Some Post-Fadlallah Assessments

Sheikh (or Grand Ayatollah depending on your views) Fadlallah's passing has of course brought out the expected huge Beirut funeral (Hizbullah's selected photos here) and some commentary that I think deserves mention, especially for Americans who saw him only in terms of the cliche "spiritual leader of Hizbullah" (which is not what he was, or at least not all he was).

First, since not everyone reads the comment box, I would point you to the comment posted by David Mack on my post about the sheikh's passing:

Fadlallah was the most prominent Arab "Source of Emulation" (marj'a at-taqlid) in Shi'a Islam, since Ayatollah Sistani is Persian, even though he has lived for most of his life in Najaf. I have heard that he had his followers among Arab Shi'a far from Lebanon, including in Bahrain and the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia. As a general rule, Arab Shi'a have shown a reluctance to follow the religious teachings of the various Iranian Ayatollahs. It will be interesting to see the reactions in such quarters to Fadlallah's passing.

Second, the always readable and wise Rami Khouri offered these thoughts on Fadlallah. I would also commend to you The Arabist, who's always good, and, via him, As'ad AbuKhalil's remarks about Fadlallah and how Americans pushed him into Hizbullah's arms. I don't often link to AbuKhalil's "Angry Arab" site because it's usually angrier than I am, but when he's on target, he's on target.