Syria: Between the Sufis and the Salafists
By Mohammad Abu Rumman
محمد أبو رمان
(Translated from Arabic, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam)
Syria's Sufi
Tahleela band performs during the third annual Sufi Festival at the
Royal Cultural Center in Amman, Oct. 12, 2010. (photo by REUTERS/Ali
Jarekji)
The rise of the
Salafist movement in its traditional jihadist forms has been a manifest
phenomenon during the Syrian revolution. This is largely because the
revolution grew in the countryside mostly occupied by the Salafist
groups. Meanwhile, the Sufi movement, which is vehemently opposed to
the Salafist interpretation of Islam and has predominantly thrived in
Syria’s urban cities, split into pro-regime, pro-opposition and neutral
currents. Sufism has long been the mainstream Sunni Islam in Syria, but
is now under serious threat as Salafism gains power and growing
influence. This state of affairs raises fundamental questions about
Syria’s religiosity, which during the past decades was dominated by
Sufism. There are now questions regarding whether the religiosity of
Syria's Sunnis will permanently adopt the Salafist trend or just
temporarily.
Over the past decades,
Sufism has been going off in different directions and divergent
political trends, the most notable of which is the Zayd movement. It was
founded by Sheikh Abdul Karim al-Rifai in the early 20th century. It
took roots in Damascus’s conservative social circles and a network of
mosques and seminaries.
But, the Zayd movement suffer
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