Portal:Shia Islam/Selected biography/8

Musa as-Sadr (Persian: امام موسى صدر, Arabic: السيد موسى الصدر, also Musā-ye Sader, Imam Moussa Sadr and Moussa Sadr; 4 June 1928 – disappeared in Libya on 31 August 1978) was an Iranian-Lebanese philosopher and Shi'a religious leader who went missing in Libya. Many theories exist around the circumstances of his disappearance, none of which have been proven. Due to the lasting influence of his political and religious leadership in Lebanon, he has been referred to by Fouad Ajami as a "towering figure in modern Shi'i political thought and praxis." He gave the Shia population of Lebanon "a sense of community". He was born in Iran and his seminar and university studies there. Then he made trips to Najaf in Iraq and Lebanon. He finally sttled in Lebanon and founded the Movement of the Disinherited (Arabic: حركة المحرومين) to press for better economic and social conditions for the Shia. He established a number of schools and medical clinics throughout southern Lebanon, many of which are still in operation today. Imam Musa aṣ-Ṣadr is still regarded as an important political and spiritual leader by the Shia Lebanese community. His status only grew after his disappearance in August 1978, and today his legacy is revered by both Amal and Hezbollah followers.