Hezbollah' educational mobilization

The educational sector affiliated with Hezbollah in Lebanon serves as a cornerstone in building what is known as the "Resistance Society". This sector extends beyond merely providing educational services; it acts as an ideological and doctrinal incubator, ensuring the continuity of political and religious loyalty across generations. It can be described as "educational mobilization", akin to the "student mobilization" that activates school and university students, and the "security mobilization" involved in the party’s intelligence operations.

This educational network has a complex organizational structure, beginning with pre-university education through the “Al-Mahdi” and “Al-Mustafa” school networks and extending to higher education institutions organically linked to Iran, such as "Al-Mustafa International University".

This report on Hezbollah’s "Educational mobilization" is based on a comprehensive survey of available data, U.S. sanctions lists, and exclusive information. It analyzes the political economy of these schools, exploring their hybrid funding sources: a mix of Iranian support, Islamic religious funds (khums), and school fees, whose composition has changed dramatically amid Lebanon’s financial collapse. It also discusses the legal and financial challenges posed by U.S. sanctions, distinguishing between direct sanctions, such as those on Al-Mustafa University for military recruitment, and indirect sanctions that choke schools by targeting their funding and oversight structures.

Building the "resistance society"

To understand the functional nature of Hezbollah’s educational institutions, they must be viewed in their historical and geographical context. These institutions emerged to fulfill Hezbollah’s strategic need to build a new generation committed to the principle of "Wilayat al-Faqih" (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) and ready to engage in military, security, or administrative roles. This necessitated complete control over the educational process, far from secular or Western curricula typically found in private or even state-run Lebanese schools.

Education has thus evolved from a mere social service to a central tool in "societal engineering". By controlling schools, Hezbollah prevents liberal ideas from permeating its base and ensures a continuous supply of ideologically indoctrinated human resources. Studies indicate these schools do not merely teach the official curriculum; they incorporate a “jihadist educational” program that reconfigures the collective memory of Lebanon’s Shiite community and ties it directly to Iran’s regional project.

The Islamic Foundation for Education and Teaching is Hezbollah’s largest and most widespread educational arm. Established in 1993, it represents the “popular” wing of the educational system, targeting poorer and middle-class families and children of “martyrs”. It operates in areas considered Hezbollah’s demographic strongholds and is under the direct supervision of the party’s Executive Council. Its leadership includes senior figures who have built a bureaucratic infrastructure that rivals those of education ministries in small countries.

Spread and demographics

Al-Mahdi schools follow a strategy of "horizontal expansion" to cover all densely Shiite-populated areas. According to the Center for Educational Research and Development (CRDP), the foundation operates a vast network of at least 17 major educational complexes (up to 26 units), including kindergartens and vocational centers. These schools are mandatory and free for children of Hezbollah fighters killed in action, with full costs covered by the Martyr Foundation.

Due to Lebanon’s financial crisis, the party decided to limit its educational support to Al-Mahdi schools only, revoking the freedom of choice to attend other schools, to cut costs and ensure ideological alignment.

While Al-Mahdi schools have mass reach, Al-Mustafa schools focus on quality and elite education. Affiliated with the Islamic Religious Education Association, they have a more elite character in terms of target audience, tuition, and location. They are associated with Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s current deputy leader and spiritual supervisor of the schools.

Al-Mustafa schools are concentrated in urban centers and cater to the rising Shiite middle and upper-middle classes, as well as children of senior party officials. The network includes six branches, including an all-girls school, “Al-Batoul.” These schools charge relatively high fees, resembling Lebanon’s elite private schools. Hezbollah aims to provide an Islamic educational alternative that competes with Francophone and missionary schools, thus appealing to families seeking quality education in a conservative environment, even if not fully politically aligned with Hezbollah.

Ideological indoctrination

The curriculum and teaching staff act as the “software” powering this educational infrastructure. Hezbollah’s schools aim to forge a dual identity, academic excellence, and strict ideological commitment. Al-Mahdi and Al-Mustafa schools adhere to the Lebanese state curriculum and participate in official exams (Brevet and Baccalaureate), which grant them legal academic recognition and access to national and international universities.

Alongside the official curriculum, students follow an intense religious program supervised by the Islamic Religious Education Association. This includes key doctrinal and political themes promoting “Wilayat al-Faqih” and the “culture of resistance,” glorifying armed struggle, martyrdom, and hostility toward Israel and the West.

Notably, Al-Mahdi schools have integrated Persian language instruction and host annual “Persian Language Olympiads” in partnership with Iran’s cultural attaché, signaling an effort to culturally tie elite students to Iran.

Teacher selection goes beyond academic merit to include ideological qualifications. Teachers must display religious commitment and visual adherence (e.g., women must wear the hijab) and loyalty to Hezbollah’s political line. Teachers are considered “missionary educators,” not mere employees.

The system includes an alternative teacher training structure through Hezbollah’s own “Teacher House” and continuous training centers, focusing on religious and political indoctrination to ensure educators transmit party ideology in classrooms.

Funding amid collapse

Since Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse, Hezbollah’s educational network has faced major funding challenges. Financial data reveal a shift in funding structure. Al-Mahdi schools rely heavily on direct Iranian funding, either via allocations from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei or through religious taxes (khums).

The Martyr Foundation also covers the education of thousands of Hezbollah martyrs’ children. But as foreign currency flows dwindled, the foundation had to cut back, focusing support exclusively on party-affiliated schools and ending scholarships for non-party private universities. Students were redirected to the nearly free Lebanese University.

To combat hyperinflation, schools began charging tuition in U.S. dollars. Al-Mustafa schools in particular imposed higher fees to cover teacher salaries and advanced facilities. Hezbollah uses tuition waivers (50% or 100%) to retain the loyalty of low-income families, making it politically costly for them to break from the party.

Al-Mustafa international university

At the top of the ideological educational pyramid is Al-Mustafa International University, which is fundamentally different from local schools and serves as a direct arm of a transnational Iranian institution. Headquartered in Qom, Iran, it was established in 2007 by Supreme Leader Khamenei, who oversees it personally. Its stated mission is to spread Islamic sciences and train non-Iranian clergy.

The university offers academic degrees in Islamic studies, jurisprudence, law, and humanities. In Lebanon, it has sought to legitimize its presence through cooperation agreements with the Lebanese University. But its real role is as a recruitment platform for exporting Iran’s revolution, training missionaries and clergy indoctrinated in Wilayat al-Faqih. Western investigations have shown it also serves as a recruitment front, particularly targeting Pakistani and Afghan students to fight in IRGC-linked militias like Fatemiyoun and Zainabiyoun under the guise of scholarships.

Financial and legal siege

The most existential threat to this system is posed by U.S. sanctions, particularly those imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Sanctions fall into two categories: direct sanctions on entities and indirect sanctions by association.

On December 8, 2020, the U.S. Treasury designated Al-Mustafa International University and its global branches as a terrorist entity, accusing it of being a "recruitment and intelligence arm" of the IRGC Quds Force.

Although the Al-Mahdi and Al-Mustafa schools are not individually sanctioned, they face financial restrictions due to their links to sanctioned individuals and entities. Al-Mustafa schools are connected to Sheikh Naim Qassem (sanctioned since 2018), and under OFAC’s 50% rule, any entity controlled by a sanctioned person risks being blacklisted, which can cause banks to refuse accounts.

Al-Mahdi schools are also linked to the Martyr Foundation, the primary financial sponsor for students, which is itself designated as a terrorist entity. Thus, any financial transfers to these schools are subject to strict scrutiny or potential freezing.

Future outlook

A deep analysis reveals that Hezbollah’s educational sector is not just a network of private schools but a national security infrastructure. Its economic model faces serious threats, as seen in the Martyr Foundation's downsizing, which indicates a drying up of funds that may force Hezbollah to raise tuition, risking the alienation of its grassroots base.

The U.S. avoids directly targeting primary schools to spare children. Instead, it uses a "financial strangulation" strategy by targeting supervisory and funding networks (e.g., Naim Qassem, Martyr Foundation, Al-Mustafa University). This has proven effective in limiting fund flows and forcing Hezbollah into a cash-based economy, increasing logistical and security risks.

However, Al-Mustafa University remains the most internationally sensitive issue. Its continued operations in Lebanon, recruiting and exporting Iran’s revolutionary ideology, signing deals with state universities, put Lebanon’s entire higher education sector under international scrutiny and threaten its isolation.

This leaves Hezbollah at a crossroads: will it sacrifice educational quality and reach to preserve ideological purity, or compromise ideologically to ensure financial sustainability? Current trends and international pressure suggest a turn inward, focusing on core supporters, even at the cost of broader social services.