Hezbollah ( fa, حزبالله, Ḥezbo'llāh, lit=Party of God) is an Iranian movement formed at the time of the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
to assist the Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
and his forces in consolidating power. References in the media or writing are usually made to members of the group—or Hezbollahi—rather than Hezbollah, as Hezbollah is/was not a tightly structured independent organisation, but more a movement of loosely bound groups, usually centered on a mosque.
[Schirazi, ''Constitution of Iran'', (1987) p.153]
Hezbollahi are said to "generally act without meaningful police restraint or fear of persecution," and initially attacked demonstrations and offices of newspapers that were critical of the
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
. They are said to have "played an important role on the street at crucial moments in the early days of the revolution by confronting those the regime regarded as counter-revolutionaries."
[Iran: Group known as Anssar-e Hizbollah (Ansar/Anzar e Hezbollah) UNHCR 2007](_blank)
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Once political challenges to the regime had died down, Hezbollah attacks expanded to include a wide variety of activities found to be undesirable for "moral" or "cultural" reasons, such as poor hijab, mixing of the sexes and consumption of alcohol
An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...
.
History and activities
According to scholar Moojan Momen
Moojan Momen is a retired physician and historian specializing in Baháʼí studies who has published numerous books and articles about the Baháʼí Faith and Islam, especially Shia Islam, including for Encyclopædia Iranica*
*
* the British Li ...
, the association of toughs and clerics became common during the era of weak government of the Qajar period, when "it became normal for the prominent" members of the ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
in any town "to surround themselves with a band of the town's ruffians, known as ''lutis'', to their mutual benefit". The ulama had "a ready band" to take to the street to oppose what the ulama opposed, while "the lutis in turn had a protector with whom they could take refuge if the government moved against them."[Momen, Moojan, ''An Introduction to Shi'i Islam'', Yale University Press, 1985, p.199] The Hezbollahi which appeared after the Islamic revolution, according to Momen, were "in fact only a new name for the street roughs who had always had a close relationahip with the ulama."
The name Hezbollah, or party of Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
, is generic, coming from the rallying cry used by its "members": "Only one party—of Allah; only one leader—Ruhollah." The phrase ''party of Allah'' came from a verse in the Quran ...
And whoever takes Allah and His apostle and those who believe for a guardian, then surely the ''party of Allah'' are they that shall be triumphant.
(italics added)
... and Ruhollah was the first name of the Islamic Revolution's leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
In the early days of the Revolution, Khomeinists — those in the Islamic Republican Party
The Islamic Republican Party (IRP; fa, حزب جمهوری اسلامی, Ḥezb-e Jomhūrī-e Eslāmī, also translated Islamic Republic Party) formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini establish theocracy in Iran. ...
— denied connection to Hezbollah, and maintaining its attacks were the spontaneous will of the people over which the government had no control.[Moin, ''Khomeini'' (2000), p.211]
The Hezbollahi is a wild torrent surpassing the imagination. He is a maktabi ne who follows Islam comprehensively
NE, Ne or ne may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Neutral Evil, an alignment in the American role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''
* New Edition, an American vocal group
* Nicomachean Ethics, a collection of ten books by Greek philosopher A ...
disgusted with any leaning to the East or West. He has a pocketful of documents exposing the treason of those who pose as intellectuals. He is simple, sincere and angry. Stay away from his anger, which destroys all in its path. Khomeini is his heart and soul . ... The Hezbollahi does not use eau de cologne, wear a tie or smoke American cigarettes. ... You might wonder where he gets his information. He is everywhere, serving your food, selling you ice-cream.
In fact, the Islamic Republican forces did supervise Hezbollah. Hojjat al-Islam Hadi Ghaffari, "a young protegee of Khomeini," being in charge of them.
Hezbollah was instrumental in the Islamic Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution (1980–1983; fa, انقلاب فرهنگی: Enqelābe Farhangi) was a period following the Iranian Revolution, when the academia of Iran was purged of Western and non-Islamic influences (including traditionalist unpoli ...
against secularists and modernists at Iran's universities.
After Friday prayer
In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...
s on 18 April 1980, Khomeini harshly attacked the universities. `We are not afraid of economic sanctions or military intervention. What we are afraid of is Western universities and the training of our youth in the interests of West or East.` His remarks served as a signal for an attack that evening on the Tehran Teachers Training College. One student was reportedly lynched, and according to a British correspondent, the campus was left looking like `a combat zone.` The next day, hezbollahis ransacked left-wing student offices at Shiraz University
Shiraz University ( fa, دانشگاه شیراز ''Dāneshgāh-e-Shirāz'', formerly known as Pahlavi University دانشگاه پهلوی ''Dāneshgāh-e Pahlavi'') is a public university located in Shiraz, Fars, Iran, established in 1946. ...
. Some 300 students required hospital treatment. Attacks on student groups also took place at Mashad
Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province and has a po ...
and Isfahan Universities"`
Attacks continued April 21 and "the next day at the Universities at Ahwaz and Rasht. Over 20 people lost their lives in these university confrontations. ... The universities closed soon after the April confrontation for Islamization`. They were not to open for another two years."
The "membership" of Hezbollahi is said to be "essentially the same group of persons" who surrounded prominent members of the ulama during the Qajar dynasty, and "who would take to the street and create agitation when it suited the ulama to call them out."
These were known as town toughs or ''luti.''
Appearance
The Hezbollahi do not wear uniforms, but are said to be recognizable to Iranians by a familiar "look" that ignores fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
and in particular Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
fashion. Hezbollahi favor simple, non-fashionable, collared shirts that are never tucked into their pants; plain slacks (never jeans), and plain black shoes or slippers. A black and white Palestinian-style '' chafiye'' is commonly worn. A beard or three-day growth is almost always worn.[Molavi, Afshin, ''The Soul of Iran'', W.W. Norton, (2005), p.89]
See also
* Islamic Republican Party
The Islamic Republican Party (IRP; fa, حزب جمهوری اسلامی, Ḥezb-e Jomhūrī-e Eslāmī, also translated Islamic Republic Party) formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini establish theocracy in Iran. ...
* Ansar-e Hezbollah
Ansar-e Hezbollah ( fa, انصار حزبالله, lit=Supporters of the Party of God) is a conservative paramilitary organization in Iran.
* Basij
* Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
* Islamic Revolutionary Committees
Islamic Revolution Committees or Committees of Islamic Revolution ( fa, کمیتههای انقلاب اسلامی, Komitehāye Enqelābe Eslāmi), simply known as the Committee ( fa, کمیته, Komīte), was a law enforcement force in Iran act ...
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hezbollah Of Iran
Iranian Revolution
Islamism in Iran