Al-Monitor interviewed Mohammad Raad, one of the founders of Hezbollah and the leader of the group's parliamentary bloc in Lebanon. Raad, who has a degree in philosophy from the Lebanese University, played a role in developing Hezbollah's internal constitution as well as its 1985 "Open Letter to the World," a document that expressed the party's vision. Later, he served as a Hezbollah media official and the chief editor of the group’s official newspaper, Al-Ahed. He would then serve as a member of Hezbollah's Shura Council, which determines the group's major policies and strategies. At the time, Raad was in his late 20s and early 30s.

Born in 1955 in Beirut's Musaytbeh, Raad traces his family roots to the village of Jbaa in Nabatiyeh, an area that he has represented in parliament since 1992, when Hezbollah decided to enter the Lebanese political arena. Five successive parliamentary sessions have made Raad a veteran member of parliament and one of the main faces at Lebanese dialogue tables.

Like most Hezbollah officials, he has kept his family out of the media, but his eldest son, Hassan, was wounded as he fought alongside Hezbollah during Israel's 2006 war against Lebanon. Within Hezbollah, Raad is considered a major and influential party leader. He maintained a close relationship with the late Imad Mughniyeh, the party's military commander who was assassinated in 2008.