Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

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Syrian Muslim Brotherhood
الإخوان المسلمون في سوريا
International affiliationMuslim Brotherhood
Party flag
Website
http://www.ikhwansyria.com

The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria (

Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون في سوريا, romanizedal-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn fī Sūrīya)[9] is a Syrian branch of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization. Its objective is the transformation of Syria into an Islamic state governed by Sharia law through a gradual legal and political process.[9]

The party strongly opposes

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood was banned by the government of the Syrian Arab Republic starting after the 1963 coup by the secularist, pan-Arabist Ba'ath Party.[10] The Muslim Brotherhood played a major role in dissent against the secular Ba'ath Party during the period 1976–1982,[11] and membership in the Brotherhood in Syria became a capital offence in 1980.[12][6]

Following the Hama uprising of 1982 in the wake of the wider Islamist insurgency in Syria (1979–1982), when thousands of armed insurgents and civilians were killed by the military[13] the Brotherhood was effectively broken as an active political force inside Syria.

The Muslim Brotherhood in exile was among the 250 signatories of the Damascus Declaration of 2005, a statement of unity by Syrian opposition including the Arab nationalist National Democratic Rally, the Kurdish Democratic Alliance, the Committees of Civil Society, the Kurdish Democratic Front, and the Movement of the Future, and calling for "peaceful, gradual," reform "founded on accord, and based on dialogue and recognition of the other".[14]

The Muslim Brotherhood was considered the main opposition group in Syria to the government on the eve of the

2011 uprising, but failed to make a significant mark on the protests against the government.[4][15][16] The Syrian uprising's core population of protesters came from a younger generation which had come of age in a Syria without significant Muslim Brotherhood presence.[17] However, among the expatriated opposition, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has come to be seen by some as the "dominant group"[7] or "dominant force"[18] in the opposition during the Syrian civil war as of spring 2012.[7]

History

and major early leader of Syrian Muslim Brotherhood

Once the second most important branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Syrian Ikhwan had two wings – the relatively moderate Damascus wing and the militant Aleppo wing. Becoming more revolutionary and radical in the 1960s and 1970s, they aimed to overthrow the

Ba'athist government that controlled Syria. In Egypt, splinter groups inspired by Sayyid Qutb were growing more violent and militant than the mainline Brotherhood. In Syria, the entire organization was effected, as the internally divided leadership failed to contain the radicalization to the splinter groups. Even though the leadership publicly disavowed the radical elements, they were unable to contain the radicalization of the group because were mostly in exile due to the brutality and violent repression of the Syrian government.[19]

The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria was founded in the mid-1940s by

Assad family, adding a religious element to its conflict with the Brotherhood). This conflict developed into an armed struggle in the late 1970s that climaxed in the Hama uprising of 1982, when thousands were killed by the military.[13]

Membership in the Syrian Brotherhood became a capital offence in Syria in the 1980 (under Emergency Law 49)[12] and the Brotherhood was crushed, though it retained a network of support in the country, of unknown strength, and had external headquarters in London and Cyprus. In recent years it has renounced violence and adopted a reformist platform, calling for the establishment of a pluralistic, democratic political system. For many years the leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood was Ali Sadreddine Al-Bayanouni, who lives as a political refugee in London.

Origins

Towards the end of the 1930s, the ideas of

severe repression.[22]

However, it was not until the 1960s that the Syrian Brotherhood came to play a major role in politics, as part of a broad-based resistance movement, which developed into armed struggle, against the secular government. After the secular

Maronites sparked renewed agitation in Syria, and assassinations began to target members of the Syrian government and prominent Alawites; the Muslim Brotherhood later claimed responsibility for most of these.[23][24]

1976–82 Islamist insurgency

On 16 June 1979, the Muslim Brotherhood carried out an attack on cadets at the Aleppo Artillery School, officially killing 83.[25] Around this time, professor Yusef al-Yusef was assassinated in Aleppo. The Syrian government responded by sentencing to death about 15 prisoners, already accused of being Iraqi agents, for belonging to the Islamic resistance movement. Terrorist attacks then became a daily occurrence, particularly in Aleppo and other northern cities. The government tended to ascribe these attacks to the Brotherhood, but as the armed resistance gained widespread popular support and more loosely defined armed groups appeared, especially in poor neighborhoods, it became difficult to determine the extent of the Brotherhood's involvement.[26]

In November 1979, a Brotherhood leaflet stated:

We reject all forms of despotism, out of respect for the very principles of Islam, and we don't demand the fall of Pharaoh so that another one can take his place. Religion is not imposed by force....[27]

In the days leading to 8 March 1980 (the seventeenth anniversary of the Ba'thist coup), nearly all Syrian cities were paralysed by strikes and protests, which developed into pitched battles with security forces. Many organisations, both religious and secular, were involved, including the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. The government responded with overwhelming military force, sending in tens of thousands of troops, supported by tanks and helicopters. In and around Aleppo, hundreds of demonstrators were killed, and eight thousand were arrested. By April, the uprising had been crushed.[28]

A newspaper article by the president's brother, Rifaat al-Assad, stated that the government was prepared to "sacrifice a million martyrs" (over a tenth of Syria's population at that time) in order to stamp out "the nation's enemies". On 7 July 1980, the government passed a law making membership in the Brotherhood punishable by death. Typically, however, the administration practiced indiscriminate, collective punishment: in August, the army executed 80 residents of a block of flats in response to an attack on soldiers stationed in Aleppo. In April 1981, the army executed about 400 of Hama's inhabitants, chosen among male loyalists over the age of 14. This was as a retribution after a failed terrorist attack on an Alawite village near Hama.[29]

Photograph showing destruction in the al-Kilani district of Hama following the massacre.

During a 50-day moratorium on the application of the 7 July law, over a thousand Muslim Brothers surrendered to the authorities, hoping to escape the death penalty; information published about them in the official press may give some insight into the composition of the Brotherhood's membership at that time. Most of those who gave themselves up were students under twenty-five years of age, from Damascus and other large cities; others were schoolteachers, professors or engineers.[30]

In August, September and November 1981, the Brotherhood carried out three car-bomb attacks against government and military targets in Damascus, killing hundreds of people, according to the official press. On 2 February 1982, the Brotherhood led a major insurrection in Hama, rapidly taking control of the city; the military responded by bombing Hama (whose population was about 250,000) throughout the rest of the month, killing between 10,000 and 30,000 people. The tragedy of the Hama Massacre marked the defeat of the Brotherhood, and the militant Islamic movement in general, as a political force in Syria.[31][32]

Post-Hama era

Having suppressed all opposition, Hafez al-Assad released some imprisoned members of the Brotherhood in the mid-1990s. After his death in 2000, Assad was succeeded by his son, Bashar al-Assad, who initially signalled greater openness to political debate. In May 2001, encouraged by a new political climate, the Muslim Brotherhood published a statement in London rejecting political violence, and calling for a modern, democratic state. Many political prisoners, including Muslim Brothers, were pardoned and released. However, this reform was short-lived; in the same year, the few political freedoms that had been granted were abruptly revoked.[33]

Although its leadership is in exile, the Brotherhood continues to enjoy considerable sympathy among Syrians.

Riyad al-Turk, a secular opposition leader, considers it "the most credible" Syrian opposition group. The Brotherhood has continued to advocate a democratic political system; it has abandoned its calls for violent resistance and for the application of shari'a law, as well as for Sunni uprisings against Alawites. Al-Turk and others in the secular opposition are inclined to take this evolution seriously, as a sign of the Brotherhood's greater political maturity, and believe that the Brotherhood would now be willing to participate in a democratic system of government.[34]

In a January 2006 interview, the Brotherhood's leader,

Ali Sadreddine Bayanouni, "said the Muslim Brotherhood wants a peaceful change of government in Damascus and the establishment of a 'civil, democratic state', not an Islamic republic."[35] According to Bayanouni, the Syrian government admits having detained 30,000 people, giving a fair representation of the Brotherhood's strength.[36]

According to

Hafez al Assad. He then allegedly claimed Hamas would disappear if peace was brought to the Middle East.[37][38]

2011–present Syrian civil war

Unlike the MB-led insurgency of 1976–1982, the

National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces
in November, 2012, the Syrian National Council has taken a backseat to the Coalition, which is recognized as the external political body of oppositionists "leading" the revolution.

In 2012, Brotherhood activists created the Commission for Civilian Protection (CCP). The CCP is considered to be a front for the Brotherhood,[40] tasked with helping armed units inside Syria connect with each other and with sponsors abroad. Its website lists numerous affiliated factions, distributed across Homs, Damascus, Idlib, and elsewhere; however, most of these groups are small and generally self-identify as members of the Free Syrian Army or the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front.[41] The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood is believed to control, through funding, one-fourth to one-third of the disparate armed rebel brigades known collectively as the Free Syrian Army (FSA).[17]

Despite that, The Daily Telegraph reported in August 2012 that the Muslim Brotherhood had established its own militia not affiliated to the FSA inside Syria, called "Armed Men of the Muslim Brotherhood", with presence in Damascus and other places like Homs or Idlib.[42] Durou al-Thawra Commission (Shields of the Revolution Council) created in 2012 with assistance from the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood allegedly consisting of some 43 fighting units most of them in Idlib or Hama.[43][44]

At the same time Brotherhood leaders have been reaching out to reassure leaders in neighboring Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon – as well as the West – that they "have no intention of dominating a future Syrian political system"[7] and have "played down" their "growing influence" in the Syrian opposition.[18] The Syrian MB has assured outsiders that it is "going to great lengths to ensure" that its donated weapons "don't fall into the hands of extremists".[7]

According to Hassan Hassan writing in

Sunnis (Muslim and Christian), Kurds, and tribal groups "have been outside" the Brotherhood's influence "in the past", and Hassan believes will remain so in the future.[45]

The Syrian Brotherhood harshly condemned Iranian political intervention in Bahrain.[46] This condemnation was formulated "politely," without any obvious insulting references to Shi'a. However, the effort failed.[46]

The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement declaring

Russian military intervention in Syria.[47] They reiterated the Russian Orthodox Church's call of the operation as a Holy War.[48][49]

Personalities

General leaders

Supreme guides or General leaders (G.L.) of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria have been:

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ محمد حكمت وليد. Al-Jazeera (in Arabic). 9 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b "The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria". Carnegie Middle East Center. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  3. ^ Banned after the coup that brought the Secular Syrian Ba'ath Party to power, but remained active in Syria
  4. ^
    S2CID 201528149. Retrieved 25 July 2019. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help
    )
  5. .
  6. ^ . AL-SALAFIYYA. .. In Damascus, many Jordanian students were influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood's Shaykh Mustapha al-Siba'i and 'Isam al-'Attar, both with a long history in al-Salafiyya.
  7. ^ . Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  8. ^ "More Divisions Among the Syrian Opposition". Stratfor. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  9. ^
    S2CID 143746726
    . Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ Middle East Watch. Syria Unmasked: The Suppression of Human Rights by the Assad Regime. New Haven: Yale UP, 1991
  12. ^ a b Wright, Dreams and Shadows, 2008, p.248
  13. ^ a b Tore Kjeilen (20 September 2000). "Looklex encyclopedia". Lexicorient.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  14. ^ "النداء – موقع إعلان دمشق". Annidaa-sy.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  15. ^ Rothkopf, David. "How the Muslim Brotherhood Hijacked Syria's Revolution". Foreignpolicy.com. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  16. ^ "pp. 12-14" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ a b Khaled Yacoub Oweis (6 May 2012). "Syria's Muslim Brotherhood rise from the ashes". Reuters. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  19. ^ Pargeter, Alison. The Muslim Brotherhood: From Opposition to Power. Saqi Books.
  20. ^ Wright, Robin, Dreams and Shadows: the Future of the Middle East, Penguin Press, 2008, p. 241.
  21. ^ "Syria Muslim Brotherhood Issues Post-Assad State-for-All Commitment Charter". Ikhwanweb. 7 April 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  22. ^ Carré , 125.
  23. ^ Carré, 131–135, 156.
  24. ^ ICG, 3–4.
  25. S2CID 144219075
    . Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  26. ^ Carré , 135-7.
  27. ^ Carré, 139.
  28. ^ Carré, 141–146.
  29. ^ Carré, 148–151.
  30. ^ Carré, 151.
  31. ^ Carré, 159.
  32. ^ ICG, 4.
  33. ^ ICG, 4, 7–8.
  34. ^ ICG, 15, 17
  35. ^ McCarthy, Rory (26 January 2006). "We would share power, says exiled leader of Syrian Islamist group". The Guardian.
  36. ^ Wright, Dreams and Shadows, 2008, p.246
  37. ^ Roee Nahmias. "Assad: Iran won't attack Israel with nukes". ynetnews.com. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  38. ^ Meris Lutz (2 December 2010). "Syria's Assad seems to suggest backing for Hamas negotiable, leaked cables say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  39. ^ Mohja Kahf, The Syrian Revolution Then and Now: A Young Nonviolent Movement and the Ensuing Armed Struggle," Special Report from Friends for a Non-Violent World, St. Paul, Minnesota, 28 February 2013 http://www.fnvw.org/vertical/Sites/%7B8182BD6D-7C3B-4C35-B7F8-F4FD486C7CBD%7D/uploads/Syria_Special_Report-web.pdf Archived 13 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  40. ^ source needed
  41. ^ Lund, Aron (5 October 2012). "Holy Warriors". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  42. ^ Ruth Sherlock & Richard Spencer (3 August 2013). "Muslim Brotherhood establishes militia inside Syria". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  43. ^ "Report on relative strength of armed rebels in Syria". Syrian Revolution Commentary and Analysis. 24 September 2013.
  44. ^ "The Non-State Militant Landscape in Syria – Combating Terrorism Center at West Point". usma.edu. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  45. ^ "Syrians are torn between a despotic regime and a stagnant opposition". The Guardian. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  46. ^ a b "استنكار للتصريحات الإيرانية تجاه أشقائنا في البحرين". Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  47. ^ "جماعة اخوان سوريا تستنفر المسلمين لرد "العدوان" الروسي"". Rudaw. اربيل. 4 October 2015.
  48. ^ "جماعة الإخوان المسلمين "سورية" :-: إحتلال روسي سوف يدفعه الشعب السوري بالجهاد". إخوان سورية. 10 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015.
  49. ^ "الإخوان: جهاد "الدفع" في مواجهة الروس "فرض عين" اخبار سورية – زمان الوصل". اخبار سورية – زمان الوصل. 4 October 2015.

External links