|
||
|
||
|
||
Ancient Syria
The first recorded mention of Greater Syria is in Egyptian annals detailing expeditions to the
Syrian coastland to log the cedar, pine, and cypress of the Ammanus and Lebanon mountain ranges
in the fourth millennium. Sumer, a kingdom of non-Semitic peoples that formed the southern
boundary of ancient Babylonia, also sent expeditions in the third millennium, chiefly in pursuit
of cedar from the Ammanus and gold and silver from Cilicia. The Sumerians most probably traded
with the Syrian port city of Byblos, which was also negotiating with Egypt for exportation of
timber and the resin necessary for mummification.
Muslim Empires
In 635 Damascus surrendered to the great Muslim general, Khalid ibn al Walid. Undermined by
Persian incursions, religious schisms, and rebellions in the provinces caused by harsh rule,
Byzantium could offer little resistance to Islam.
Umayyad Caliphate
After Ali's murder in 661, Muawiyah - the governor of Syria during the early Arab conquests, a
kinsman of Uthman, and a member of the Quraysh lineage of the Prophet - proclaimed himself
caliph and established his capital in Damascus. From there he conquered Muslim enemies to the
east, south, and west and fought the Byzantines to the north. Muawiyah is considered the
architect of the Islamic empire and a political genius. Under his governorship Syria became the
most prosperous province of the caliphate. Muawiyah created a professional army and, although
rigorous in training them, won the undying loyalty of his troops for his generous and regularly
paid salaries. Heir to Syrian shipyards built by the Byzantines, he established the caliphate's
first navy. He also conceived and established an efficient government, including a comptroller
of finance and a postal system.
Post-Umayyad Caliphates
Under later dissolute caliphs, the Umayyad dynasty began to decline at a time when both Sunni
and Shia Muslims in Iran began to press against Umayyad borders. By 750 the Abbasids, whose
forces originated in Khorasan (in northeast Iran), had conquered the Umayyads and established
the caliphate in Baghdad. As a result, Syria became a province of an empire.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottomans were nomadic Muslim Turks from central Asia who had been converted to Islam by
Umayyad conquerors in the eighth century. Led by Uthman (whence the Western term Ottoman), they
founded a principality in 1300 amid the ruins of the Mongolwrecked Seljuk Empire in northwest
Turkey. Fifty years later Uthman's successors invaded Europe. They conquered Constantinople in
1453 and in the sixteenth century conquered all of the Middle East. From 1300 to 1916, when the
empire fell, 36 sultans, all descendants of Uthman, ruled most of the Muslim world. Europeans
referred to the Ottoman throne as the Sublime Porte, a name derived from a gate of the sultan's
palace in Istanbul.
Religious Life in Syria
Islam, in addition to being a system of religious beliefs and practices, is an all-encompassing
way of life. Muslims believe that Allah revealed to the Prophet Muhammad the rules governing
proper life of man and society; therefore, it is incumbent upon the individual to live in the
manner prescribed by the revealed law and upon the community to build the perfect human society
on earth according to holy injunctions. Ideally, life for a Muslim should take place within a
religious community. As a consequence, in Muslim countries religion has an importance in daily
life far greater than it has in the West.
Shia Islam in Syria
Shia play only a minor role in Syrian politics. They are among the least educated religious
groups, and their members are more resistant to change. In religious affairs, they look to Shia
centers in Iraq, especially Karbala and An Najaf, and to Iran. However, Iran's 1979 Islamic
Revolution, and Syria's alliance with Iran in its war with Iraq, have elevated the prestige of
Syria's Shia minority.
Ismailis in Syria
Originally clustered in Al Ladhiqiyah Province, most of the Syrian Ismailis have resettled south
of Salamiyah on land granted to the Ismaili community by Abdul Hamid II, sultan of the Ottoman
Empire from 1876 to 1909. A few thousand Ismailis live in the mountains west of Hamah, and about
5,000 are in Al Ladhiqiyah.
Sunni Islam in Syria
The largest religious group in Syria is the Sunni Muslims, of whom about 80 percent are native
Syrian Arabs, with the remainder being Kurds, Turkomans, Circassians, and Palestinians. Sunni
Islam sets the religious tone for Syria and provides the country's basic values.
Druze in Syria
In 1987 the Druze community, at 3 percent of the population the country's third largest
religious minority, continued to be the overwhelming majority in the Jabal al Arab, a rugged and
mountainous region in southwestern Syria.
Yazidis in Syria
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Yazidis, whose religion dates back to the time
of the Umayyad caliphate (A.D. 661-750), migrated from southern Iraq and settled in their
present mountainous stronghold - Jabal Sinjar in northern Iraq. Although some are scattered in
Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus, Iraq is the center of their religious life, the home of their
amir, and the site (north of Al Mawsil) of the tomb of their most revered saint, Shaykh Adi.
Alawis in Syria
The Alawis, or Nusayris, who number about 1,350,000, constitute Syria's largest religious
minority. They live chiefly along the coast in Al Ladhiqiyah Province, where they form over 60
percent of the rural population; the city of Latakia itself is largely Sunni. The Alawis appear
to be descendants of people who lived in this region at the time of Alexander the Great.
Judaism in Syria
Most Jews now living in the Arab world belong to communities dating back to Old Testament times
or originating as colonies of refugees fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. In Syria, Jews of both
origins, numbering altogether fewer than 3,000 in 1987, are found. A Syrian Jew is
Arabic-speaking and is barely distinguishable from the Arabs around him. In Syria, as elsewhere,
the degree to which Jews submit to the disciplines of their religion varies.
Syrian Christianity
The Christian communities of Syria, which comprise about 8 percent of the population, spring
from two great traditions. Because both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were introduced by
missionaries, a small number of Syrians are members of Western denominations. The vast majority,
however, belong to the Eastern communions, which have existed in Syria since the earliest days
of Christianity.
Religious Opposition
Rivalry among the country's various religious and ethnic minorities has been a perennial source
of instability in Syria. During the 1980s, the primary cause of conflict was domination of
top-level political and military posts by the minority Alawi community to which Assad belongs.
