Osama al-Rifai | |
---|---|
Grand Mufti of Syria | |
Assumed office November 2021 | |
Preceded by | Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun |
Personal details | |
Born | 1944 (age 79–80) Damascus,Syria |
Alma mater | University of Damascus |
Profession | Islamic scholar,preacher |
Sheikh Osama al-Rifai [a] (born 1944) is a Syrian Islamic preacher,and religious figure who has been the Grand Mufti of Syria since November 2021, [1] the highest religious authority in the country. [2] He is known for his advocacy of the Syrian revolution. [3]
al-Rifai was born to Sheikh Abd al-Karim al-Rifai [b] in 1944 in Damascus,Syria. He studied Arabic language and sciences at the University of Damascus. He obtained his graduation in 1971 and subsequently became the imam of the Abd al-Karim al-Rifai Mosque in Damascus,a mosque named after his father. [1] [4]
al-Rifai is reportedly active in Sunni Islamic scholarship since the 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s,his influence in religious circles brought him under scrutiny from the Syrian government. [5] In 1981,he left Syria for Saudi Arabia following his affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood amid a government crackdown on Islamic groups. [3] While in Saudi Arabia,he continued his religious and scholarly activities,with a focus on community outreach. [5]
In November 2021,the Syrian opposition appointed him the Grand Mufti of Syria. He became the first person to hold the title since the position was abolished in 2021 by the Assad government. [1]
The opposition such as the Syrian National Coalition (SOC) and the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria supported al-Rifai's appointment as Grand Mufti,citing his scholarly background,role in Syrian society,and focus on justice. He also operates primary and university level educational institutions in Turkey. [1]
Following the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri in 2005,Syria underwent a brief period of political openness,partly due to international pressure. During this time,al-Rifai's group initiated the Maintain the Grace project,an attempt focused on aiding the poor in Damascus. The project gained popularity but encountered restrictions by 2008,when the Syrian government began limiting the activities of various religious and social organizations as it reasserted political control. [5]
al-Rifai became an active supporter of the Syrian uprising in 2011,reportedly using the Abd al-Karim al-Rifai Mosque as a base for both religious and political activities,preaching messages of resistance against the government of Bashar al-Assad. [6] On 27 August 2011,Syrian security forces and militia reportedly attacked the mosque during the tahajjud prayer of the Laylat al-Qadr,injuring al-Rifai and numerous worshippers. [3] He was subsequently hospitalized,and footage of his recovery surrounded by supporters was widely circulated. [5]
After leaving Syria,al-Rifai relocated to Turkey in June 2012,where he formed a coalition of Syrian Islamist scholars and others to restore the League of Scholars of the Levant (LSL),a group established in 1937 that operated clandestinely until 2011. [7] In 2014,he was appointed by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as head of the Syrian Islamic Council (SIC) in Istanbul. This appointment was part of Turkey's attempt to create an umbrella organization aimed at consolidating religious leaders in support of the opposition against the Bashar al-Assad government. [8] [5]
Al-Rifai,along with his associates in the Muslim Brotherhood and Sufi networks,has been active in both Turkey and areas of northern Syria under the control of Turkish armed forces,reportedly promoting a religious narrative consistent with the political views of the Erdoğan administration. [1] [7] [9]
Al-Rifai has been criticized for remarks regarding gender roles and foreign influence in Syria. During a sermon in Azaz,he alleged that United Nations workers and other organizations were promoting women's liberation ideas that he viewed as disruptive to Syrian family structures. [10]
Alawites are an Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant and follow Alawism,a religious sect that splintered from early Shia Islam as a ghulat branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate Ali ibn Abi Talib,the "first Imam" in the Twelver school,as the physical manifestation of God. The group was founded by Ibn Nusayr during the 9th century. Ibn Nusayr was a disciple of the tenth Twelver Imam,Ali al-Hadi,and of the eleventh Twelver Imam,Hasan al-Askari. For this reason,Alawites are also called Nusayris.
The Grand Mufti is the head of regional muftis,Islamic jurisconsults,of a state. The office originated in the early modern era in the Ottoman Empire and has been later adopted in a number of modern countries.
Ahmed Kuftaro or Ahmad Kaftaru was the Grand Mufti of Syria,the highest officially appointed Sunni Muslim representative of the Fatwa-Administration in the Syrian Ministry of Auqaf in Syria. Kaftaro was a Sunni Muslim of the Naqshbandi Sufi order.
Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun was the Grand Mufti of Syria from 2005 to 2021,after which the post was handed over to Osama al-Rifai.
The constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic guarantees freedom of religion. Syria has had two constitutions:one passed in 1973,and one in 2012 through the 2012 Syrian constitutional referendum. Opposition groups rejected the referendum;claiming that the vote was rigged.
The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided conflict in Syria involving various state-sponsored and non-state actors. In March 2011,popular discontent with the rule of Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria,as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region. After months of crackdown by the government's security apparatus,various armed rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army began forming across the country,marking the beginning of the Syrian insurgency. By mid-2012,the insurgency had escalated into a full-blown civil war.
Muhammad Abul Huda al-Yaqoubi is a Syrian religious leader and Islamic scholar. He has opposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad,Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
This is a broad timeline of the course of major events of the Syrian civil war. It only includes major territorial changes and attacks and does not include every event.
The Syrian Civil War is an intensely sectarian war. However,the initial phases of the uprising in 2011 featured a broad,cross-sectarian opposition to the rule of Bashar al-Assad,reflecting a collective desire for political reform and social justice,transcending ethnic and religious divisions. Over time,the civil war has largely transformed into a conflict between ruling minority Alawite government and allied Shi'a governments such as Iran;pitted against the country's Sunni Muslim majority who are aligned with the Syrian opposition and its Turkish and Persian Gulf state backers. Sunni Muslims made up the majority of the former Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and many held high administrative positions,while Alawites and members of almost every minority were also been active on the rebel side.
Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib Al-Hasani is a former president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. He is also a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
Muhammad Said Ramadan Al-Bouti was a renowned Syrian Sunni Muslim scholar,writer and professor,where he was vice dean in the Damascus University and served as the imam of the Umayyad Mosque.
Nuh Ali Salman al-Qudah was a Jordanian Muslim scholar and the Grand Mufti of Jordan from 2007 to 2010.
Hadi al-Bahra is a member of the Syrian opposition movement who is the President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. He was elected president from 9 July 2014 until 4 January 2015. He was re-elected on 12 September 2023 and is the incumbent president.
AANES–Ba'athist Syria relations concern the military and political relations between the Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES),a de facto autonomous multi-ethnic region in northern and eastern Syria. The Syrian government does not officially recognise the autonomy of the AANES,and advocates a centralist approach to the governance of Syria. The NES seeks the federalisation of Syria. For most of the Syrian civil war,there has been a non-aggression pact between the military of Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces,with occasional confrontations and some cooperation against Islamist groups,in particular against the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. While the two sides co-operated militarily under Russian supervision since 2019,with Syrian and Russian troops stationed along the Turkish border to prevent further advances,political negotiations have ended in failure. The Syrian government has no authority or institutions in North and East Syria outside of its two security boxes in Qamishli/Qamislo and Al-Hasakah/Heseke. The Autonomous Administration did not allow the Syrian Government to hold elections in areas under its control.
The Turkish military operation in Idlib Governorate,code-named Idlib De-escalation Control Force activities by Turkey,is an operation by the Turkish Armed Forces which started in October 2017,following the earlier Operation Euphrates Shield. It is the third cross-border operation by the Turkish military,following Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Shah Euphrates.
The Tadamon massacre took place in the vicinity of Othman Mosque,Tadamon neighbourhood of the Syrian capital of Damascus,on 16 April 2013 during the Syrian civil war. Soldiers affiliated with the Syrian Armed Forces,specifically Branch 227 of the Military Intelligence Directorate,killed at least 41 civilians,and is suspected to be up to 288 people who were taken to one of the isolated neighborhoods of Damascus and executed one after the other in a mass grave that had been prepared in advance.
Abd al-Aziz bin Ahmed al-Rifa'i,known as Abd al-Aziz al-Rifa'i was a Saudi writer and poet born in 1924 and died in 1993. He is considered one of the most important people in Saudi literature,and one of the creators of the cultural renaissance in the Kingdom during the twentieth century. He was hired as an adviser to the Royal Court with excellent rank in 1975 for six years and was chosen as a member in the Shura Council during the reign of King Fahd bin Abdulaziz. He was one of the contributors to the first Saudi Writers Conference,one of the founders of "Alam Al-Kutub" magazine,and the owner of "Dar Al-Rifai" for publishing,printing,and distribution which contributed to the publication of many references in literature,heritage,and history. He is considered the first general manager of the Al Yamamah Press Foundation and has published 20 books,including 3 collections of poetry.
Muhammad Atallah al-Kasm was one of the most important Islamic scholars in Damascus in the 20th century. He was the first Grand Mufti of Syria after its independence in 1918 from the Ottoman Empire and held that position until his death in 1938.
The Syrian–Turkish normalization referred to attempts to restore Syria–Turkey relations that had been damaged in the wake of the Syrian crisis. Turkey had been considered an ally of Syria prior to the year 2011. Diplomatic ties between the two nations were severed as of 26 March 2012.
The Grand Mufti of Syria is a legal religious representative in Syria,responsible for issuing formal legal opinions and advising on the Islamic legal code. It served as the official post until president Bashar al-Assad dissolved the office contentiously on 15 November 2021,transferring its duties to the state-aligned agency Supreme Council of Fatwa under the Ministry of Endowments. However,the Syrian opposition subsequently re-established the office in territories outside government control in an attempt to maintain its historical presence. The office is responsible for independent religious rulings and Sunni Muslim leadership amidst the ongoing civil conflict in the country.