View source for Musa al-Sadr

{{Short description|Iranian-born Lebanese imam (1928–1978)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office1             = 1st President of the<br/>[[Supreme Islamic Shia Council]]
| term_start1         = 23 May 1969
| term_end1           = 31 August 1978
| predecessor1        = ''Office established''
| successor1          = [[Mohammad Mehdi Shamseddine|Mohd. Mehdi Shamseddine]]
| office              = 1st Leader of the [[Amal Movement]]
| term_start          = 6 July 1974
| term_end            = 31 August 1978
| predecessor         = ''Office established''
| successor           = [[Hussein el-Husseini]]
| name                = Musa al-Sadr
| image               = Imam Musa Sadr (19) (cropped).jpg
| image_size          = 
| alt                 = 
| caption             = 
| honorific-prefix    = [[Sayyid]] [[Imam]]
| native_name_lang    = fa
| native_name         = {{Nobold|موسى صدر الدین الصدر}}
| nickname            = {{hlist|{{Nobold|{{Lang|ar|السید المغیب}}}}|The Hidden Sayyid}}
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=y|1928|6|4}}<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060221025925/http://www.imam-moussa.com/sirah.htm سيرة سماحة الإمام القائد السيد الصدر]}} Arabic</ref>
| birth_place         = [[Qom]], [[Imperial State of Persia]]<br/>(present-day [[Iran]]<ref name="EI">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Ende|first=W.|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/musa-al-sadr-SIM_8850?s.num=2&s.q=Musa+sadr|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam|title=Mūsā al- Ṣadr|date=2012|publisher=Brill}}</ref>)
| resting_place       = Unknown
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| monuments           = 
| residence           = 
| alma_mater          = [[University of Tehran]]<br/>[[Qom Seminary]]
| party               = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Amal Movement.svg}} [[Amal Movement]]
| otherparty          = {{nobr|[[Supreme Islamic Shia Council]]}}
| known_for           = 
| notable_works       = 
| style               = 
| title               = 
| term                = 
| opponents           = 
| spouse              = Parvin Khalili
| children            = 
| father              = [[Sadr al-Din al-Sadr|Sadr al-Din Sadr]]
| relatives           = [[Ismail as-Sadr|Ismail Sadr]] (grandfather)<br/>[[Haydar al-Sadr|Haydar Sadr]] (uncle)<br/>[[Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr|Muhammad Sadr]] (cousin)<br/>[[Sadeq Tabatabaei]] (nephew)<br/>[[Zohreh Sadeghi]] (niece)
| module              = 
| profession          = {{hlist|[[Cleric]]|[[politician]]}}
| footnotes           = Went missing on {{disappeared date and age|1978|8|31|1928|4|15|df=yes}} in the [[Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]]<ref name=yal3sep/> and has been {{missing for|1978|8|31}}
| death_date          = Unknown
}}
{{Amal Movement}}
'''Musa Sadr al-Din al-Sadr''' ({{langx|ar|موسى صدر الدین الصدر}}; {{langx|fa|موسی صدرالدین صدر}}{{lrm}}{{lrm}}; 4 June 1928 – disappeared 31 August 1978) was a Lebanese-Iranian [[Shia cleric|Shia Muslim cleric]], [[politician]] and revolutionary In Lebanon. He founded and revived many [[Lebanese Shia Muslims|Lebanese Shia]] organizations, including schools, charities, and the [[Amal Movement]].<ref name="Chehabi">{{cite book|title=Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years |first1=Hussein |last1=Chehabi |first2=Rula Jurdi |last2=Abisaab| isbn=978-1860645617|publisher=I.B.Tauris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elHww0W0ZO4C|year=2006}}</ref>

Born in the Chaharmardan neighborhood in [[Qom]], [[Iran]], he underwent both [[seminary]] and secular studies in [[Iran]]. He belongs to the [[Sadr (name)|Al-Sadr]] family from [[Jabal Amel]] in Lebanon, a branch of the [[Moosavi (name)|Musawi family]] which traces its roots to [[Musa al-Kadhim|Musa Ibn Jaafar]], the seventh [[Shia Imam]], and ultimately to the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] through his daughter Fatima. Therefore, Musa al-Sadr is often styled with the honorific title ''[[Sayyid]]''. He left Qom for [[Najaf]] to study theology and returned to Iran after the [[1958 Iraqi coup d'état]].

Some years later, al-Sadr went to [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], Lebanon as the emissary of [[Ayatollah|Ayatollahs]] [[Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi|Borujerdi]] and [[Muhsin al-Hakim|Hakim]]. From Tyre, he published the periodical ''Maktabi Islam''.<ref name=":1022">{{Cite book |last1=Najem |first1=Tom |title=Historical Dictionary of Lebanon |last2=Amore |first2=Roy C. |last3=Abu Khalil |first3=As'ad |date=2021 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2043-9 |edition=2nd |series=Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East |location=Lanham Boulder New York London |pages=265}}</ref> [[Fouad Ajami]] called him a "towering figure in modern Shi'i political thought and praxis".<ref name="Nasr1">{{cite book|last=Nasr|first=Seyyed H.|title=Expectation of the Millennium: Shiʻism in History|year=1989|publisher=State University of New York Press, Albany|location=Albany, NY|page=425|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btmNZgztDrAC&pg=PA425|isbn=9780887068430}}, chapter 26</ref> He was noted to have given the [[Shia Islam in Lebanon|Shia population of Lebanon]] "a sense of community".<ref name=abaw/>

On 25 August 1978, Sadr and two companions, Sheikh Mohamad Yaacoub and {{ill|Abbas Bader el-Dine|fr}}, departed for Libya to meet with government officials at the invitation of [[Muammar Gaddafi]]. The three were last seen on 31 August. They were never heard from again. Many theories exist around the circumstances of al-Sadr's disappearance, none of which has been proven. His whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

==Early life and education==

===Family background===
{{Main|Al-Sadr family}}
Musa al-Sadr came from a long line of clerics tracing their ancestry back to [[Jabal Amel]].<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}}

His great-great-grandfather [[Sadr al-Din bin Saleh|S. Salih b. Muhammad Sharafeddin]], a high-ranking cleric, was born in [[Chehour|Shhour]], a village near [[Tyre, Lebanon]]. Following a frantic turn of events related to an anti-[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] uprising, he left for Najaf.<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}} Sharafeddin's son, Sadreddin, left Najaf for [[Isfahan]], which was then the most important centre of religious learning in Iran. He returned to Najaf shortly before his death in 1847. The youngest of his five sons, [[Ismail as-Sadr|Ismail]] (''as-Sadr''), was born in Isfahan, in [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]]-ruled [[Iran]], and eventually became a leading [[mujtahid]].

The second son of Ismail, also named [[Sadr al-Din al-Sadr|Sadreddin]], was born in [[Ottoman Iraq]] and also decided to settle permanently in Iran. He became Musa al-Sadr's father. While living in Iran, Sadreddin married a daughter of Ayatollah Hussein Tabatabaei Qomi, an Iranian religious leader. She would become Musa Sadr's mother.<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}}

===Early life===
Musa al-Sadr was born in the Cheharmardan neighborhood of [[Qom]], Iran, on 4 June 1928.<ref name=abaw>{{cite journal|last=Samii|first=Abbas William|title=The Shah's Lebanon policy: the role of SAVAK|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|year=1997|volume=33|issue=1|pages=66–91|doi=10.1080/00263209708701142}}</ref><ref name=":0">ʻAlī Rāhnamā. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bmz9y2osH1YC&pg=PA195 ''Pioneers of Islamic Revival''] Palgrave Macmillan, 1994 {{ISBN|978-1856492546}} p 195</ref>

He attended Hayat Elementary School in Qom where he attended seminary classes informally; he started his official seminary education in 1941. His teachers considered him a "quick learner and remarkably knowledgeable for his young age". After a while he started teaching other students "lower-level" courses. This coincided with the "liberalizing of Iranian politics", the political climate of his time was secular, so that most religious scholars "felt politically and socially marginalized".<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}}

To have some influence in the "national life" he concluded that he had to become familiar with "modern science and contemporary world". As a result, he started a "full secular education" alongside his seminary studies. He moved to [[Tehran]], where he completed a degree in [[Fiqh|Islamic jurisprudence]] (''fiqh'') and political sciences from [[Tehran University]] and learned some English and French.<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}} He then returned to Qom to study theology and [[Islamic philosophy]] under [[Allameh Tabatabaei|Allamah Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai]].<ref name=abaw/>

==In Iraq==
Following the death of his father in 1953, he left Qom for Najaf to study theology under Ayatollah [[Muhsin al-Hakim]] and [[Abul Qasim Khui]].<ref name=abaw/> There he had teachers such as: Ayatollah Hakim, Shaykh Morteza al Yasin, [[Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei|Ayatollah Abulqasim Khu'i]], Shaykh Hossein Hilli, Shaykh Sadra Badkubahi, and others, some of whom became ''[[Marja'|Marja]]'' after [[Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi|Ayatollah Borujerdi]]'s death. Musa Sadr became a ''[[mujtahid]]'' in Najaf. In 1955 he traveled to Lebanon where he met [[Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi|Abd al-Hossein Sharafeddin]]. He had met him previously in 1936 when his family had hosted Abd al-Husayn in Iran. The same year he left Iran and returned to Najaf and, in the autumn of 1956, he married the daughter of Ayatollah Azizollah Khalili.<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}}

==Return to Iran==
After the [[14 July Revolution|1958 Iraqi coup d'état]] and the overthrow of the monarchy in Iraq, al-Sadr returned to Iran. There, he accepted the request of Ali Davani, who was sent by Ayatollah [[Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari|Shariatmadari]], and became an editor of ''Darsha'i az maktab-e Islam'', also known as ''Maktab-e Eslam'', a journal published by the [[Hawza]] of Qom and endorsed by Ayatollah Broujerdi.<ref>{{cite thesis
|author=A.H. Fink|title=The importance of conspiracy theory in extremist ideology and propaganda|location=[[Leiden University]]|degree=PhD
|url=https://hdl.handle.net/1887/87359|year=2020|hdl=1887/87359|page=382}}</ref> He began contributing with the third issue, focusing on Islamic economics, "a novel subject at the time".{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} His articles in this field were then published as a book. He soon became the journal's "de facto editor-in-chief". He left the journal in December 1959 along with some of its original founders.<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}}

Musa al-Sadr also took part in devising a new scheme for ''Hawza'' called the "Preliminary plan for reforming the Hawza" ({{Langx|fa|طرح مقدّماتی اصلاح حوزه|translit=ţarḩe moqaddamātīye eşlāḩe ḩowzeh}}), which was then withdrawn, in cooperation with [[Mohammad Beheshti]]. In 1959, Sadr founded a private high school which provided an alternative to the state educational system for "observant parents".<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}}

==Departure to Lebanon==
[[Image:Musa Al-Sadr and AbdulNaser.jpg|thumb|right|Musa Sadr with [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] in the 1960s]]

Musa al-Sadr declined Ayatollah Broujerdi's request to go to [[Italy]] as his representative and instead left Qom for Najaf. There [[Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim]] urged him to accept an invitation<ref name="Chehabi"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}} from their relative Sayed [[Jafar Sharafeddin]] to become the leading Shi'a figure in the [[Southern Lebanon|Southern Lebanese]] port city of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], succeeding Jafar's father [[Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi|Abdul Hussein Sharif Al Din]], who had died in 1957.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Norton|first=Augustus Richard|title=Amal and the Shi'a: Struggle for the Soul of Lebanon|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|year=1987|isbn=978-0292730403|location=Austin|pages=39}}</ref>

He left Najaf for Tyre in late 1959,<ref name="abaw" /> as the "emissary" of Ayatollah Broujerdi and Ayatollah Hakim.<ref name="Nasr1" /> At the request of some clerics, he later made several trips to Iran delivering several lectures such as "Islam is a Religion of Life" and "The World is Ready to Accept the Call of Islam." The latter included presenting his experiences in Lebanon and emphasizing the need to work "towards the betterment of Muslims."<ref name="Chehabi" />{{page number|date=August 2020}}

In 1967, Imam al-Sadr traveled to [[West Africa]] to get acquainted with the Lebanese community and inspect its affairs and worked to link them to their homeland. He also met with Ivorian President [[Félix Houphouët-Boigny]] and Senegalese President [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]] and provided symbolic assistance to orphans in [[Senegal]]. Senghor praised the Imam's gesture, pointing out that he is following his activities with great interest, which had a great influence in spreading the feeling of love and faith among the citizens.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imamsadr.net/Home/contents1.php?id=2|title=مركز الإمام موسى الصدر للأبحاث والدراسات :: محطات مضيئة » سيرة الإمام|website=www.imamsadr.net|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>

Al-Sadr, who became known as ''Imam Musa'', quickly became one of the most prominent advocates for the Shia population of Lebanon, a group that was both economically and politically disadvantaged.<ref name=NB>{{cite book|pages=16, 32 |author=Nicholas Blanford |title=Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah's Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel |publisher=Random House |year=2011 |isbn=9781400068364}}</ref>

"[Al-Sadr] worked tirelessly to improve the lot of his community – to give them a voice, to protect them from the ravages of war and inter communal strife," said [[Vali Nasr]].<ref name="Val">{{cite book|last1=Nasr|first1=Vali|title=The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=9780393066401|url=https://archive.org/details/shiarevivalhowco00nasr|url-access=registration|access-date=26 May 2016|language=en|date=17 April 2007}}</ref> Sadr impressed the Lebanese people "by providing practical assistance," regardless of their sect.<ref name=abaw/> He was seen as a moderate,<ref name="Rihani">{{cite book|last1=Rihani|first1=May A.|title=Cultures Without Borders|publisher=Author House|isbn=9781496936462|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E3SsBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA120 |access-date=26 May 2016|language=en|year=2014}}</ref> demanding that the [[Maronite]] Christians relinquish some of their power, but pursuing ecumenism and peaceful relations between the groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://islamtimes.org/en/doc/article/389866/|title=Islam Times – Imam Musa Al Sadr – his life and disappearance|work=Islam Times|access-date=26 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605125454/http://islamtimes.org/en/doc/article/389866/|archive-date=5 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1969, Imam Musa was appointed the first head of the [[Supreme Islamic Shia Council (in Lebanon)|Supreme Islamic Shia Council]] (SISC) in Lebanon, ({{langx|ar|المجلس الإسلامي الشيعي الأعلى}}) an entity meant to give the Shia more say in government.

For the next four years, al-Sadr engaged the leadership of Syrian [[Alawites|‘Alawī]]s in an attempt to unify their political power with that of the [[Twelver|Twelver Shia]]. Although controversial, recognition of the ‘Alawī as Shi'a coreligionists came in July 1973 when he and the ‘Alawī religious leadership successfully appointed an ‘Alawī as an official [[mufti]] to the Twelver community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.martinkramer.org/sandbox/reader/archives/syria-alawis-and-shiism/|title=Syria's Alawis and Shiism – Martin Kramer on the Middle East|date=11 January 2010}}</ref><ref name=talhamy9>{{cite journal|last=Talhamy|first=Yvette|title=The Syrian Muslim Brothers and the Syrian-Iranian Relationship|journal=The Middle East Journal|date=Autumn 2009|volume=63|issue=4|pages=561–580|doi=10.3751/63.4.12|s2cid=144219075|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/mej/summary/v063/63.4.talhamy.html|access-date=29 July 2013|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
[[File:Imam Musa Sadr on a hunger strike in Safa Beirut Mosque ().jpg|thumb|left|Three-day hunger strike by Musa Sadr in Safa mosque in Beirut in protest at the [[Lebanese Civil War]]]]

He revived the ''Jami'at al-Birr wal-Ihsan'' charity, founded by S. Salih b. Muhammad Sharafeddin and gathered money for The Social Institute (al-Mu'assasa al-Ijtima'iyya), an orphanage in Tyre. In 1963, Sadr established a sewing school and nursery named The Girls' Home (Bayt al-Fatat). The same year, he established The Institute of Islamic Studies (Ma'had al-Dirasat al-Islamiyya). In 1964, Sadr started Burj al-Shimali Technical Institute, whose funding was provided by Shi'a benefactors, bank loans, and the Lebanese Ministry of Education.<ref name=abaw/> In 1974, he founded, with [[Hussein el-Husseini]], the Movement of the Disinherited ({{langx|ar|حركة المحرومين}}) to press for better economic and social conditions for the Shia. They established a number of schools and medical clinics throughout southern Lebanon, many of which are still in operation today.<ref name="Rihani"/> Sadr attempted to prevent the descent into violence that eventually led to the [[Lebanese Civil War]] by beginning a fast in a mosque in Beirut. There he was visited by Lebanese from all factions – both Muslim and Christian. [[Yasser Arafat]] and Syrian Foreign Minister [[Abd al-Halim Khaddam]], also visited him. Formation of a national unity cabinet resulted from the meeting and al-Sadr's attempt to establish peace was a temporary success.<ref name=abaw/>

During the war, he aligned himself with the [[Lebanese National Movement]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Staff writers|title=The Imam Musa Sadr|url=http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/320/324/324.2/musa-sadr/|website=almashriq.hiof.no|publisher=Al Mashriq|access-date=27 June 2016}}</ref> and Movement of the Disinherited and in cooperation with [[Mostafa Chamran]]<ref name="Roshan"/>{{page number|date=August 2020}} developed an armed wing known as ''Afwāj al-Muqāwamat al-Lubnāniyyah'' ({{langx|ar|أفواج المقاومة اللبنانية}}), better known as [[Amal Movement|Amal]] ({{langx|ar|أمل}} meaning "hope"<ref name="John"/>),<ref name=abaw/> which assembled youth and educated generation of Husaynis and Mousawis families.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roy|first1=Olivier|title=The Failure of Political Islam|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674291416|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YEGw8S3ovaoC |access-date=26 June 2016|language=en|year=1996}}</ref>{{page number|date=August 2020}} Shia were the only major community without a militia group in the land of militias; Amal was created by Al-Sadr to protect Shia rights and interests.<ref name="John">{{cite book|last1=Esposito|first1=John L.|title=The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199826650|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzepS15bgicC&q=Musa+Sadr&pg=PT178|access-date=27 June 2016|language=en|date=7 October 1999}}</ref>{{page number|date=August 2020}}

However, in 1976, he withdrew his support after the Syrian invasion against Palestinian and leftist militias. He also actively cooperated with [[Mostafa Chamran]], [[Sadegh Ghotbzadeh]], and other Iranian Islamist activists during the civil war.<ref name=ostovar>{{cite web|last=Ostovar|first=Afshon P.|title=Guardians of the Islamic Revolution Ideology, Politics, and the Development of Military Power in Iran (1979–2009)|url=http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/64683/afshon_1.pdf;jsessionid=DF7BFA33BF18FF73E9117CB0504F14E1?sequence=1|publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=26 July 2013|format=PhD Thesis|date=2009}}</ref><ref name=tony10>{{cite news|last=Badran|first=Tony|title=Moussa Sadr and the Islamic Revolution in Iran… and Lebanon|url=https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/moussa_sadr_and_the_islamic_revolution_in_iran_and_lebanon|access-date=28 July 2013|newspaper=Now Lebanon|date=8 September 2010}}</ref> Sadr and Chamran had an important role in the Islamic Revolution of Iran. They were involved in protests against the Shah out of Iran. According to Amal deputy, Ali Kharis, "Musa Sadr and Chamran were the backbone of the Iranian revolution and how one can not speak of the Iranian revolution without mentioning these two people."<ref name="Roshan">{{cite book|last1=Shaery-Eisenlohr|first1=Roschanack|title=Shi'ite Lebanon: Transnational Religion and the Making of National Identities|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231144278|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vrpRagljvA4C&q=sadr+and+chamran&pg=PT139|access-date=2 July 2016|language=en|year=2011}}</ref>{{page number|date=August 2020}}

In addition, Sadr was instrumental in developing ties between [[Hafez al-Assad]], then Syrian president, and the opponents of [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]], Shah of Iran.<ref name=tablet>{{cite web|last=Badran|first=Tony|title=Syriana|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/36751/syriana|work=Tablet|access-date=4 August 2013|date=22 June 2010}}</ref><ref name=asharq8/>

==Personal life==
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| image1    = Imam Musa al-Sadr At the graduation ceremony of the nursing school-1977(01)).jpg
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| caption1  = Imam Musa Sadr's speech at the graduation ceremony at nursing school [[Supreme Islamic Shia Council (in Lebanon)|Supreme Shiite Council in Lebanon]], 1977

| image2    = Imam Musa al-Sadr At the graduation ceremony of the nursing school-1975 ().jpg
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| caption2  = Attending the graduation ceremony at the Nursing School in [[Supreme Islamic Shia Council (in Lebanon)|Supreme Shiite Council in Lebanon]], 1975}}
Musa Sadr maintained strong family relations with political leaders in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq. He is related to noted Iranian individuals namely [[Sadeq Tabatabaei]] (his nephew),<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ataie|first1=Mohammad
|title=Revolutionary Iran's 1979 Endeavor in Lebanon|url=http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/revolutionary-irans-1979-endeavor-lebanon?print|publisher=Middle East Policy Council|access-date=2 June 2016|date=2013|quote=Another pro-Amal figure in the provisional government was Musa Sadr's nephew, Sadeq Tabatabai (...)}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Funeral ceremony held for Sadeq Tabatabaei|url=http://www.ettelaat.com/index2.asp?code=endisplay&fname=/ettelaat/etbupload/data/2015/02/02-26/5.htm&title=Funeral%20ceremony%20held%20for%20late%20Sadeq%20Tabatabaei|access-date=2 June 2016|publisher=Ettela'at|date=1 July 2016|quote=Sadeq Tabatabaei was born on 12 December 1943 in the city of Qom. He was son of Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer Tabatabaei and nephew of Imam Musa Sadr.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821014832/http://www.ettelaat.com/index2.asp?code=endisplay&fname=%2Fettelaat%2Fetbupload%2Fdata%2F2015%2F02%2F02-26%2F5.htm&title=Funeral%20ceremony%20held%20for%20late%20Sadeq%20Tabatabaei|archive-date=21 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Marjai|first1=Farid|title=Musa Sadr in Libya?|url=http://www.payvand.com/news/11/feb/1276.html|access-date=2 June 2016|agency=Payvand|date=2011|quote=Sadeq Tabatabai of the Provisional Government in Iran was a nephew of Imam Sadr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Imam Grandson, Iranian President Condole Tabatabai's Passing Away|url=http://en.imam-khomeini.ir/en/n11192/News/Imam_Grandson_Iranian_President_Condole_Tabatabai%E2%80%99s_Passing_Away|website=en.imam-khomeini.ir|access-date=2 June 2016|date=2015|quote=Late Seyed Sadegh Tabatabai was brother in law of Hajjat al-Islam Seyyed Ahmad Khomeini, son of the founder of the Islamic Republic and nephew of Imam Musa Sadr.}}</ref> as well as [[Mohammad Khatami]] (his wife was a niece of Musa Sadr),<ref name="Edinburgh University Press">{{cite book|last1=Savant|first1=Sarah Bowen|title=Genealogy and Knowledge in Muslim Societies: Understanding the Past|date=2014|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-0748644971|page=147|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VG-lBgAAQBAJ&q=khatami+niece&pg=PA147}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mallat|first1=Chibli|title=Philosophy of Nonviolence: Revolution, Constitutionalism, and Justice Beyond the Middle East|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0199394203|page=272|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQ67BQAAQBAJ&q=khatami+niece+musa+al-sadr&pg=PA272|quote=Sadr was born in 1928 and grew up in Iran. He was a widely respected personality both in Iran and in Iraq, in addition to Lebanon, with strong family relations with various prominent leaders in both countries, including former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami (who married his niece).}}</ref> and Ayatollah Khomeini's son [[Ahmad Khomeini]] (his wife was another of Musa Sadr's nieces).<ref name=asharq8>{{cite news|title=Musa al Sadr: The Untold Story|url=http://www.aawsat.net/2008/05/article55258754|access-date=5 August 2013|newspaper=Asharq Alawsat|date=31 May 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019131923/http://www.aawsat.net/2008/05/article55258754|archive-date=19 October 2013}}</ref><ref name="Edinburgh University Press"/> Sadr's son was married to Khomeini's granddaughter.<ref name="asharq8"/> His sister, [[Rabab al-Sadr]], is a social activist who does charity work, and also a painter trained in Italy who earned a doctorate in philosophy,<ref>[http://www.weeportal-lb.org/news/journey-rabab-sadr-president-imam-el-sadr-institutions The journey of Rabab Sadr, president of Imam el Sadr Institutions]</ref> her paradigm being influenced by [[Søren Kierkegaard]].<ref>[[Habib Malik|Habib C. Malik]], "The Arab World: The Reception of Kierkegaard in the Arab World" in [[Jon Stewart (philosopher)|Jon Steward]] (ed.), ''Kierkegaard's International Reception: The Near East, Asia, Australia and the Americas'', Tome III, Ashgate (2009), p. 89</ref>'

=== Charisma ===
Musa Sadr has been referred to by [[Fouad Ajami]] as a "towering figure in modern Shi'i political thought and praxis."<ref name="Nasr1" /> According to him, even American diplomats effusively described Musa Sadr after meeting him. He supports his claim by referring to a cable sent home by [[George M. Godley]], a U.S. ambassador to Lebanon: "He is without debate one of the most, if not the most, impressive individual I have met in Lebanon. . . . His [[charisma]] is obvious and his apparent sincerity is awe-inspiring".<ref name="The Atlantic">{{cite journal|last1=Ignatius|first1=David|date=June 1986|title=The vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon|url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A4259316/GPS?sid=wikipedia|journal=The Atlantic|pages=77|access-date=1 June 2016}}{{subscription required|via=General OneFile}}</ref> In Lebanon, he had garnered significant popularity "due to his good rapport with young people."<ref name="abaw" />

Standing at {{convert|6|ft|6|in|m|order=flip|abbr=on}},<ref>Sandra Mackey, ''Mirror of the Arab World: Lebanon in Conflict'', W. W. Norton & Company (2008), p. 162</ref> scholar Fouad Ajami describes Sadr's charisma and magnetism as such: <blockquote>Lebanon has long been a country finicky about the looks, the aura, ''al-haiba'' of a leader. The Shia in particular have been noted to be a people of some vanity. In the Shia tradition, the Imams were not only morally infallible men (an Imam was said to be masum, not subject to error), but also physically perfect beings. A blind man or a lame man would not have been accepted as an Imam. Musa al Sadr, a handsome man of striking looks, was true to his people's fantasy of what a man of piety and distinction and high birth slated for bigger things should look like. He was, in addition, a dazzling speaker in a culture that exalted the spoken word and those who could express in classical Arabic what was on the minds of others.<ref>Fouad Ajami, The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon'', Cornell University Press (2012), p. 48</ref></blockquote>

and

<blockquote>Sayyid Musa winked at traditions with a daring uncommon to men of his clerical calling and background. He was a hit with women, who admired his looks and his elegance and were pleased that they did not have to scurry out of living rooms and meetings when he arrived, as they did with ulama of more conservative outlook. As befitting a man of the religious mantle, he refrained from shaking hands with women, and his aides and companions forewarned Christian women who were to meet him that they should not try to shake hands. But even this prohibition was violated now and them. A woman who admitted being drawn to him, being nearly hypnotized by him, once held out a hand to him, and he took it between his two hands, saying that he was not supposed to do so, and that he was doing what he shouldn't be doing, that he would not do it again.<ref>Fouad Ajami, ''The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon'', Cornell University Press (2012), pp. 94–95</ref></blockquote>

==Disappearance==
On 25 August 1978, Sadr and two companions, Sheikh Mohamad Yaacoub and journalist {{ill|Abbas Bader el-Dine|fr}}, departed for Libya to meet with government officials<ref name=yal3sep>{{cite news
|title=Lebanon FM to interview Muammar Gaddafi's top spy about Sadr's fate
|url=http://www.yalibnan.com/2012/09/03/lebanon-fm-to-interview-gaddafis-top-spy-about-sadrs-fate/
|access-date=4 March 2013
|newspaper=Ya Libnan
|date=3 September 2012}}</ref><ref name=dak3sep>{{cite news|last=Dakroub|first=Hussein|title=Mansour, Lebanese judge to question Sanousi on Sadr's fate|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Sep-03/186516-mansour-lebanese-judge-to-question-sanousi-on-sadrs-fate.ashx#axzz2Mav3lbcF|access-date=4 March 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=3 September 2012|archive-date=17 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117200047/http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Sep-03/186516-mansour-lebanese-judge-to-question-sanousi-on-sadrs-fate.ashx#axzz2Mav3lbcF|url-status=dead}}</ref> at the invitation of [[Muammar Gaddafi]]. The three were last seen on 31 August.<ref name=yal3sep/> They were never heard from again.<ref name=yal3sep/><ref name=NB />

It is widely believed, at least by Lebanese Shia Muslims, that Gaddafi ordered Sadr's killing,<ref name="The Atlantic"/> but differing motivations exist. Libya has consistently denied responsibility, claiming that Sadr and his companions left Libya for Italy.<ref name="Norton, Augustus R 2007">Norton, Augustus R. Hezbollah A Short Story. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2007. Print.</ref> However, supporters of the missing cleric pointed out that Sadr's baggage was found in a [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] hotel and there was no evidence of his arrival in [[Rome]].<ref name="Norton, Augustus R 2007"/> Airlines could not confirm that Sadr had ever flown to Italy from Libya.<ref name="Norton, Augustus R 2007"/>

According to [[Amir Taheri#Controversies and fabrications|controversial]] journalist [[Amir Taheri]], Gaddafi ordered Sadr's death by accident. As he recounts in his book ''Holy Terror: The inside story of Islamic Terrorism'', "Shaking his fist in rage, Gaddafi uttered the Arabic word '''Khalas!''<nowiki/>'". Taheri goes on to claim that in this context Gaddafi would have meant "I am through with him!", but Captain Saad had interpreted this as "Eliminate him!". According to Taheri, Captain Saad would drive Sadr and his companions to the [[Janzur]] firing range, nine kilometres west of Tripoli and kill them. Upon hearing the news Gaddafi was "both surprised and angry". Gaddafi's security chief General [[Mustafa Kharoubi]] then ordered "three of his agents to dress up as mullahs and take Alitalia flight 881 of 31 August to Rome, using the passports of Sadr and his two companions."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taheri |first=Amir |title=Holy terror: the inside story of Islamic terrorism |date=1987 |publisher=Sphere Books |isbn=978-0-7221-8332-8 |location=London |pages=74–75}}</ref>

Sadr's son claimed that he remains secretly in jail in Libya but did not provide proof.<ref>Staff (31 August 2010) [http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=118823 "Imam Sadr and companions still alive in captivity of Libya, son tells news agency"] ''The Daily Star'' (Lebanon).</ref> Lebanese Parliament Speaker [[Nabih Berri]] claimed that the Libyan regime, and particularly the Libyan leader, was responsible for the disappearance of Imam Musa Sadr, as London-based ''[[Asharq Al-Awsat]]'', a Saudi-run pan-Arab daily, reported on 27 August 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&issue=10134&article=379828 |title=بري يحمل النظام الليبي ورئيسه مسؤولية «الجريمة المنظمة» في اختطاف موسى الصدر ورفيقيه, أخبار<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=28 August 2006 |archive-date=2 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302190416/http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&issue=10134&article=379828 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&issue=10135&article=380047 |title=المجلس الشيعي في لبنان يدعو ليبيا إلى «كشف لغز» اختفاء موسى الصدر, أخبار<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=28 August 2006 |archive-date=12 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312080345/http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&issue=10135&article=380047 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=372294 Libya is responsible for Musa Sadr’s disappearance: paper<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306221024/http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=372294 |date=6 March 2009}}</ref>

According to Iranian General Mansour Qadar, the head of Syrian security, [[Rifaat al-Assad]], told the Iranian ambassador to Syria that Gaddafi planned to kill Sadr.<ref name="Val"/> On 27 August 2008, Gaddafi was indicted by the government of Lebanon for Sadr's disappearance.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7584557.stm "Gaddafi charged for cleric kidnap"]. [[BBC News]], 27 August 2008.</ref> Following the fall of the [[Gaddafi regime]], Lebanon and Iran appealed to the Libyan rebels to investigate the fate of Musa Sadr.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/24/libya-missing-cleric|title=Lebanon and Iran urge Libyan rebels to probe 33-year-old mystery|author=Saeed Kamali Dehghan|work=the Guardian|date=24 August 2011}}</ref>

Political analyst Roula Talj has said that Gaddafi's son, [[Saif al-Islam Gaddafi]], told her that Sadr and his aides, Mohammed Yaqoub and {{ill|Abbas Bader el-Dine|fr}}, never left Libya.{{cn|date=August 2021}} According to a representative of Libya's [[National Transitional Council]] in [[Cairo]], Gaddafi murdered Sadr after discussions about Shia beliefs. Sadr accused him of being unaware of Islamic teachings and of the Islamic branches of Shia and [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]. According to other sources, Gaddafi had Sadr and his companions murdered at the request of [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] leader [[Yasser Arafat]]. At the time, the Shias and the Palestinians were involved in armed clashes in [[Southern Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703421204576327043387056276|title=Fouad Ajami: Gadhafi and the Vanished Imam – WSJ|author=Fouad Ajami|date=17 May 2011|work=WSJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053630,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228055005/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053630,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 February 2011|title=Is the Missing Shi'ite Cleric Imam Musa Sadr Alive in Libya? – TIME|date=25 February 2011|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> Other sources alleged Gaddafi eliminated Sadr at the request of [[Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini]], who regarded Sadr as a potential rival.<ref name=":1" /> Gaddafi later supported Khomeini in the [[Iran–Iraq War|Iran-Iraq War]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1985-06-27 |title=Iraq Breaks Ties With Libya Over Support for Iran |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-06-27-mn-10776-story.html |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

According to a former member of the Libyan intelligence, Sadr was beaten to death for daring to challenge Gaddafi at his house on matters of theology.<ref name="Worth">{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert F.|title=Qaddafi's Never-Neverland|work=The New York Times|page=26|date=25 September 2011|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/magazine/the-surreal-ruins-of-qaddafis-never-never-land.html}}</ref> In an interview with [[Al Aan TV]], Ahmed Ramadan, an influential figure in the Gaddafi regime and an eyewitness to the meeting between Sadr and Gaddafi, claimed that the meeting lasted for two and a half hours and ended with Gaddafi saying "take him". Ramadan also named three officials who he believes were responsible for the death of Sadr.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mousa|first=Jenan|title=احمد رمضان يكشف اسماء الاشخاص الذين قاموا بتصفية موسى الصدر|url=http://akhbar.alaan.tv/video/world-news/Gaddafi-Ahmed-Ramadan-reveals-names-people-liquidate-Musa-al-Sadr/|work=Akhbar Al Aan|access-date=15 November 2011|archive-date=12 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112145742/http://akhbar.alaan.tv/video/world-news/Gaddafi-Ahmed-Ramadan-reveals-names-people-liquidate-Musa-al-Sadr/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Lebanon Shiite leader was 'liquidated' in Libya|url=http://en.news.maktoob.com/20090001220564/Lebanon_Shiite_leader_was_liquidated_in_Libya/Article.htm|access-date=15 November 2011|newspaper=Yahoo Maktoob|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114031156/http://en.news.maktoob.com/20090001220564/Lebanon_Shiite_leader_was_liquidated_in_Libya/Article.htm|archive-date=14 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Lebanon Shiite leader was 'liquidated' in Libya|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20111109-lebanon-shiite-leader-was-liquidated-libya|access-date=15 November 2011|work=France24|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112062205/http://www.france24.com/en/20111109-lebanon-shiite-leader-was-liquidated-libya|archive-date=12 November 2011}}</ref>

In 2011, [[Abdel Moneim al-Houni|Abdel Monem al-Houni]] claimed that Sadr's body was sent to [[Sabha, Libya|Sabha]] in Gaddafi's private jet and buried there. The plane was flown by Houni's cousin, Najieddine Yazigi, who was later murdered to preserve the secret.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dehghan |first=Saeed Kamali |date=2011-08-24 |title=Lebanon and Iran urge Libyan rebels to probe 33-year-old mystery |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/24/libya-missing-cleric |access-date=2023-07-05 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-03-02 |title=Libya revolt may solve mystery of cleric's fate |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/369808 |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref>

In 2021, [[Muqtada al-Sadr]], the cousin of Musa Sadr and leader of the [[Sadrist Movement]] in Iraq, announced that a committee has been formed to investigate the fate of Musa Sadr.<ref>{{cite news|title=Committee Set Up to Pursue Fate of Imam Musa Sadr|url=https://iqna.ir/en/news/3475704/committee-set-up-to-pursue-fate-of-imam-musa-sadr|access-date=14 August 2022|work=International Quran News Agency|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813152145/https://iqna.ir/en/news/3475704/committee-set-up-to-pursue-fate-of-imam-musa-sadr|archive-date=13 August 2022}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Banner-MusaAlSadr-40yearsDisappearanceCommemoration-Tyre-NabihBerri-Amal RomanDeckert06092018.jpg|thumb|Banner in Tyre, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Sadr's disappearance]]
Imam Musa Sadr is still regarded as an important political and spiritual leader by the Shia Lebanese community. His status only grew after his disappearance in August 1978, and today his legacy is revered by both Amal and [[Hezbollah]] followers.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|title=As Gaddafi Teeters, Will the Mystery of Lebanon's Missing Imam Be Solved?|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2045328_2045333_2053630,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301172214/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2045328_2045333_2053630,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 March 2011|publisher=TIME Online |date=22 February 2011}}</ref> In the eyes of many, he became a martyr and a "vanished imam." A tribute to his continuing popularity is that it is popular in parts of Lebanon to mimic his Persian accent.<ref name="Val" /> The Amal Party remains an important Shia organization in Lebanon and looks to Sadr as its founder.

According to Professor [[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imam Musa Sadr and Religion in the Contemporary World |url=https://www.imamsadr.net/News/news.php?NewsID=4680 |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=www.imamsadr.net}}</ref> 

{{Cquote|His great political influence and fame was enough for people to not consider his philosophical attitude, although he was a well-trained follower of long living intellectual tradition of Islamic Philosophy.
}}

==Works==
Sadr wrote a long introduction to [[Henry Corbin]]'s ''History of Islamic Philosophy''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iqna.ir/en/news/2093699/%E2%80%9Cshia-muslims-in-lebanon%E2%80%9D-1st-work-published-in-iran-on-imam-musa-sadr-|title="Shia Muslims in Lebanon", 1st Work Published in Iran on Imam Musa Sadr}}</ref>

Sadr's paper ''Islam, Humanity and Human Values'' was published by Ahlul Bayt World Assembly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/21634|title=Islam, Humanity and Human Values|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>

''Unity of the Islamic Schools of Thought According to Imam Musa Sadr'' includes a biography and an English adaptation of one of his books, ''Imam Musa Sadr: surush-e wahdat, Majma’ Jahani-ye Taqrib-e Madhahib-e Islami, 2004.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/46094|title=Unity of the Islamic Schools of Thought According to Imam Musa Sadr|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>

== Institutions ==
* Imam Moussa Al Sadr Center for Research & Studies - Beirut, Lebanon<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imamsadr.net/Home/index.php|title=مركز الإمام موسى الصدر للأبحاث والدراسات|website=www.imamsadr.net|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>
* Sadr Foundation - Tyre, Lebanon<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imamsadrfoundation.org:443/|title=Imam Sadr Foundation - Lebanon|website=www.imamsadrfoundation.org|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-29}}</ref>
* Sadr Foundation - Dearborn, Michigan, United States<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sadrfoundation.us/|title=SadrFoundation.US|website=www.sadrfoundation.us|access-date=2019-11-29}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|Shia Islam|Lebanon}}
*[[Lebanese people in Iran]]
*[[List_of_people_who_disappeared_mysteriously: 1910–1990|List of people who disappeared]]
*[[List of Shi'a Muslim scholars of Islam]]
*[[Modern Islamic philosophy]]
*[[Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr|Mohammad Baqir Sadr]]
*[[Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr|Mohammad Sadeq Sadr]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.imamsadr.net/ Imam Moussa Sadr Online News]
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060518143130/http://www.imam-moussa.com/ Imam Moussa as-Sadr Website]}}
*[http://www.imamsadrfoundation.org/ Imam Sadr Foundation]
*[[Seyeed Ali Haghshenas|Haghshenas, Seyyed Ali]], "Social and political structure of Lebanon and its influence on appearance of Amal Movement," [[Iran]], [[Tehran]]. 2009

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadr, Musa Al-}}
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[[Category:Lebanese Shia Muslims]]
[[Category:Missing Iranian people]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in Libya]]
[[Category:People declared dead in absentia]]
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