BEIRUT: Imam Musa Sadr’s vision of social and political change can shed light on current events in Lebanon and on the region’s uprisings, speakers at a conference in Beirut said Thursday.

The conference, which was organized by the Imam Sadr Foundation and Imam Musa Sadr’s Center for Research and Studies, was kicked off by a speech delivered by the representative of Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, who stressed how Lebanon’s pluralism and diversity are sources of wealth for the country.

Sadr, the founder of Amal Movement, went missing on Aug. 31, 1978, along with his two companions, Sheikh Mohammad Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine, during a visit to Libya.

For his part, a representative of Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said that change should start within people and called for unity in order to prevent attempts to fragment the nation into statelets.

Participants in the conference also argued that Sadr’s thinking is relevant to the state of politics in Lebanon, as well as to change in the Arab region and the resistance.

Judge Abbas al-Halabi argued that Sadr’s vision focused on a sovereign and independent Lebanon that would maintain its Arab character.

Drawing on Sadr’s writings, Halabi said that the renowned Shiite cleric was opposed to change through violence and was a staunch supporter of democracy and political reform.

Halabi asked whether Sadr would accept the current Lebanese political situation, given the principles he worked for and promoted.

“Would he have accepted linking Lebanon to regional axes or upholding the language of violence or importing customs and traditions as well as religious rituals and beliefs and forcing them on this diverse society?” he asked.

According to Halabi, Sadr always stressed the importance of national partnership between Muslims and Christians as well as unity among Muslims sects.

Sadr was opposed to political sectarianism and through his establishment of the Higher Shiite Council, he worked to build the national character of the Shiite sect and organizing its affairs, Halabi added.

Lebanese University professor Bassam al-Hashem discussed the connection between Sadr’s thinking and the “Arab Spring” and argued that Sadr’s vision of change contributed to recent events in the Middle East.

According to Hashem, the Arab peoples were motivated to take to the streets because they believed that victory over oppression was indeed possible.

This concept was created in 2000, when Hezbollah forced Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory and reinforced in 2006, when the resistance again defeated an enemy previously thought to be invincible, Hashem said.

Sadr’s vision is an integral part to the Arab Spring, he added, as Sadr himself participated in founding the resistance movement against the Israeli occupation.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad described how Sadr’s thinking could be used to reconcile the tension between the demand for the change and the protection of the resistance.

Change is the priority for the popular movements, which have called for democratic reform and social justice and more resistance, Fayyad said, adding that the two issues linked together become problematic in the Syrian case, where the regime of resistance is being targeted under the banner of change and the need for reform.

“The resistance needs to preserve its existence as a resistance movement but at the same time take into account sensitive political issues and the necessities of change,” he added.

Sadr was aware of the danger posed by Israel and was loyal to the Palestinian cause, but he battled against economic deprivation and called for reform and change in the Lebanese political system, according to Fayyad.