Al-Qaradawi Denounced Hezbollah, Iran Support for Assad’s Tyranny

The Arab uprisings that erupted in 2011 reshaped political alliances, ideological landscapes, and sectarian fault lines across the Middle East. Among the influential voices who addressed the seismic events was Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a prominent Sunni scholar and long-standing figure of the Muslim Brotherhood’s intellectual tradition. His denunciation of Hezbollah and Iran for their support of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria marked one of the most consequential moments in contemporary Islamic political discourse. It signaled a definitive rupture in what many had previously hailed as a “resistance axis” uniting Sunni and Shiite forces against Western intervention and Israeli occupation.

Background: A Legacy of Influence

For decades, al-Qaradawi commanded significant authority among mainstream Sunni audiences. Through his writing, leadership within the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), and his widely viewed Al Jazeera program “Sharia and Life,” he shaped public opinion on religious, political, and societal issues across the Muslim world.

Before the Syrian uprising, al-Qaradawi had expressed admiration for Hezbollah’s role in resisting Israel, particularly during the 2006 Lebanon War. Many Sunni scholars, activists, and political movements similarly hailed Hezbollah’s military capacity and Iran’s defiance of Western powers. This created, for a time, a rare space of Sunni-Shiite political alignment centered on anti-occupation narratives.

Yet this fragile sense of unity collapsed as events unfolded in Syria.

The Syrian Uprising and Its Brutal Repression

In early 2011, peaceful protests erupted in Syria, echoing the demands for dignity, political participation, and social justice witnessed in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. The Syrian regime responded with a harsh crackdown—first with mass arrests and violent dispersal of demonstrations, then with large-scale military operations, bombardments, and sieges.

As the conflict escalated into a civil war, Hezbollah and Iran intervened militarily on Assad’s behalf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps provided strategic advisory roles, intelligence support, weapons, and financial backing. Hezbollah deployed thousands of fighters to key battlegrounds such as Qusayr, Aleppo, and the Qalamoun region. Their involvement marked a decisive turning point in the war, strengthening the Syrian regime at a time when opposition groups were gaining territory.

For al-Qaradawi, this direct participation in what he viewed as the violent repression of Syrian civilians constituted a moral red line.

Al-Qaradawi’s Break with Hezbollah and Iran

In 2013, al-Qaradawi delivered one of his most forceful public statements, declaring that he had been mistaken in previously supporting Hezbollah. He characterized the group as “the party of Satan,” a dramatic rhetorical shift that shocked many who had witnessed his long-standing admiration for its anti-Israel posture.

Al-Qaradawi argued that Hezbollah’s actions in Syria were not merely a matter of geopolitical alignment but constituted a religious and ethical betrayal. By assisting Assad’s assault on predominantly Sunni towns and cities, the group had, in his view, helped perpetrate mass atrocities. He accused Iran of using sectarian mobilization and military intervention to preserve a regime that had lost legitimacy through its violent suppression of dissent.

His denunciation served multiple functions:

1. A Moral Verdict: Al-Qaradawi framed the conflict in ethical terms, portraying the Syrian government’s repression as a tyranny incompatible with Islamic principles of justice and protection of the innocent.

2. A Religious Reassessment: The break with Hezbollah symbolized a broader Sunni re-evaluation of Iran’s regional ambitions. Many Sunni scholars who had previously praised Iranian defiance of Western pressure now saw its actions in Syria as expansionist and sectarian.

3. A Political Realignment: The statement reinforced a developing regional polarization between Sunni-led governments backing insurgent forces and Shiite-aligned powers supporting Assad.

Reactions in the Arab and Muslim Worlds

Al-Qaradawi’s denunciation had enormous resonance. Supporters of the Syrian opposition praised his stance as a courageous defense of a population under siege. Many argued that his moral authority provided legitimacy to calls for greater international and regional pressure on Assad’s government.

However, critics accused him of deepening sectarian divisions. Shiite scholars and pro-Hezbollah supporters argued that his framing of the conflict risked inflaming sectarian rhetoric and overshadowing the geopolitical complexities of the war. They maintained that Hezbollah and Iran were defending a state threatened by extremist groups and foreign intervention.

Despite these criticisms, al-Qaradawi’s message became a defining focal point in the broader Sunni-Shiite discourse surrounding the Syrian conflict. His statements were widely circulated in sermons, media discussions, and political debates, further entrenching sharply divergent narratives about the war.

Sectarian Tensions and the Dynamics of Power

Al-Qaradawi’s denunciation cannot be divorced from the region’s longstanding sectarian undercurrents. Though the Syrian uprising began as a civic movement, the regime’s crackdown—and the subsequent influx of regional and international actors—intensified sectarian identities on both sides.

Hezbollah justified its intervention as necessary to prevent Syria from falling into chaos and to protect Lebanon from extremist spillover. Iran framed the conflict as part of a broader regional struggle against Western interference and militant jihadist movements.

By contrast, al-Qaradawi and many Sunni leaders viewed the war as a popular revolution crushed by brute force, with Iran and Hezbollah complicit in preserving authoritarian tyranny. His invocation of religious rhetoric highlighted the moral urgency he attributed to opposing Assad, but it also fed into a wider sectarian polarization that shaped the war’s discourse.

The Aftermath and Lingering Consequences

More than a decade later, al-Qaradawi’s denunciation remains a significant moment in the regional conversation about Syria. The war devastated the country, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and displacing millions. Hezbollah’s involvement significantly altered the military trajectory of the conflict, contributing to Assad’s survival.

Meanwhile, sectarian tensions across the region—already stoked by earlier political rivalries—intensified further. Al-Qaradawi’s break with Hezbollah symbolized the collapse of the brief period in which cross-sectarian political cooperation had seemed possible.

Today, his statements form part of a larger historical record documenting how the Syrian war reshaped ideological positions and reconfigured alliances. His criticisms reflected not only his moral and religious views but also a major reorientation in Sunni political thought regarding Iran’s regional role.

Conclusion

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s denunciation of Hezbollah and Iran for supporting Bashar al-Assad’s “tyranny” marked a turning point in Middle Eastern political discourse. Once celebrated for its resistance against Israel, Hezbollah became, in his eyes, an enabler of oppression and mass violence in Syria. This shift encapsulated a broader recalibration of regional alliances, puncturing earlier visions of Sunni-Shiite unity against external adversaries.

Through his influential voice, al-Qaradawi articulated a moral critique of authoritarianism and foreign intervention in Syria. Yet his denunciation also reflected and intensified existing sectarian divides, illustrating the complex interplay of religion, politics, and conflict in shaping the modern Middle East.