How Fadel Shaker went from Lebanese torch singer to firebrand Salafist

Not so long ago Fadel Shaker was a popular Lebanese crooner. Now, after changing his name to Hajj Fadel, he presents himself as a neo-Salafist radical. At the end of June he took up arms alongside his mentor, Sheikh Ahmed Assir, in a violent siege at the Abra mosque in the southern city of Sidon.

The word "hajj" refers to the pilgrimage to Mecca, but it has also been adopted by Hezbollah militants to emphasise their piety. But Shaker, 44, has nothing in common with Lebanon's most powerful Shia party. Indeed it was its dominant position that prompted him to embrace Sunni radicalism, ultimately becoming Assir's right-hand man. "When the party of Iran – Hezbollah – was fighting Israel, I was all in favour of them," Shaker explained in his Abra office, shortly before the siege. "But then there was the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, with four Hezbollah militants accused by the international prosecutors. In May 2008 Hezbollah militias attacked Sunni Muslims in Beirut. To crown it all, they support [Syria's president] Bashar al-Assad. Sunnis feel frustrated and they have no one to protect them. The sheikh [Assir] speaks the truth," the former pop star says.

The Syrian revolt was like a detonator. "How could we just stand by with people being massacred, women raped, children slaughtered, mosques destroyed?" Shaker asks.

Shaker's career really took off in the early 2000s, bringing him fame all over the Arab world. But things went wrong in March last year when he appeared at a Salafist meeting organised by Assir in central Beirut. People were amazed, more used to seeing him perform his hit song, Ya Ghayeb: "Oh my love, don't go away, You're my destiny and the only one in my heart [...] I'd sacrifice the whole world for you." Now here he was being kissed on the forehead by the Abra-based religious leader. The gathering seriously dented Shaker's popularity, but it brought his mentor into the public eye.

It was an eye-opener, the singer explains. "That wasn't my true calling. Thanks to the almighty, I now lead a religious life. I'm at peace. But I have no regrets about the past. It's my duty to combat oppression and defend people who share my faith." However, he did not immediately give up his previous career or its trappings: a palatial home worth an estimated $4.5m, property and a restaurant in Sidon. In May 2012 he appeared at a festival in Morocco alongside Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey and Jimmy Cliff, among others. But now he claims it is all behind him, that singing is haram (a sin). Like a true Islamist, he refuses to shake women by the hand.

Smoking cigars is the only vice he still allows himself, and even that he admits is haram. Nor does he dress quite like the conventional extremist, preferring a sporty look. Taking his cue from Assir, Shaker takes great care with communication. The imam has often appeared on television, advocating peaceful coexistence and standing up for legal process (against the arms stockpile that Hezbollah accumulated, after refusing to disarm following the civil war in 1975-90).

In recent months the sheikh's line has hardened, calling for jihad in Syria in response to Hezbollah's military engagement alongside the Assad regime. Shortly before the mosque siege, Assir accompanied his supporters on an attack on a building housing a Hezbollah arms cache. This was followed by an exchange of fire with a militia group allied to the Shia organisation. Shaker took part in the fighting.

At the start of his Salafist career, Shaker kept a low profile, but he has now moved to the forefront, making no secret of his hatred for Shia Muslims. "In Syria they kill our Sunni brothers and destroy our mosques. They are prepared to kill all the Sunnis, all the way to the Gulf. They're infidels, not Muslims. It's not true the Qur'an is their book. They're liars, they say one thing and do another." So here we are with the old theory of taqiyya (being allowed to dissimulate one's faith to escape persecution), which asserts that Shias are all liars by definition. The idea is almost as old as Islam, going back to the seventh-century schism between its two branches.

With rising tension fuelled by the war in Syria, where the Sunnis support the rebellion and Shias the regime, Shaker's words carry more weight. Moreover, he is also using his own fortune to support the cause. According to media close to Hezbollah, he is one of Assir's backers and a channel for funds from the Emirates. He claims his money is being used to support the rebels. "I have always helped the revolt by sending medicine, food, weapons."

But now he is on the run. On 23 June supporters of Assir attacked an army roadblock close to the Abra mosque in Sidon, in an attempt to break out of what they saw as a siege. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of Shaker and his mentor. The former singer is impenitent. He has posted a video on YouTube claiming that he killed two soldiers and injured four others.

Laure Stephan