Naim Qassem

Naim Qassem

Naim Qassem (Arabic: نعيم قاسم ‎; born in Beirut in 1953) is a Shia Lebanese cleric and politician, who is the second in command of Hezbollah with the title of Deputy Secretary-General.

Quotes

• Do we really believe in a culture of death? Absolutely not. We believe in the culture of martyrdom. Martyrdom is valuable, sacred, respectable, and great, not something that can be used as an accusation. It is an honor for us to be accused of believing in the culture of martyrdom. What is martyrdom? It is death for the sake of Allah, and in defense of what is just....Hizbullah, when it comes to matters of jurisprudence pertaining to its general direction, as well as to its Jihad direction, based itself on the decisions of the Jurisprudent. It is the Jurisprudent who permits, and it is the Jurisprudent who forbids. When the resistance of Hizbullah was launched in 1982, it was based on the jurisprudent position and decision of Imam Khomeini, who deemed fighting Israel to be an obligation, and therefore, we adhered to this opinion....Even with regard to martyrdom operation – a person cannot kill himself unless he has jurisprudent permission.
  • Deputy Secretary-General of Hizbullah, Sheik Naim Qassem: We Received Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out "Martyrdom" Operations and to Fire Misilles at Israeli Civilians from Iran. MEMRI (April 2007).

• ‎Whatever the costs in terms of sacrifice, the fruits of resistance are always greater than the damage generated from resignation to occupation, succumbing to its blows and acquiescing to its conditions.
  • Hizbullah - The Story from Within, page 240, 2010.