Metawali: Difference between revisions
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Metawali refers to the Shiite Muslim community with a significant presence in North Lebanon (Kesrawan and Batrun) and in the south, in Buka'a and the coastal towns south of Beirut.[1]
According to Sir Richard Francis Burton, the Metawali are of Persian descent and generally follow the tenets of the Shia faith; however, their worship practices include pilgrimage to the ruins of a temple honouring Ishtar (Ashtaroth) at Apheca where they address their vows to the Sayyidat al-Kabirah, ("the Great Lady").[2] As such, they are sometimes accused by Orthodox Muslims of hereticism.[2]
History
The jurisdiction of the Ottoman empire was merely nominal in the Lebanon. Baalbek in the eighteenth century was really under the control of the Metawali.[3]
Seven Metawali villages that were included within the boundaries of British Mandate Palestine were depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.[4]
References
- ^ "Lebanon (From Semitic laban", to be..." Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ^ a b Sir Richard Francis Burton (1885). ""Terminal Essay" (In his translation of The Arabian Nights". People with a History. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ^ "About Baalbek". Trip Atlas. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ^ Danny Rubinstein (06/08/2006). "The Seven Lost Villages". Haaretz. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
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