Hizbu'llah

Acknowledgements Introduction 1: Political Accommodation And Violence In Non-Islamic States 2 : The Islamic State And Democracy 3: The Concept Of The Guardianship Of The Jurisprudent 4: Islamic Universalism And National Identity 5: The Struggle With The West 6: The Resistance To The Israeli Occupation Of South Lebanon 7: Anti-Zionism And Israel 8: Anti-Judaism Conclusion Appendix 1: Miladi Equivalents To Hijri Years Appendix 2: List Of Hijri Months References Glossary Index

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb is Assistant Professor at the Lebanese American University.

CHOICE 2002 OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC BOOK"Saad-Ghorayeb has written the most detailed and scholarly analysis to date of the ideology of the Lebanese Shi'a radical Hizbu'llah (literally, Party of God). He presents Hizbu'llah's reasoning with understanding rather than condemnation. That said, he tackles head on the issues that Westerners may find least attractive in Hizbu'llah's politics. For instance, he shows that Hizbu'llah sees democracy as, in the end, a less valid form of government than the guardianship of the religious jurisprudent, as preached by the leader of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Much of Saad-Ghorayeb's book is devoted to Hizbu'llah's struggle with the West and Israel. He explains its rejection of Western culture and its resistance to Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and analyzes in detail its rejection of the very existence of Israel. Further, he explains that "Hizbu'llah's anti-Judaism [is] as intrinsic a part of its intellectual structure as is its anti-Zionism," with Jews regarded as deceitful, treacherous aggressors cursed by God, following a counterfeit and deviant religion, to use its leaders' words. Saad-Ghorayeb's account is about ideology, with relatively little about Hizbu'llah's activities and structure. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above." --- P. Clawson, Washington Institute for Near East Policy in CHOICE"The value of this book lies in the author's reconstruction of Hezbollah ideology as gleaned from interviews, party speeches, publications, and the daily press. Readers will find especially compelling chapters on the underpinnings of Hezbollah's anti-Western and anti-Israeli stance." -- Foreign Affairs" A youngShiite scholar named Amal Saad-Ghorayeb has advanced what in Lebanon is a controversial argument: that Hezbollah is not merely anti-Israel but deeply "theologically" anti-Jewish. Her new book, Hezbollah: Politics and Religion" dissects the anti-Jewish roots of Hezbollah ideology.