Sadr, Musa al-

Sadr, Musa al-

(born 1928, Qom, Iran—disappeared Aug. 31, 1978, Libya?) Iranian-born Lebanese Shi'ite cleric. The son of an ayatollah, he received a traditional Islamic education in Qom and in Al-Najaf, Iraq, and also briefly studied political economy and law at Tehran University. In 1960 he moved to Lebanon, where he became involved in social work among the country's largely disfranchised Shi'ite community. In 1968–69 he formed the Higher Shi'ite Islamic Council to promote the community's interests, and in 1975 he formed a militia, Amal, to defend the Shi'ite 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.