Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, an expert on Middle Eastern issues, delivered an extended lecture here at the headquarters of Jamaat-e-Islami, Hind on the unfolding situation in Syria which has led to the collapse of the Assad regime and the belated fruition of the Arab Spring in that country, BY Zillur Rahman Haider.
At the outset, Dr Khan remarked that Syria’s history is deeply rooted, making it one of the oldest human habitation not only in the Middle East but in the entire world. The artefacts discovered there date back to ancient times indicating how early human civilizations flourished in the region. These civilizations include the Assyrian, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Seljuk, and Ottoman etc., many of whose remnants are still visible in Syria.
Muslims conquered this region in 636 CE under the leadership of Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah during the caliphate of Umar.
Since then, the region has largely remained under Muslim control. Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate in the early Islamic era, lasting for 132 years. Although there were brief periods of Crusade and French control, yet Muslims have been the predominant factor in the region.
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During the Crusades, the region suffered considerable destruction until Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi decisively defeated the Crusaders at Hittin in 1187 CE. His capital was Damascus. Following this, other Muslim dynasties such as the Mamluks ruled the area, culminating in the Ottoman takeover in 1516 CE. The Ottomans governed the region for the next four centuries.
Under the Ottoman rule, Syria experienced significant cultural, social, and economic development. In the later Ottoman period, particularly from 1840 to 1914, the country saw considerable advancements in education and infrastructure. Printing presses were established, and books, newspapers, and magazines began to be published. As a result, numerous modern schools, colleges, and universities were founded.
As a result, Syria gained a special place in the Arab world in terms of cultural and intellectual prowess.
Although the last 50 years have seen a decline in this progress, Syria remains a hub of intellectual and cultural prominence. Many renowned writers, poets and publishers have roots in Syria, whether they reside in the country or have moved to cities like Beirut, Cairo, Riyadh, or Jeddah due to various circumstances.
Dr Khan highlighted the grave injustice inflicted upon Syria and the broader region during the World War I when France, Britain, and Russia secretly divided the region through a deceitful agreement known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
While these powers promised the Arabs, led by the Ottoman Governor of Mecca Sharif Husain, that he would be installed as “the King of the Arabs” after the war in exchange for revolting against the Ottomans.
While entering into this solemn agreement, the Allied forces simultaneously conspired to partition the region among themselves. The Sykes-Picot Agreement, signed in 1916, was a secret deal between Britain, France and Imperial Russia that laid the foundation for the later division of the Middle East.
Dr Khan used a map to explain which territories were allocated to whom under this diabolic agreement.
He elaborated that the area of Palestine was promised by Britain to the Jews, Iraq was seized by Britain, Syria was taken over by France, and Armenia was supposed to go to Imperial Russia. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Russia withdrew from this agreement. Furthermore, the Bolsheviks informed Sharif Husain about the secret agreement concluded by his allies.
He sent the papers to the British enquiring if what the Bolsheviks said was correct. In reply, the British told him it as “a figment of the Bolshevik imagination”… All this while, Sharif Husain’s irregulars were attacking the Ottoman forces in Palestine, Jordan and Syria leading to the Ottoman defeat in the war.
Once the First World War was over, the Allies began implementing their plans. Britain occupied Palestine, facilitating Jewish immigration, took control of Iraq and extended its authority to Kuwait. Meanwhile, France captured Syria.
Unaware of the diabolic plans, the Arabs of Syria held a grand national conference in Damascus at the end of the War, established a national government and declared Emir Faisal, son of Sharif Husain, as their king. Unfortunately, this government lasted barely a year and a half before France sent in its troops, dismantled the government, ousted King Faisal, and occupied the country. General Gouraud, commander of the French invading army, went straight to the grave of Salahuddin in Damascus, placed his boot on it and declared: “Look Saladin! We are back.” Similarly, after taking control of Palestine, the British commander, General Allenby, took a stroll in Jerusalem and declared, “Today the Crusades have come to an end.”
These historical facts are crucial for us to understand the world around us and not be naive. Western nations champion human rights, which is a commendable principle if applied equally to everyone—whether White or Black, Vietnamese, Palestinian, Indian, Burmese, or African.
However, when such rights are only for Israelis, Americans, British, or Europeans, it becomes nothing more than a charade to deceive other nations.
The French control over Syria continued till the end of World War II.
During this period, France committed another act of betrayal by carving out a part of Syria to establish a separate country for the Christians called Lebanon and before leaving the area made a constitutional arrangement which ensures till this day the Christian paramountcy in Lebanon although Shia and Sunni Muslims together make the majority in Lebanon. The President of Lebanon, with executive powers, has to be a Maronite Christian. Though there have been calls for change by both Sunni and Shia Muslims, the system imposed by the French in Lebanon still remains intact.
Dr Khan lamented how easily historical facts are forgotten. He criticised the double standards of the West. Despite their claims of advocating human rights and values, recent events in Gaza starkly reveal their hypocrisy. He pointed out how Israel has killed over 44,000 people in Gaza, injured more than 100,000, rendered countless others homeless, smashed the whole of Gaza, imposed hunger on its people.
Yet, Western nations like the U.S., Britain and France continue to focus solely on the Israeli hostages, ignoring the immense suffering inflicted on the Palestinians by Israel. Gaza remains deprived of basic necessities like food, water and medicines, but these atrocities find no mention in the official western narratives.
Dr Khan said France had no intention of leaving Syria ever. However, World War II forced it to depart. Despite their victory, both France and Britain suffered immense economic devastation due to the War. They were forced to rely on the United States for support. A weakened France could not keep Syria and a weakened Britain could not keep India. France departed from Syria on 7 April 1946. In the meanwhile, it had also carved out of Syria a separate country for the Christians.
The Christians in Lebanon have strong ties with Israel. They maintain a powerful militia called Al-Kataeb or the Lebanese Phalanges. The civil war of 1975, which lasted for over two decades, was fuelled by this alliance between the Phalanges and Israel, who sought to eliminate Muslim Arabs and Palestinians from Lebanon. Although their efforts failed, their perfidy caused deep wounds which still disturb the Lebanese society and Lebanon remains a source of unrest in the region.
After gaining independence in 1946, Syria faced frequent military coups, which had become a common occurrence in the Middle East by that time. Countries like Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and Algeria etc experienced military coups during that period. These coups disrupted progress in these countries. Syria saw eight military coups within a few years’ time.
Dr Khan highlighted the instability Syria suffered following independence. The first coup occurred in 1949 under Husni al-Zaim, followed by coups led by Sami al-Hinnawi and Adib Shishakli in the same year, and another by Faisal al-Atassi in 1954. This period of upheaval eventually paved the way for the rise of the Ba’ath Party, which ruled Syria and Iraq until recently. The Ba’ath Party, founded by Michel Aflaq, a Christian Syrian intellectual residing in France, claimed to espouse Arab nationalism but his ideology was a mixture of western liberalism and communism.
Aflaq’s ideology asserted that Arabs were an exceptional people with a message for the world. Though couched in lofty rhetoric, the real aim of Ba’athism was to distance Arabs from Islam. The Ba’ath Party adopted a slogan: “One Arab nation with an eternal mission.” This mission did not include Islam. Instead, Ba’athist literature presented its own philosophy, devoid of Islamic references.
Dr Khan said visiting Syria was a strange experience under the Baath regime. Signboards and hoardings displayed no sign that it was a Muslim country. Its newspapers and magazines were in Arabic but seemed to have been published in Cuba or some other communist country. There was no trace of Islam in those publications. Even customary Islamic phrases like Bismillah or Quranic verses were missing.
The Baath emphasised the Arab identity but without Islam. The Baathist concoction appealed to some but alienated many.
Syria under the Baath regime was extremely hostile toward Islamic activists. Beating, imprisoning, and killing individuals with Islamic leanings were common. Furthermore, if someone was identified as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimoon), his penalty under the Syrian “law” was death. Even if someone was not a member but appeared to sympathize with the Brotherhood, he was not spared. This law remained in place until December 8, when Bashar al-Assad fled Syria as rebels were to about to enter Damascus.
President Bashar’s father, Hafez al-Assad, was the Minister of Defence and Commander of the Air Force in 1970 when he staged a coup within a coup, and installed himself as the President of Syria. After his death in 2000, his son, Bashar al-Assad, succeeded him.
The Assads belonged to the Alawite sect, which constitutes around 10 percent of the Syrian population and is concentrated in a small region around Latakia in the west of the country. Although considered Shia by some, mainstream Shia Islam does not recognize the Alawites as part of the Shias, as Alawites hold un-Islamic beliefs including deifying Ali, the Fourth Caliph of Islam. The Assad regime granted key government and security positions to the Alawites. Critical institutions like defence, prisons, and police were controlled by Alawite officials. Hafez al-Assad’s brother, Rifaat al-Assad, who seems to have fled to Iraq, was entrusted with overseeing the brutal security apparatus, forming militias to suppress every dissent.
Dr Khan highlighted the role of Shibbiha (Mirage), a notorious militia under the Assad regime, describing its role in fostering terror, suppressing opposition and eliminating dissidents.
Rifaat al-Assad was infamous for his role in creating armed militias tasked with torturing and eliminating those suspected of opposing the regime. Reports suggest that in the last few years, nearly 200,000 people were executed under this regime and around 50,000 Syrians have disappeared from the face of the earth. When opposition forces seized cities in early December, their first action in every city was to storm prisons and free inmates, many of whom were found in appalling conditions, unable to recall even their names.
The Assad regime’s security system was exceptionally brutal, unmatched even by the oppressive measures of communist countries. The level of violence and cruelty it exercised became legendary. For instance, in June 1980, in the prison of Tudmur (Palmyra), 1,200 political prisoners—800 of whom were members of the Muslim Brotherhood—were machine-gunned within half an hour under Rifaat al-Assad’s orders.
Their bodies were buried in trenches. Another infamous incident occurred in January 1982 in Hama, where anti-government protests were met with devastating force. Hafez al-Assad deployed tanks and airstrikes, obliterating the city. Media reports estimate that between 20,000 and 40,000 people were killed during the Hama massacre.
Numerous other such atrocities marked the regime’s rule. During the Syrian civil war, which erupted as part of the Arab Spring in 2011, the Assad regime killed hundreds of thousands, flattened large parts of rebel towns and forced 7 million Syrians to seek refuge outside their homeland. Strong Russian, Iranian and Hizbullah military intervention kept the Assad regime in place. But the Russian war in Ukraine, Hizbullah’s decimation at the hands of Israel and Iran’s reluctance to court a devastating war with Israel and the US, encouraged the rebels to unleashed their campaign to capture major cities including the Syrian capital. This resulted in Assad’s sudden flight to Russia in the early hours of 8 December. This is how the half-a-century-old Assad family rule in Syria was toppled.
Now, with the establishment of a new government in Syria, its leaders have announced their intent to hold the perpetrators of the past 50 years of oppression to account. International human rights organizations have demanded trials and accountability for these crimes. The leader of the new government, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani (Ahmad al-Sharaa), while offering a general amnesty to all, has pledged to bring to justice those whose hands are tainted with the blood of the Syrians. He emphasized that the country belongs to all Syrians and there will be no acts of revenge.
Dr Khan praised Jolani’s leadership, describing him as wise, courageous, and articulate person based on his analysis of Jolani’s recent videos. He said, wearing the same dress, Jolani prostrated in front of Allah while entering Damascus, paid a visit to the iconic Omayyad Mosque same day and next day was seen interacting with people while sitting on the floor while there was a row of empty sofas behind him.
A question-and-answer session followed the lecture during which participants inquired about the viability and future of resistance groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Dr Khan said that, while the resistance has been undoubtedly weakened, it will persist. As for the Syrian role, he said the new rulers’ priority will be to rebuild Syria ruined by the Assads and this will take a few years.
(Issued by Dr Khan’s team and views are personal)
