lebanese Shiite mullahs in Lebanon. Ajami also provides clear genealogy of the roots of Mussa Sadr.

In 1959, Sadr had arrived in Lebanon to succeed the mufti of Tyr in southern Lebanon. Unlike religious men of his time, Sadr took his position to unprecedented levels as he started preaching a reverse in the fortunes of the Shiite community of Lebanon that had presumably been until the arrival of Sadr a marginalized and impoverished group living under the grip of its unsympathetic feudal lords.

Ajami skillfully captured the revolutionary and untraditional discourse of Sadr as he painted his importance in Shiite minds by comparing him to Shiite legendary imams. Ajami also highlighted the contradiction in Sadr's message upon the breakout of Lebanon's civil war in 1975. While Sadr first announced that he was opposed to violence, realities had in fact forced him to start forming his own armed militia.

The book is informative while Ajami's entertaining style adds much value to this work.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About More than Just A Shi'i Leader, January 31, 2009

By 

Eagle Eye - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon (Paperback)

Magnificent book vital to understanding As Sadr's role in redefining the politics of the Lebanese Shia and the genesis of Amal and Hezbollah. Through it you also learn a great deal about the Lebanese state and the interactions of its main communities. There are deep insights here and a visceral understanding of south Lebanon as only someone like Ajami (a Shi'i orig from that area) could impart them. The weakness is that it is perhaps too admiring, to the detriment of some alternative insights that a more balanced and objective view would provide.