ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD

JULY 27, 2026 16:27

Hezbollah and Iran exploited weaknesses in Lebanon's schooling framework to build institutions that indoctrinate youth as future martyrs and leaders devoted to their agenda, based on a fresh analysis by Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah from the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

While Shiite clerics and politicians initiated programs to counter educational shortfalls faced by Lebanon's Shiite population under Ottoman and French Mandate eras, major shifts in Shiite schooling gained pace in the latter 20th century.

Prior actions involved founding contemporary religious and communal bodies, plus promoting secular views like Marxism in parts of the group. Yet many Shiite areas, especially rural ones, stuck with classic religious learning focused on basic reading and Islamic teachings.

Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution ultimately molded Shiite school networks in Lebanon into entities aligned with Hezbollah and Iran for radical purposes.

Hezbollah and Iran's commitment to education started soon after the group's launch.

Islamic Republic provided resources for building schools and centers

Before Hezbollah's formal creation, its former Secretary-General Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi set up the Imam al-Muntazar Hawza for Islamic Studies in Baalbek in 1979, backed directly by Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr from Iraq and the Islamic Republic.

The launch event drew the Iranian envoy from Damascus, and officials noted the Islamic Republic gave $35,000 plus 10,000 Syrian liras for the hawza build.

Shiite-focused schools outside state control expanded faster in southern Lebanon after the Pahlavi Dynasty fell and the 1982 Lebanon War, which hit secular leftist groups hard, the analysis stated. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards moved swiftly to fill the void.

During the 1980s, Iranian money flowed to Shiite religious schools amid talk of Hezbollah's pupils and Educational Mobilization. By 1987, 198 schools in West Beirut and its outskirts received Iranian support.

Mobilization schools aimed to lay groundwork for overthrowing the Lebanese government, per the report, training students in modern economic skills while instilling ideology to advance Hezbollah goals.

The Al-Mahdi and Al-Mustafa schools were later praised by assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for preparing the next wave of operatives.

We will keep growing and improving these schools in scope, depth, and reach, since they connect closely to our beliefs and jihad efforts, he stated at an event marking the Al-Mahdi schools anniversary.

Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's current secretary-general, helped found the Al-Mustafa school system. He has noted the goal is to build an identity blending knowledge, jihad, learning, and faith to aid the resistance, homeland, and nation, readying for the Imam Mahdi state.

The Hezbollah-linked Schools of the Islamic Foundation for Education and the Islamic Religious Education Association revised curricula to highlight Ayatollah Ruhollah Mostafavi Khomeini and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as examples. Lessons were shaped to foster Hezbollah supporters.

As of 2026, the report estimated Hezbollah controls at least 22 schools serving 47,000 students, with additional reach through allied networks.

The Al-Mustafa schools target Shiite middle and upper-middle classes plus offspring of top party members to develop the next elite layer for Hezbollah in professional fields, the analysis said. Run by the Islamic Religious Education Association, they match state standards while providing an Islamic option under Hezbollah oversight including Sheikh Naim Qassem.

Al-Mahdi system includes 17 schools, builds Hezbollah followers

The Al-Mahdi system, under Hezbollah's Executive Council education branch, runs at least 17 schools from elementary through high school. They stress preparing the next Hezbollah generation by promoting self-sacrifice and martyrdom, the report detailed.

These places aim to turn the Shiite community into a cohesive, ideologically aligned base that ties the party's future to the youth, Neriah concluded. Hezbollah sees education not just as aid or study but as a core tool for shaping society and creating what they call a resistance society (mujtama' al-muqawama).

Both Al-Mahdi and Al-Mustafa schools receive heavy subsidies to satisfy state rules while running their parallel curriculum for ideological and religious training, the report added. This setup allows teaching Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist), placing the Islamic regime in supreme control.

Starting at age five, kids' activities in these schools copy military drills and missions. The report stressed that while typical schools protect children from violence, Hezbollah's setup works to make it routine.

Hezbollah's Imam al-Mahdi Scouts further promote jihad, easing the shift from classroom to combat roles, the report noted. Around 100,000 children in the group don Hezbollah-style uniforms, and top performers join the actual military as young as 16.

In the schools, textbooks and tasks normalize and celebrate martyrdom, resistance, and animosity toward Israel and the West, the report observed. The Mahdi Magazine for ages 4-17 reinforces these messages via comics on armed conflict.

The Lebanese national anthem is seldom played, replaced by Salam Ya Mahdi, a tune swearing loyalty to the Shiite Iranian cause. Sung every day, Neriah judged this step further distances children from Lebanese roots.