LILIT HARUTYUNYAN
grassroots of the community . Sunni zuama maintained doctoral independence from Hariri in the 1992 and 1996 parliamentary elections . Sunni Islamist movements such as al-Abbash and al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya experienced a brief flowering and some limited electoral success . However , all this changed when Hariri imposed himself as the prime leader of his community from the mid-1990s . 33 In 1996 , Hariri had his favored candidate elected mufti , a position that had remained vacant since Mufti Hassan Khalid ’ s assassination . 34 Starting in 1999 , the Hariri foundation also began engaging in grassroots clientelism , building health centers and schools in predominantly Sunni neighborhoods . Although the health centers are open to patients from any confession , the location and the association with Hariri work as signifiers that these are “ Sunni ” institutions . In preparation for the 2000 parliamentary elections , Hariri politically neutralized the Al Makassed association 35 , which had traditionally been Beirut ’ s premier Sunni philanthropic association and a patronage instrument of the Salam family 36 . Hariri ’ s transformation from a “ national ” to a specifically “ Sunni ” leader in the mid-1990s was an electoral strategy . The businessman-politician was coming under increasing political pressure from rival politicians allied to Syria , especially when army commander Emile Lahoud was elected president in 1998 . Subsequently , Hariri resigned as prime minister . In order to return as the head of government , Hariri sought electoral success , which in Lebanon is best achieved through confessional mobilization . There can be little doubt that Hariri would have been able to build a grassroots base beyond his Sunni community , but this would be viewed as an encroachment by rival leaders . Means of curtailing such encroachment included blocking accreditation by the health ministry , rejection of health centers by municipal authorities , or , in times of heightened confessional tension , the threat of physical attacks on Hariri institutions . The confessional system had disciplined the new contractor .
Hariri had become more like the zuama of the pre-war era , using
33
For the changes in Sunni politics in the early mid-1990s , see Skovgaard-Petersen Jacob , “ The Sunni Religious Scene in Beirut ”, 69-80 .
34
The electoral process was tightly managed by two advisors to Rafik Hariri in order to produce the desired outcome . Skovgaard-Petersen , “ The Sunni Religious Scene in Beirut ”, 78-79 , Rougier Bernard , Everyday Jihad : The Rise of Militant Islam among Palestinians in Lebanon ( Cambridge , MA : Harvard University Press , 2007 ), 130-131 .
35
Al Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association of Beirut was founded in 1878 . It is a charitable , humanitarian , and non-profit Islamic association that seeks to build a distinguished Makassed community based on sublime values and proud of its national belonging . Al Makassed Association implements the principles of Islam with the aim of developing its society ’ s capacities and educating its generations . For this purpose , it disseminates Islamic education through its diverse institutions , provides healthcare , and offers educational , medical , social , and cultural services by subsidizing the costs of these services .
36
On the political uses of the health centers and schools , see Cammett Melani , Sukriti Issar , “ Bricks and Mortar Clientelism : The Political Geography of Walfare in Lebanon ”, World Politics , 62 , no . 3 ( 2010 ), 381-421 .
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