Islam and secularism must go hand in hand in Syria

27 June 2006

In the past, Islam used to appeal to the urban poor. Now it has infiltrated high society and is an outlet for the urban rich.

The women preachers include ladies from the Tarakji, Shishakli and Kuzbari families, explaining why Islam is becoming so popular among the urban rich.

Will this group of fine, patriotic and truly secular Syrians, however, be able to obstruct the Islamification of Syria?

Authorities reasoned that with or without government approval, prostitution would happen. Rather than have it occur behind closed doors, it was better to keep tabs on prostitution houses, monitoring them round the clock with curfews, health check-ups and taxes.

Greatly influenced

Coming out of the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic caliphate, the Syrians continued to hold on to Islam but were greatly influenced by secular nationalism, brought along with the French when they invaded Syria in 1920.

The head of the Islamic bloc in parliament, Shaikh Abdul Hamid Tabba, firmly believed in Islam, but he strongly endorsed Faris Al Khury as prime minister in 1943, although his appointment meant that a Christian would now control the Office of Religious Endowments (Awqaf) in Syria.

It never passed but the very fact that it was raised in 1950 speaks volumes about Islam, secularism and Syria. Syria was secular without really knowing that it was secular.

The Sunni insurgency has not given the Americans a day of peace and quiet in Iraq. And 9/11 proved that a small group with very limited means were able to inflict pain on the world's only superpower through a firm belief in jihad and Islam.

One revolves around moderate Islamic leaders, who preach tolerance and are supported by the regime, including the Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun, the scholar Munira Al Qubaysi, the dean of the school of theology Dr Said Ramadan Al Buti, and the sons of the former Mufti Ahmad Kuftaro who administer his highly popular Abu Al Nour Mosque.

Fundamentalists

Supporting this second group are hundreds of Syrians who are involved with international terrorism and Al Qaida. Although they don't live in Syria, they certainly have connections in Syria.

To name a few are the infamous Abu Musaab Al Souri, who is accused of the horrific Madrid bombings in March 2004, the Iraq-based Al Qaida intelligence baron Abu Al Ghadia (Sulayman Khalil Darwish) and Imad Yarkas, the terrorist currently behind bars in Spain for his role in the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers.

His followers, fed up with his moderation, took matters into their own hands and decided to carry out armed operations in Syria and elsewhere.

To strike this impossible balance, the regime needs to promote secularism simultaneously with the promotion of Islam. But at any cost secularism must prevail. It's either secularism or chaos for Syria.

Sami Moubayed is a Syrian political analyst. He is the author of "Steel & Silk: Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000" (Cune Press 2006).