Tag: Alawites

Few New Thoughts on an Old Divide!

Ibn Taymiyyah be damned. Not that the Alawite of his time were saints though. Indeed, they, as many mountain peoples have done throughout ancient history and the world, were busy wrecking havoc on the inhabitants of cities and villages, pillaging, looting and killing. Hence this infamous fatwa against them by Ibn Taymiyyah, which was briefly revived in the mid 70s. But even then, its revival was premised on injustice perpetrated in the name of Alawite concerns and rights. Continue reading “Few New Thoughts on an Old Divide!” →

Whose Syria Is It?

The Muslim Brotherhood was not making so much trouble before the arrival of Hafiz Assad to power, and Syrian society was not as religious 40 years ago as it is today. Oh yeah, leave it to a socialist nationalist secular regime to drive a rich country into poverty and knock a relatively open society back into the maze of sectarian belongings and traditional piety. Continue reading “Whose Syria Is It?” →

The Return of Rifaat!

Will the evil uncle reconcile with the foolish nephew? If we are to go by the proliferating reports out there, something along these lines is indeed in the works. But then, something along these lines have always been in the works, and nothing has so far materialized. Why?

Because the reconciliation process will only consecrate the Alawite nature of the regime, and will signify a complete break with the Sunnis in the country, as they absolutely loathe the man. And for what? Not all Alawites will be happy with the return of this “fearless leader.” In fact, many Alawites will see in such a move a further consolidation of power in the hands of the Assad-Makhlouf clan, and they will not be happy with that. Not at all. Continue reading “The Return of Rifaat!” →