Capture of Jund al-Islam Terrorist Group Raises Questions

The arrest and killing of several Jihadists belonging to "Jund al-Sham" in the Daf al-Shawk district outside of Damascus has raised many questions in Syria. A number of Syrian parliamentarians and moderate Islamist politicians have used the incident to demand the legalization of "moderate" Islamic parties. "If the state doesn't allow moderate Muslims to organize legally, the only Muslims emerge in the political arena will be radical Salafists," they argue, because radicals are willing to break the law. Dr. Muhammad Habash has been leading the charge on this issue. (The full article is included in the comment section two posts ago.)

أجمع عدة باحثين إسلاميين سوريين على " مطالبة السلطات بالسماح بقيام أحزاب إسلامية معتدلة " حتى من كان يرفض منهم سابقا " احتكار اسم الإسلام في حزب بعينه " معلنين " دق ناقوس الخطر للسلطة إذا لم تسمح للمعتدلين بممارسة نشاط سياسي حر , يعمل على نشر الفكر الإسلامي المعتدل لمواجهة التطرف , بدل الاكتفاء بالحل الأمني الذي يؤجل المشاكل فقط و لا يحلها نهائيا ".

Ibrahim Hamidi has a fantastic article in al-Hayat explaining the many reasons that Syrians are turning to Islam. They are accepting the principle that "Islam is the Solution." Having been ruled by secular regimes for 50 years, Syrians have only seen Muslims growing weaker. They don't have jobs, American and Israel are occupying more Arab land than ever, and the future is dark. Secular nationalism has failed. No alternatives are allowed in Syria. America and the West are seen as the enemies. What is left for the average Syrian but to turn toward Islam? Hamidi describes how most of the Damascus book stores that once sold Russian books about communism and materialism have been converted into Islamic bookstores, especially the store across the street from the Russian Cultural Center! He also gives the numbers on the growth of Islamic Institutes (600 new institutes for memorizing the Quran) and training centers. 72,751 families get assistance from Muslim charitable associations. See the following section of the article.

أسباب التأسلم تتداخل مجموعة من الاسباب الداخلية والخارجية وراء هذا التحول الى الاسلامية والفشل في التحول الجذري الى العلمانية بمعناها الجوهري. فبعد القضاء على»الاخوان المسلمين» الذين قاموا بعمليات اغتيال مثقفين ومدنيين، بدأت الحكومة السورية سياسة تشجيع الاسلام المعتدل لخلق قاعدة شعبية واسعة ضمن المجتمع، فشجعت بناء المساجد التي وصل عددها حالياً الى نحو ثمانية آلاف في جميع انحاء البلاد. كما أوجدت ما يسمى «مدارس الأسد لتحفيظ القرآن» التي وصل عددها الى 120 معهداً في جميع المحافظات والمدن، اضافة الى معاهد عالية لتدريس علوم الدين بحيث بلغ عددها اكثر من 22 معهداً لا تستقطب طلاب الدراسات العليا من سورية وحسب، بل من اكثر من ستين دولة عربية وأجنبية. ويتحدث النائب حبش عن وجود نحو 600 معهد لتحفيظ القرآن موجودة في شكل مستقل أو ملحقة بمساجد. كما ان هناك نحو 40 مدرسة تابعة للشيخة منيرة القبيسي (75 سنة( من أصل نحو 80 مدرسة تنتشر في جميع الاحياء الدمشقية، تدور في فلكها أكثر من 75 الف امرأة ومربية لآلاف الاسر. ويقول حبش: «القبيسيات ينشطن في اطار دعوة البنات الى التزام الشريعة الاسلامية. هن لا يمثلن تياراً، بل عبارة عن مدارس لتعليم الاطفال». يضاف الى ذلك ان كلية الشريعة الاسلامية تضم نحو 7603 طلاب (3337 طالبة) في السنوات الاربع من اصل 48 الف طالب في جامعة دمشق. وتخرج كلية الشريعة سنوياً اكثر من 650 طالباً. ويقول أحد المتابعين: «ان وظيفة التدريس الديني محصورة بالدولة التي لديها نحو مئة شخص «يقومون بدور التدريس الديني من دون اشتراط ان يكونوا بعثيين». وفي موازاة الكلية الجامعية جرى تشجيع وجود مدارس تشريعية مناطقية ففي الجزيرة السورية شمال شرقي البلاد هناك «مدرسة الخزنوي» شقيق الشيخ معشوق، وفي حلب هناك مدارس الشيخ احمد حسون، وفي دمشق هناك «مجمع ابي النور» وحلقات الشيخ العلامة المنفتح محمد سعيد رمضان البوطي الذي يعطي دروساً اسبوعية في جامع «دينكز» وعلى شاشة التلفزيون الرسمي. ونما في ظل هذه التجمعات «مجتمع اهلي» فمن اصل 584 جمعية هناك 290 جمعية خيرية. وقال الدكتور جمعة حجازي ان عدد الاسر المستفيدة من الجمعيات يبلغ نحو 72751 أسرة وان قيمة المساعدات المقدمة لها في العام 2003، بلغت اكثر من 842 مليون ليرة سورية (الدولار يساوي نحو 54 ليرة)، ذلك ان هذه الجمعيات تقدم مساعدات عبر تخصيص رواتب شهرية أو مساعدات علاجية أو غذائية الى الفقراء والمحتاجين. كما انها كانت تقدم خدمات عقائدية سواء عبر الدروس اليومية أو عبر خطبة يوم الجمعة. في المدن والارياف، هناك منبران: المساجد التي يبلغ عددها نحو ثمانية آلاف وتشهد على الاقل نحو 416 الف درس اسبوعي في يوم الجمعة (عدا الدروس الاستثنائية) ويرتادها ملايين المصلين خصوصاً من الشباب، أو المراكز الثقافية البالغ عددها 79 معهداً (بينها 17 في دمشق وريفها و11 في حلب)، واربعة مسارح رسمية قدمت في العام ذاته 27 مسرحية لا يتجاوز عدد مرتاديها بضعة آلاف، ووسائل الاعلام الرسمية التي تشمل بيع نحو 60 الف نسخة من الصحف الرسمية الثلاث وخدمات الاذاعة والتلفزيون المتواضعة مهنياً والتي تقهقرت امام تقدم الفضائيات العربية.

One of my readers posted this article "Lebanese paper considers links between Syrian Jund al-Sham, militant groups" to the comment section on a previous post. (Thanks for adding these interesting articles to our continuing coverage. Readers should open the comment section, which is often more interesting and educational than my posts. I wish I had time to respond to everything.) By BBC Jun 16, 2005, 19:00 GMT The following is the text of a report by Sha'ban Abbud in Damascus headlined "What is the connection between the 'Jund al-Sham' organizations? A dangerous band of Salafis that accuses everyone of being an unbeliever", published by Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar website on 15 June We the correspondents of Arab and foreign newspapers wish we were treated the way the correspondents of the Syrian Arab News Agency-SANA and the reporters of the Al-Thawrah newspaper are treated with regards to having access to information - even at a press conference - on the details of what happened in the Daf al-Shawk district. What took place was that the security organs waged an armed confrontation with a jihadist-Salafi-takfiri group that called itself "Jund al-Sham li al-Jihad wa al-Tawhid". We are making this point because it is our right to know and because we have several questions. Is there some sort of connection between this group and another group with the same name in Lebanon and, specifically, in the Ayn al-Hulwah camp? Or is it a local group? Does this group have any external connections and with whom? What is the form of this connection? Is it with states or Islamic organizations or intelligence services that wish to harm Syria? How many members does this group have? Are there non-Syrians among them and where are they located, other than in Damascus? Are there more weapons than those that were photographed? What equipment was confiscated? Did this equipment include computers, fax machines, telephones or answer machines? Did any member of this group go to Iraq and wage "jihad" there? Why were the planned targets of the group - based on the confessions of some of them - civilian targets like the Palace of Justice and a "bus" as we read in the newspaper Al-Thawrah? Why were their targets not western embassies or other positions and centres? There are many other questions that arouse our curiosity and it does not seem that Al-Thawrah or SANA is about to give us the answers. Such a situation drives a journalist to search for answers using his own methods and from various sources. This is what we did in order to better understand what had happened. Sources that monitor the affairs of the principal Islamic groups, especially the jihadist and takfiri groups, told us that it is unlikely that there is a connection between the "Jund al-Sham" in Lebanon and the "Jund al-Sham" in Syria. The first organization has almost disbanded after its emir, Usamah al-Shihabi, gave up his leadership in protest at some internal practices and also due to weak financial resources. The sources told us that the Emir Al-Shihabi himself sometimes resorted to physical labour to make a living. Furthermore, most of the members of this group are wanted by the Lebanese and other security services. Therefore, their presence and activities were mostly confined to the Ayn al-Hulwah camp in southern Lebanon. But some argue that the "Jund al-Sham" group in Lebanon has sent pamphlets to some Islamists in Syria to explain its stances on certain matters, especially on what the press has been reporting about it. Regarding the emir of the group, who was killed by the Syrian authorities in the Daf al-Shawk neighbourhood in Damascus, the sources say that "Abu-Umar" is of "Druze" origin and that he opted for the takfiri-jihadist-Salafi ideology a few years ago. He was married twice. His first wife is from Lebanon and his second from Syria, and he divorced his second wife about three months ago. "Abu-Umar" was active in the village of Madaya in the Al-Zabadani region and owned a vegetable shop. He recently fell out with the "Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah" that he led in Madaya. The security authorities arrested about 17 members of this group about a year ago. After that, "Abu-Umar" separated from that group and met with another group that agreed on the idea of forming the "Jund al-Sham" organization in Syria. This group is a small one that does not exceed 10 members. The security authorities were watching them closely in connection with incidents that took place in Madaya and the Al-Zabadani area. The sources asserted that this group "is a dangerous band of Salafis that accuse everyone and everything of being unbelievers and are bound by one ideology. However, they lack a clear vision and organizational experience. It became clear that they were planning something big but only on paper. What the official press has published about their plans and papers is correct." The sources said it is unlikely that this group has external relations, especially with a Salafi and takfiri group like Al-Qa'idah or another organization, because such incidents give the regime in Syria the opportunity to strike at all Islamic currents and to be more harsh against them. Furthermore, Syria is not part of Al-Qa'idah's programme or that of other similar Islamic groups. They believe that the priority these days is Iraq, and that the arenas that have not been decisively in favour of the Muslims and that still are open are Afghanistan and Chechnya in addition to Iraq. Furthermore, they believe that their first enemy is the United States and Syria is coming under US pressure. So why would they attack Syria, even though the Syrian regime is a secular one, is not on good terms with the Islamists, and fought and dealt harsh blows to them. The sources said that there are no organized groups in Syria but that there are sympathizers. Although their eyes are on other arenas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya, their presence is extremely dangerous for they are indeed sleeper cells.