Lebanese Shiite Scholar Sheik Ali Al-Amin: Hizbullah's Policies Are Not Lebanese

The following are excerpts from an interview with Sheik Ali Al-Amin, former Mufti of Tyre, aired on Murr TV on December 4, 2009.

Sheik Ali Al-Amin: I do not doubt that Hizbullah and its people are Lebanese, but the policies of Hizbullah are not Lebanese policies. Hizbullah claims, out of an ideological perspective, that it is subject to the Rule of the Jurisprudent. This is the ideological perspective of Hizbullah.

Naturally, the Rule of the Jurisprudent applies not only to religion, but also to worldly matters. It outlines general policy for its followers in the region, and for the political parties associated with it. Hence, Hizbullah does not enter the Lebanese political scene from a Lebanese perspective. The Lebanese perspective draws its power from the state and its institutions, which, in turn, draw their power from the Lebanese people and its choices. But [Hizbullah] does not base its policies on the reality of Lebanon, but on its foreign affiliation.

It is obvious that the association with the Rule of the Jurisprudent is not a religious association. The Rule of the Jurisprudent in Iran is no longer merely a source of religious authority, but a ruling regime, with aspirations in the entire region, and not just in Iran. The association with the Rule of the Jurisprudent is not the same as the association of Christians to the Vatican, for example. The Vatican does not have [political] aspirations in Lebanon, in the Arab region, or in the world, whereas the Rule of the Jurisprudent, as we have said, has become the head of the regime in Iran. Consequently, the association with it is not merely a religious association, especially according to the ideological view adopted by Hizbullah that there is no distinction between religion and politics. They say in their ideological discourse: Our policies are the same as our worship, and vise versa. They say there is no difference between religion and politics.

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I have noticed [the expression] "the merging of the popular resistance..." Where is this "popular resistance"? If there really was a resistance, which the entire Lebanese people participated in and supported, we could call it "popular resistance." But this is resistance conducted by a specific political party. You cannot call it "popular resistance" or a "popular movement."