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What Happened to Fadel Shaker?

In a case rarely seen in Lebanese society, Fadel Shaker, one of the country’s most beloved pop stars, chose to embrace extreme piety and soon became wingman to Salafist sheikh Ahmad al-Assir.
Armed supporters of Lebanon's Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir (front row 3rd R) escort him and Lebanese singer Fadel Shaker (front row 2nd R) during the funeral of two of al-Assir's supporters, who died during Sunday's fighting with supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah, in Sidon, southern Lebanon November 12, 2012. Three people were killed on Sunday when fighting broke out in the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon between followers of al-Assir and supporters of the Lebanese Shi'ite guerrilla movement H
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It is going to be a long time before the Fadel Shaker enigma is solved or forgotten. The Lebanese singer acquired fame and fortune in a matter of years and then turned into a jihadist supporter of the Salafist sheikh Ahmad al-Assir. Suddenly, he was a wanted man, pursued by the authorities, after vanishing with his “mentor” following their defeat at the hands of the Lebanese Army on June 24, in Sidon, in south Lebanon.

The path Shaker decided to walk shocked the Lebanese people. Lebanon had never before witnessed one of its singers rediscover his religion and return to the faith. Before Shaker, the stories of TV stars or movie actors who suddenly appeared veiled, declaring that they were forsaking the world of entertainment, had been unique to Egypt, published on the pages of magazines found on the counters at beauty salons and read by the Lebanese for fun.

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