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I am Lebanese—Here is What I Think is Wrong With Lebanon


Lebanon has a long and tumultuous history marked by cultural diversity, geopolitical tension, and successive foreign dominations. As part of the Phoenician world, it was a crossroads of ancient maritime trade routes, later absorbed into the Roman, Byzantine, and eventually Islamic empires. Under Ottoman rule, a multi-confessional social structure emerged, which was further entrenched during the French Mandate after World War I. Between 1975 and 1990, Lebanon plunged into a bloody civil war that devastated the country physically, psychologically, and institutionally. The subsequent Taif Agreement was meant to bring peace but instead solidified confessional fragmentation and laid the groundwork for many of today’s structural crises—placing power in the hands of those not divinely appointed to govern, but who have since directed the fate of the population.


Three decades after the ceasefire, Lebanon remains a state of permanent crisis. The civil war did not merely destroy cities and traumatize generations; it also bequeathed a politico-religious system that undermines unity and blocks structural progress. Today, Lebanon is a missed opportunity to return to divine justice—caught in the grip of sectarian fragmentation, economic mismanagement, and moral decay.


What may seem at first glance to be an administrative and economic failure is in truth the manifestation of a much deeper problem: the absence of a universal value system that transcends religious affiliation and political expediency.

 

Sect Over the Imam of Time – Religious Fragmentation as Structural Crisis


The Lebanese state was not founded on a shared vision of divine governance and justice, but rather on a fragile balance of sectarian power. The so-called National Pact of 1943 mandated that the president, prime minister, and speaker of parliament each hail from specific religious communities—a mechanism that the 1989 Taif Agreement merely “modernized” but did not abolish.


What was intended as a temporary compromise has become a permanent mode of rule. Political competition follows sectarian lines rather than shared visions. Parties act as religious representatives rather than as advocates for the collective people. This logic stifles progress in every domain, fragments society, and obstructs godly action and thought.


Sectarian division manifests in almost every aspect of public life. Individuals are subject to the whims of religious authorities, with central areas of life governed by confessional institutions.


The situation is especially dire for those who are non-affiliated or belong to unrecognized groups. Those outside the religious framework find themselves in a legal vacuum. There is no neutral judiciary and no non-discriminatory access to God-given human rights. Lebanon—a land rich in intellectual tradition and cultural diversity—treats segments of its citizens as second-class subjects.


Worse still, the potential for violence remains ever-present. Armed clashes—between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli, Hezbollah and rival militias in Beirut and the south—are not isolated incidents, but symptoms of a system rooted not in divine will, but in the rejection of God's appointed representative.

 

Between Corruption, Crisis, and Collapse – Political and Economic Breakdown


While religious fragmentation is deeply embedded in society, political and economic dysfunction is blatantly visible. Lebanon’s man-made system suffers from chronic dysfunction caused not merely by external shocks, but by internal structural failures.



Corruption is not incidental—it is systemic. The political elite leverages sectarian power bases to siphon resources, build patronage networks, and divert public funds for private gain. Ministries become spoils of war, traded in a marketplace of favors. Where law fails, loyalty to sect replaces loyalty to God.


The consequences are glaring: a broken power grid forces citizens to rely on private generators. Trash piles up due to the absence of sustainable waste management. Hospitals face shortages, schools are overwhelmed. This system—unlegitimized by God—is fundamentally nonfunctional.



The most dramatic expression of this decay is the financial crisis that has gripped the country since 2019. The Lebanese lira has lost over 90% of its value, banks have frozen withdrawals, and citizens have lost their savings. The once-vibrant middle class has plunged into precarity, while a small elite lives in alternate realities. Poverty has reshaped the face of the nation.


The demographic toll is especially tragic. The “brain drain”—the systematic emigration of young, educated individuals—is robbing Lebanon of its future. Universities lose faculty, startups lose founders, hospitals lose doctors. Those who remain often do so not out of hope, but due to a lack of alternatives.


The Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020, which killed over 200 people and destroyed swathes of the capital, is a haunting symbol of this failure. It was not an accident, but the result of decades of negligence, irresponsibility, and systemic impunity. No one has been held meaningfully accountable. The cry for justice echoes—once again—in vain.

 

Lebanon’s Fall Is Not Just a Failed State – It Is a Spiritual Void


The Lebanese collapse is not just a case study of state failure—it is the expression of a deeper void: the absence of an integrative, just, and morally anchored framework of governance. Neither religion nor politics has fulfilled its role as a unifying force—on the contrary, both have become tools of division, exploitation, and enrichment.


What is missing is a normative foundation that views all humans—regardless of sect or origin—as equal members of an ethically oriented community. A foundation not rooted in power games but in principles of justice, responsibility, and service to the common good.


Throughout history, many civilizations were given form through a higher, divine order. It is time for Lebanon to consider such an alternative—not as utopia, but as a real, viable path forward from a system that has betrayed its own people.

 

What If God Ruled? – A Vision of Divine Governance for Lebanon


Lebanon—a land historically blessed with prophets, saints, and revelations—was not ruled by the hand of God, but by men who rejected the truth. The ills that have plagued the country since the civil war—sectarianism, corruption, injustice—are not the result of divine silence, but of human deafness to divine order.


The notion that man can build a just society on his own has been decisively disproven by Lebanon’s experience. It is time to ask: what if the one appointed by God had ruled?

 

Unity Over Division – Religion Under Divine Leadership


Lebanon’s religious fragmentation is not a natural result of diversity but of power abused by religious authorities. In a state governed by God, religion would not be a vehicle of division but a foundation of unity.


The Qur'an states:

“Indeed, this community of yours is one single community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me.” (Surah 21:92)

Divine unity (Tawhid) implies social unity. A God-appointed leader like Imam al-Mahdi would not politicize religious identity but recognize the inner light of revelation in every soul.


The Imams of the Ahlul-Bayt (as) taught that any religious division leading to oppression or discrimination is injustice (zulm). Imam Ali (as) said:


“People are either your brothers in faith or your equals in creation.”

In a divinely just state, there would be no sectarian courts, only a unified divine law that measures justice by truth, not lineage. Human dignity—as also described in the Bible, in Genesis, where man is made in the image of God—would be protected for all.

 

Justice as Statecraft – The Ruler as Moral Compass

The essence of divine governance is not power, but justice. The Torah commands:


“Justice, justice shall you pursue.”(Deuteronomy 16:20)

A divinely appointed ruler is not a politician but a mirror of divine will. In Islam, the Imam embodies not only temporal authority but spiritual perfection. The Prophet Muhammad (s) said about Imam Ali (as):


“Ali is with the truth, and the truth is with Ali.”

Under such leadership, corruption and cronyism are impossible—not because they are punished by law, but because they are spiritually unthinkable.


The Book of Isaiah describes the coming righteous king:

“He will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.”(Isaiah 11:4)

This echoes the Islamic ideal of Adl—absolute justice beyond positive law, as expounded by Imam Ali (as) in Nahj al-Balagha.

 

Welfare Over Elite Rule – Redistribution as Divine Duty

Lebanon’s socioeconomic collapse is the product of a society where wealth became a weapon and poverty a punishment. In a divinely ordered state, wealth is for all.


The Qur’an declares:

“And in their wealth was a known right for the beggar and the deprived.”(Surah 51:19)

The Bible concurs:

“Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”(Proverbs 21:13)

The Ahlul-Bayt (as) practiced an economy of mercy. Imam Zayn al-Abidin (as), “The Adornment of the Devout,” was known to distribute bread to the poor at night, in secret. Such a system has no banks that freeze assets, but a circulation-based, interest-free economy based on justice and solidarity.


In the time of Imam Mahdi (as), private ownership dissolves—everything belongs to Allah (swt), and the Imam distributes wealth with divine fairness so that none is left wanting.


The Qur’an warns:

“Those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah—announce to them a painful punishment…”(Surah 9:34-35)

And the Gospel says:

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”(Matthew 19:23–24)

Even in Eastern wisdom, like Daoism, the best ruler is like water—nourishing all gently and justly, without dominating. The divine ruler is not a bureaucrat but a spiritual father.

 

Accountability Over Impunity – Leadership as Trial Before God


The Beirut blast and the absence of accountability reflect a state without moral memory. In divine governance, responsibility is inescapable.


The Qur’an says of Prophet David (Dawud):

“O David! Indeed We made you a successor upon the earth, so judge between the people in truth…” (Surah 38:26)

An Imam cannot ignore, delay, or deceive—for he stands not only before people, but before God.

The Ahlul-Bayt (as) said:

“A ruler who neglects his responsibility will appear on Judgment Day bound hand and foot.” (Imam al-Baqir (as))

Divine rule is not immunity—it is the highest obligation. And that reverence before God is what all worldly rulers lack when they enshrine injustice into law.

 

The Imam as the Answer to Injustice


Were the one divinely appointed—be it a prophet like Moses (as), a king like David (as), an imam like Ali (as), or a messiah like Jesus (as)—to govern Lebanon, the nation would be united, sustained, and righteous. This applies to all nations. It applies to all humanity.


In a world governed by man, human limitation becomes the standard. In a world governed by God, justice is non-negotiable—it is divine duty.


Lebanon is proof of what happens when divine order is replaced by human ambition. If the people of Lebanon would turn once more to the truth proclaimed in every revelation—that justice is God’s name on Earth—then only the one appointed by Allah (swt), who upholds that justice, has the right to rule.

He is among us—God’s man, appointed by the will of Allah (swt) through the testament of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), who said there will be twelve Imams and after them twelve Mahdis. Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (as), the second of the twelve Mahdis, raised the Black Banners in 2015, bearing the inscription “Allegiance Belongs to Allah” as foretold by the Imams of the Ahlul-Bayt (as). He is the Qa’im of the family of Muhammad (as), calling humanity to enter the system of divine governance—eliminating man-made problems and guiding all people to live in harmony, justice, equality, and unity.




Statistics & Sources:

 

1. Currency Devaluation – Over 90% Loss in Value

 

2. Banking Crisis – Frozen Deposits & Lost Savings

 

3. Poverty, Emigration, and Brain Drain

 

4. Beirut Port Explosion – 200+ Dead, No Accountability

 

5. Systemic Corruption & Sectarian Power-Sharing

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