Imam Musa Sadr, with a broad and comprehensive Islamic approach, paid attention to all Islamic religions.
Calling to Islam based on wisdom and good preaching was one of his strategic affairs. Imam Sadr considered religion as the principle and considered sect as the views and methods of Muslims.
. In the late 1950s he moved to Lebanon, where he became involved in social work among the country’s largely disenfranchised Shiʿi community. In 1968–69 he formed the Higher Shiʿi Islamic Council to promote the community’s interests, and in 1975 he formed Amal, an armed wing of his Ḥarakat al-Maḥrūmīn (“Movement of the Deprived”), a Shiʿi social reform movement, in order to defend the Shiʿi community in the Lebanese Civil War.
He and a small entourage disappeared while on an official trip in Libya. The Libyan government disavowed any knowledge of what became of the cleric and his companions; his disappearance has remained a highly controversial mystery.
Imam Khomeini says about Imam Musa Sadr: I am sad at not seeing Mr. Mūsā Sadr among you. He was like my son. He was a strong arm of Islam.(Sahifeh-ye-Imam. V 15. P 5)
Lebanon has witnessed many years of war, turmoil and occupation from foreign regimes including Israel and the US. Out of the conflict, a hero arose.
we honor the legacy of Imam Musaa al-Sadr, a Shia cleric, who turned the tables of the unfortunate situation in Lebanon and began the process which would go on to see Lebanon end its civil war, expel foreign armies, and eventually defeat the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon.
Relatives and those who followed Imam Musa Sadr have not given up hope that one day they will know what exactly happened to the prominent Shia cleric and his companions 41 years ago.
They say they will continue to spread his message of coexistence and unity in the meantime.
Sayed Sadr was reportedly kidnapped along with two companions in Libya in 1978, as he sought Arab support for an end to the Lebanese civil war which plagued the country at the time.
Sayed Moussa Sader had constantly called for resistance against Israeli occupation in Lebanon warning that it would always be a threat against the country unless it is deterred. Over 40 years since his disappearance, his words are more relevant than ever.
The Iranian foreign minister says the case of the disappearance of Lebanon’s prominent Shia leader Imam Musa al-Sadr will always be on the agenda of Iran’s and Lebanon’s diplomatic apparatus until a valid conclusion is reached and the truth is uncovered.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remark in a post on his Instagram account on Wednesday, which coincided with the 44th anniversary of the missing of the top Shia cleric in Libya.
“Forty-four years have passed since the abduction of Imam Musa al-Sadr and his companions … An innovative and lively scholar who breathed a new life into the body of the Islamic nation and Lebanon’s Muslim and Christian communities with his messianic spirit. He was truly the herald of unity and identity for Muslims and a preacher of coexistence and mutual respect among followers of religions and political sects,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
“Imam Musa al-Sadr has not been among us for 44 years, but his pioneership and determination in the fight against the Zionist regime as well as ignorance and unawareness still stands as the great goal of the Islamic Ummah,” he added.
“The case of the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr is always one of the significant issues … followed on through the continuous efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the diplomatic apparatus of Iran and Lebanon until a conclusion is reached and the truth is unmasked,” he added.
Imam Musa al-Sadr was a highly revered Shia cleric of Iranian descent, who founded the Lebanese Amal (Hope) Movement in 1974. He came to Lebanon in 1959 to work for the rights of Shia Muslims in the port city of Tyre, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Beirut.
The prominent Shia cleric disappeared on August 31, 1978, during an official visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli. He was accompanied by Sheikh Mohammad Yaqoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine.
Lebanon still holds former Libyan officials responsible for the disappearance of the trio.
Since Libya's dictator Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011, Lebanon and Iran have repeatedly called on the Libyan government to launch an investigation into Sadr's disappearance.
Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan dictator, is currently in custody in Lebanon, facing charges of withholding information regarding Sadr’s case.
In August 2016, Sadr's family filed a lawsuit against Gaddafi over his role in the disappearance of the senior Shia cleric.