Career
Al-Tufayli spent nine years studying theology in the city of Najaf, Iraq, during the Saddam Hussein era, where he met other Islamist clerics, and he was influenced by Lebanese cleric Musa al-Sadr. Returning to Lebanon, al-Tufayli joined with Abbas al-Musawi to help found the Hezbollah movement/militia in the Beqaa Valley in 1982. Beqaa is one of Hezbollah's three main regions of support in Lebanon.
Al-Tufayli was spokesman for Hezbollah between 1985 and 1989, and then the first Secretary-General of Hezbollah from 1989 until 1991. In 1992 al-Tufayli was replaced by Abbas al-Musawi as head of Hezbollah. Hezbollah's hostage-taking campaign had wound down since the "Kuwait 17" bombers of the 1983 Kuwait bombings who were linked to leading Hezbollah members were now free, and the Taif Agreement had essentially ended the Civil War in Lebanon.
Some say, al-Tufayli also opposed Hezbollah's participation in Lebanese national elections and its "moderation" toward the Lebanese state. Al-Tufayli himself however stated that the internal split in Hezbollah was caused by Iran's take over of Hezbollah from the original Lebanese leadership, and Iran's opposition to tactics under his leadership of violence against Israel and a demand to the end of the state of Israel. Al Tufayli stated explicitly that Iran wanted to use Hezbollah as a "border guard" for Israel.
Al-tufayli also promoted the cause against the endemic and brutal poverty and corruption in South Lebanon, Beirut and the whole state, as Musa al-Sadr did, in his Movement of the Hungry. In July 1997 he organized protests, dubbed the "hunger revolution", against the Lebanese government. Al-Tufayli said it is "completely unacceptable that a human being could be humiliated because of poverty or because they were in need." His breakaway group is known as the "Revolution of the Hungry" (Thawrat al-Jiya) In February 2013, al-Tufayli berated Hezbollah for fighting on behalf of the Syrian government in the Syrian civil war. al-Tufayli added: "those Hezbollah fighters who are killing children and terrorizing people and destroying houses in Syria will go to hell".
He also berated the Lebanese Army for not stopping Lebanese citizens crossing the border to fight in Syria.
