Naim Qassem ( ar, نعيم قاسم; born 1953) is a

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Lebanese cleric and politician, who was the second-in-command of

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

with the title of deputy secretary-general.

Early life and education

Qassem was born into a

Shiite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

family in

Kfar Fila Kfar Fila ( ar, كفرفيلا), is a town in the Nabatieh Governorate, ( ar, links=no, النبطية) al-Nabatiya, or Nabatiye southern Lebanon. It is one of the 243 towns of Nabatieh Governorate, situated at the northern region of this distric ...

in 1953. He studied theology and his teacher was Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. He also received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU) (, ) is the only public university in Beirut, Lebanon. It is ranked #701–750 worldwide in terms of education. The creation of the Lebanese University was an idea first mentioned in the speech of the former Minist ...

Career

Qassem was one of the founders of Lebanese Muslim students union that was established in the 1970s. He joined the Amal movement when it was headed by

Imam Musa Sadr Musa Sadr al-Din al-Sadr ( ar, موسى صدر الدين الصدر; 4 June 1928 – disappeared 31 August 1978) was an Iranian-born Lebanese scholar and political leader who founded the Amal Movement. Born in the Chaharmardan neighborhood o ...

. Qassem was the head of the Islamic religious education association from 1974 to 1988. He also served as the advisor for al Mustafa schools. Then Qassem participated in foundation activities of Hezbollah and was appointed deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah in 1992.

Works and views

In 2009,

Mustafa Badr Al Din Mustafa Badreddine ( ar, مُصْطَفَىٰ بَدْرِ الدِّينِ, Muṣṭafā Badr ad-Dīn‎; 6 April 1961 – 12 May 2016), also known as Mustafa Badr Al Din, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Mustafa Youssef Badreddine, Sami Issa, and El ...

replaced

Imad Mughniyah Imad Fayez Mughniyeh ( ar, عماد فايز مغنية; 7 December 1962 – 12 February 2008), alias al-Hajj Radwan (), was the founding member of Lebanon's Islamic Jihad Organization and number two in Hezbollah's leadership. Information about ...

as the head of Hezbollah's military activities. However, Qassem did not support it, favoring his relative Samir Shehade. Qassem published a book, ''Hezbollah: The Story from Within'', in 2006. On 1 August 2011, Qassem attended a ceremony for the eighth edition of his book, where he made the statement that "Billions of dollars have been offered to us to rebuild the deprived south Lebanon and in return to surrender our arms and stop the work of the resistance. But we told them we're not in need

f their money F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

and the resistance will go on regardless of the consequences."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Qassem, Naim 1953 births Living people Lebanese University alumni Hezbollah members Israeli–Lebanese conflict Anti-Zionism Amal Movement politicians Lebanese writers