Lebanon's Ayatollah: an interview with al-sayyid Muhammad Ḥusayn Faḍlallāh

Abstract

In this compilation of two interviews (one previously unpublished), Hāshim Qāsim speaks with Lebanon's ayatollah Muḥammad Ḥusayn Faḍlallāh – an internationally recognized Muslim scholar, independent thinker, sometimes ‘iconoclast’ faqīh, mufassir and marjaﺀ al-taqlīd whose influence has transcended borders and spanned decades and generations. Faḍlallāh's prolific writing has included not only works on Islamic jurisprudence, politics, thought and tradition, but also a complete exegesis of the Qurﺩān as well as diwans of Islamic poetry. Peer, associate, friend and student of some of the greatest minds and most influential figures of the Shīﺀite world including Khomeini, Abū-l-Qāsim al-Khoei, Muaḥammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr, and Mūsā al-Ṣadr, Faḍlallāh has mentored and influenced countless Muslims and important personages, including senior members of Ḥizb Allāh, for over half a century. In this interview Faḍlallāh discusses major issues and touches upon many important recurrent themes of his overall discourse from issues faced by Muslims – including the hijab, Zionism and Islamic fundamentalism, to globalization, to world justice.