Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi

Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi

2nd Hezbollah's Secretary General
Religious Affiliation	Twelver Shi'a Muslim
Birth	1952
Place of Birth	Baalbek
Place of Residence	Beirut, Lenbanon
Death/Martyrdom	February 16, 1992 CE
Cause of Death/Martyrdom	Assassinated by the Zionist regime Airforce
Burial Place	Al-Nabi Shayth, Baalbek
Professors	Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei, Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr
Students	Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah
Notable roles	The Second Secretary General of Hezbollah

Sayyid ʿAbbās al-Mūsawī (Arabic:السيد عباس الموسوي, b. 1952 – d. February 16, 1992) was a Lebanese cleric and the second Secretary-General of Hezbollah in Lebanon. In the early years of his political activity, he supported armed resistance against the Israeli regime, cooperating with Palestinian factions. During his religious studies in Iraq, he opposed the Ba'th regime.

After returning to Lebanon, al-Mūsawī played a key role in the formation of Hezbollah and intensified its operations against Israeli forces. He was influenced by the teachings of Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and Imam Khomeini, whom he met during a visit to Iran in 1979. Al-Mūsawī was appointed Secretary-General of Hezbollah in 1991. On February 16, 1992, he was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.

Studying in Lebanon and Najaf

Sayyid 'Abbas al-Musawi was born in 1952 in the village of al-Nabi Shayth, located in the Baalbek region of Lebanon. In 1966, he met Imam Musa Sadr in Tyre, who encouraged him to pursue religious studies. Following this advice, al-Musawi enrolled at the Tyre seminary (al-Ma'had al-Dirasat al-Islamiyya) and began his formal theological education.

He entered the seminary in Najaf in 1967 to continue his religious studies. After completing the general curriculum, he attended advanced courses taught by Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei and Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr. He maintained a close relationship with Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and played a significant role in introducing Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah to him.

Activity in Lebanon

Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi, who faced government pressure due to his political activism against the Ba'th regime in Iraq, returned to Lebanon in 1979. He founded a school called "Imam al-Muntadar (a)" in Baalbek. His wife also founded the "al-Zahra " school for women’s education. He also gathered Muslim scholars for greater harmony among Lebanese clerics.

Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi's ideological and strategic vision was profoundly shaped by the anti-Zionist stance of Sheikh Raghib Harb, an illustrious martyr and leading figure in the Islamic Resistance. The two collaborated in laying the groundwork for what would later become the Hezbollah resistance movement towards the end of that year.

In 1982, after the Zionist regime's occupation of Lebanon, he and several Lebanese youths gathered in the Beqaa Valley. They formed a group to fight against Israel, which was later known as Hezbollah.

Main article: Hezbollah

In May 1991, the central council of Hezbollah elected him its second Secretary-General. Before him, Subhi Tufayli was the Secretary-General.

Martyrdom

Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, describing his teacher Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi:

A teacher with sincerity, following up the academic and moral affairs of the seminary students, a practical example of piety, ethics, and religiosity, a committed and tireless scholar, a man of prayer and weeping to the Lord, and a man of night vigil, a lover of the Prophet (a) and his progeny, a deep relationship with Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, considered obedience to Imam Khomeini as a duty, with complete obedience to Sayyid Ali Khamenei, a pioneer in serving the people, not fearing other than God, and having self-sacrifice in the path of Islamic resistance until his martyrdom.

On February 16, 1992, Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi was attacked by an Israeli airstrike while returning to Beirut after attending Shaykh Raghib Harb's death anniversary ceremony, and he was martyred along with his wife and child. The pilot who attacked his convoy revealed details of Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi’s assassination in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in 2008 and 2012.

Following this assassination, Ayatullah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, described Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi in a message as noble, brave, sincere, and intelligent. Ayatollah Khamenei considered him a person who combined knowledge with action, words with honesty, and sacrifice with tact.

His legacy and martyrdom inspired thousands of courageous soldiers to heroically fight and sacrifice their lives for the sake of their cause. He led a short life, 39-years-old, occupied by piety and bravery that manifested in most of his tendencies, approaches, and attitudes.

Monographs

Many written and media works have been produced about Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi. Some of these works are:

• The book Zindigi wa mubarizat-i Shahid Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi, Dabir Kull-i Hezbollah-i Lobnan, (The life and struggles of Martyr Sayyid Abbas al-Muusawi, the Secretary General of Lebanon's Hezbollah), written by Ghulam Rida Guli Zawarah in Persian.

• The book Zubar al-Hadid 2, (Blocks of iron) written by Fatima Muslih-Zada.

• Shahid-i Yaran Monthly magazine; a special issue about Martyr Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi titled Zeytun-e surkh (Red olive) under the auspices of Shahid Magazines Group.

• Zindagi-yi khub, marg-i khub (Good life, good death). Documentary: Produced by the IRIB First Channel.

• Zaytun-i Talkh documentary (Bitter olive). This documentary was broadcast on the IRIB Tehran channel.

• Al-Ghalibun 2 (The victors) TV series was broadcast for the first time in Ramadan 2013 on the al-Manar TV channel and with Persian dubbing in Ramadan 2014 on the IFilm channel of IRIB.

Gallery

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  Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi and Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah meeting with Sayyid Ali Khamenei (1991)
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  Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi with his family
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  Presence of Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi among the Mujahidin in Afghanistan
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  The poster of al-Ghalibun 2 Series
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  Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi's Shrine in Al-Nabi Shayth
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  Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi's presence at the Kashmir International Conference