A Different Perspective On Syria

Sumayya Omar, Political officer of the Union of Muslim Students South Africa

Do you know the history of Middle East? In essence it is the graveyard for all superpowers. Bring war and bloodshed upon my people and we will strike back with unity. Bring destruction upon our lands and we will show you conquest and liberation.  Out of every strike you make on us Muslims, a new jihadist movement is borne.

Israeli media reported that the ‘New Arab Rising’ and a new call for Arab leadership is one of an “Islamic, Anti-Western, Anti- liberal, Anti- Israeli, Anti- democratic wave”.  As Muslims, we know it as the call for Shariah law, but have we ever questioned why the call for Shariah is more apparent in the last 20 years?

 As Muslims, have we failed to link the deaths of our Muslim dictators? Starting with the execution of Saddam in 2006, and then with Ben Ali who suffered from a stroke in 2010, Qaddaffi’s death in 2012, Mubarak’s cancer outbreak in 2012. . . And now Syria is on the brink of the same fate.

Firstly, these leaders were Muslims by birth, but were their belief in only One God customary? Was Allah their only God or were they, their own Gods in the lands in which they ruled? Was the Quran their constitution or did they abandon the Quran and create a new book- Qaddaffi’s Green book? Was Shariah their law or did they massacre the people who lived according to Shariah?

Regardless of their dictatorship we need to understand their rule of law, their underlying beliefs of politics and we need to become wary of their devotees.

In this article, I have no intention to link the Syrian Revolution; to what the media brands it as a call to dictatorship or even a revolution that is fuelled by the west to oust Assad. My intention rather is educate you on bathism and why there is a worldwide Muslim call to support the Free Syrian Army.

These Baathist leaders namely: Saddam Hussein and Bashar Al Assad who are rather a unique kind. The Syrian Army whose slogan is: “  Ask my son, ask my father, ask my grandfather, ask my in-laws , Ask Al- Wahid Al-Ahad (Allah), ask whomever you wish, Bathism is my religion and my Lord is Bashar Al- Assad” have made it clear to us that Bathism for the Syrian devotees of Bashar is a religion, a sort of Islamic sect. Yet in actuality it is an Arab political party that was created in Iraq and Syria. Their ideological commitment was of Secularisation, Socialism and Pan-Arab Unionism in both Syrian and Iraq. For Syria it became a legal Syrian political party after 1963. Sources say after 2000 when Bashar Al- Assad took over his father’s reign, Bathism had ended. Yet we can beg to differ, due to his army’s slogan for example.

Syria is headed By Bashar Al – Assad and the Assad’s have ruled for over 40 years. Bashar’s regime compromises of Nusaiyra/ Alwais.  Their God is Bashar and they believe in the trinity of Allah; that Allah is reincarnated in Muhammad (S.A.W), then that Allah is reincarnated in Ali (RA), whom they take as a holy spirit, and thereafter Allah is reincarnated into Salman. They are not followers of the Quran or the Sunnat of the Prophet (S.A.W), they denounce Syrians to pray Salaah and grow a beard.  Whatever comes in their way of believing and praising Bashar, they will slaughter; they state that “whoever pushes Syria in a corner, we will push Allah, the one created him, into a corner”. They have openly waged war on Masajids, scholars of Islam and Islamic text.

What has started as an uprising two years ago, has now spilled over into civil war. Over 70 000 people have been killed and 1.2 million people are refugees in foreign lands. The Free Syrian Army is branded as rebel and terrorist groups. The Arab World is failing to help the people of Syria. Russia and China realistically are the role players in the supposed peace talks. The most significant action perhaps of the Arab league was that they granted the Syrian Opposition a summit seat. Turkey is evidently denying the claims made against them for the deportation and expulsion of Syrian Refugees in Turkey (A UN violation indeed!). Again we can question actions of the Turks - who’s side are they on? Evidently the west has not only merged Turkey but Turkey is now the gateway to Europe. Furthermore Turkey has reconciled with Israel, precisely defining that the apology process was done through the White House and Obama, and that reconciliation isn’t linked to the Syrian war. 

But the persecution of our brothers and sisters can’t go on for any longer; the civil war needs to end. It cannot be ended by the west, for their interest is only annihilate Bashar ( though putting the blame on islamist) and dominate the Arab World.  It is no longer the actual “cry” for freedom but rather, the blood that has being shed is the call for freedom.

On the 7^th of February 2012 a Fatwa was signed by 108 Muslim scholars worldwide to encourage Muslims to support the FREE SYRIAN ARMY. This is one of the calls amongst the calls of unity, which the west has “denounced” it as the ‘Arab rising”, it is the same call that was recited 20 years ago in Palestine; it is the call for Jihad.

The Solution is not diplomacy it is Jihad.  Once again the Syrians have stated: “Renounce Al-Assad or else Syria will become your graveyard”. For the faith of Syria and the war is not to be determined by the west, it should be by us Muslims and Muslim Countries. For it is a war to instil Shariah and not the Democracy of which is the west speaks about or outlined in USA Foreign Policy. For he Who controls political language essentially controls political action.