On Ahrar al-Sham and Elitism

A follow-on note on my War on the Rocks piece today about Ahrar al-Sham deputy leader Ali al-Omar’s recent lecture, and what it means for how Ahrar presents and understands itself:

Among my arguments, I said that “Al-Omar uses most of his lecture to resist the purism and elitism of Salafi-jihadism.” Hassan Hassan responded to the piece with several points, including this:

1. Sam argues Ahrar al-Sham rejects the “purism and elitism” of Salafi-jihadism. The official himself argues in favour of elitism in the talk itself, not sure why Sam overlooked that. The official even mentions the word “elite”, it is there in the talk — not to speak about the official’s frequent arrogant references about how Syrian society has been absent from true Islam for several decades and that none of the “pious” was ever allowed to preach inside Syria. As to “purism”, purism is a spectrum within Salafi-jihadism which is, again, fluid not static. Whether Ahrar al-Sham is purist or less purist than ISIS isn’t a valid argument in this context.

Yes, of course al-Omar uses the word “elite,” just as he mentions the Taliban. But the context is relevant, if you want to understand his intent and his broader message.

The relevant section (43:59-48:07) is translated and transcribed below. In it, al-Omar says that Ahrar is “between the elite and populism,” although he also makes clear that he regards Ahrar as the elite or vanguard that ought to lead the mass rebellion.

But if you read the entire passage – and this is what I was referring to with Salafi-jihadism’s “purism and elitism” – it’s clear that al-Omar is arguing against jihadists’ narrow exclusivity, their disdain and hostility for other factions that don’t satisfy their ideological litmus test. Al-Omar is saying that jihadists’ ultra-selectivity about who has an appropriately pure doctrine is unreasonable and impracticable. Instead, al-Omar is arguing that Ahrar has made the sound choice by allying itself with the Muslim rebel mainstream – including those who may not be perfectly devout – in the service of “اصطفاف سني شامل (rallying Sunnis in their entirety).”

This passage actually comes immediately before al-Omar’s reference to the Taliban, which, again, is not used to offer a blanket endorsement of the Taliban. Rather, al-Omar employs the example of the Taliban make a similar point, arguing in favor of setting aside pure creedal purity in favor of a more broad-based, inclusive model.

“It’s absolutely important that people realize – and particularly those bearing this project, which we’re talking about – that our battle today is the battle of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, and I said before. Therefore, we’re looking to rally Sunnis in their entirety. We don’t pay attention to minor details – this isn’t the time. So what do we mean by that? Right now my higher goal is toppling the regime – that’s an intermediate goal, you could say. What you have is that the Rafidhah (derog., Shi’ites) and those who back them have closed ranks. The Rafidhah, from all over the world, fight us now. With them are the Nuseiriyyah (derog., Alawites) here, despite the differences in their creeds. The Russian atheists have also intervened on their behalf in the battle. So there’s a closing of ranks. It’s not possible to face this front line, this march, these parties without Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah also closing ranks. All of them. So we don’t get into minor things that are less than that. All of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah are targeted. So we all need to fight to defend Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah.

“The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: ‘May you conquer Constantinople. And how great will be its emir, and how great that army will be.’ Muhammad al-Fatih, Muhammad II, who conquered Constantinople – and who the Prophet, peace be upon him, praised – was Maturidi in his creed. His creed was Maturidi. In terms of his school of Islam, he was Hanafi, and his creed was Maturidi. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: ‘And how great will be its emir, and how great that army will be.’ So all the types of Muslims fought with him, Muhammad al-Fatih. Salahaddin Ayyoubi was Ash’ari. He was Ash’ari. He conquered al-Quds – we all sing his praises, we all reference Salahaddin Ayyoubi in books, sermons and lectures, and so on. And he was Ash’ari. And he conquered al-Quds, and all the scholars fought alongside him. All the scholars – the Salafis, the Soufis – under the idea of fighting as the Islamic nation, Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah. These models realized victory. Show me one model that realized victory and limited itself to one segment among the different segments of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah.

“The principle is that Ahrar is between the elite and populism, you could say. Between the elite and populism. We see that the entirety of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah need to be involved, with the elite leading the way – those with correct approaches, and with straight thinking. But I asked you before: Is it better for me to fight under someone whose religion I don’t think is complete, or who isn’t entirely devout, or is it better for him to fight under my banner? Which is better? Not to recommend myself, I mean, but for someone who views himself as having the right approach. Which is better? For him to fight under someone who isn’t that devout, or for the less devout man to fight under him?” [Audience member: The second option.] “Of course, the second option. There’s no doubt in that. When someone less devout fights under someone who’s more devout, then the scale is balanced. But now, when Ahrar al-Sham implemented that, critics pounced on it, even though – as I said before – Salah al-Din al-Ayyoubi, Muhammad al-Fateh and lots of other role models were Ash’aris, God have mercy on them. And they led these conquests, and they were from Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah.”

War on the Rocks: "How Ahrar al-Sham Has Come to Define the Kaleidoscope of the Syrian Civil War"

New from me on War on the Rocks:

It’s indicative of the state of the Syrian war that “What exactly is Ahrar al-Sham?” has become a question of international political and diplomatic importance. Now opposition faction and Islamist movement Ahrar al-Sham has itself weighed in with a lecture by its deputy leader, in which he defines Ahrar – and, just as important, makes clear what the movement defines itself against.

How Ahrar al-Sham Has Come to Define the Kaleidoscope of the Syrian Civil War

VICE News: "US-Backed Rebels Struggle to Fend Off Islamic State Offensive in Northern Syria"

New from me at VICE News:

The U.S. and Turkey backed rebels to take ISIS-held Aleppo – it hasn’t worked. Inside the frustration and recriminations in north Aleppo, where rebels are now fighting just to survive.

https://news.vice.com/article/us-backed-rebels-struggle-to-fend-off-the-islamic-state-offensive-in-northern-syria

RFE/RL's "Under the Black Flag" Blog: "Al-Qaeda's Ayman Al-Zawahri Plays Politics"

New from me on al-Qaeda chief Aymen al-Zawahiri’s last message and its intended Syrian audience. (Hint: Not Nusrah.)

http://www.rferl.org/content/al-qaeda-al-zawahri-plays-politics/27746829.html

Abu Ali al-Anbari: "They came to die."

Below is a translated snippet from jihadist evangelist and fundraiser Abdullah al-Muheisini’s testimony case against ISIS’s irreligious conduct and the events leading to January 2014’s explosion of fighting between Syria’s rebels and the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Al-Muheisini’s account is republished from a Telegram group in which he argued his case against ISIS’s conduct with a number of ISIS supporters. In this excerpt, al-Muheisini unsuccessfully appeals to ISIS second-in-command “Abu Ali al-Anbari” to put a stop to the car bombs ISIS was deploying against Syrian rebels. The episode apparently took place after ISIS hit Liwa al-Tawhid’s Infantry School base with car bombs on February 1, 2014.

I don’t if there’s a bigger lesson to take from this, I mostly just thought it was a pretty wild anecdote about al-Anbari. (Who is now dead.)

Another episode: They [ISIS] sent car bombs [whose aftermath] I witnessed at the Infantry School [in Aleppo]. All of them were outside the school. And a third was in Ourum, where they targeted a checkpoint that belonged to [Harakat Nour al-Din] al-Zinki. A young man was killed, 17 years old, who had nothing to do with it.

So I went to go to [Abu Ali] al-Anbari, the second-in-command in the State, and I said to him, “Sheikh, get matters under control. Fear God for the sake of Muhammad’s nation.”

“We’ve experienced wars,” he said.

I said, “You have the politics of war, but we, as students of knowledge, we’re concerned with the matter of [religious] law! These car bombs are impermissible, they’re killing innocents.” And I told him the events I’d witnessed.

And he said something that would make mountains shake, and this is something to which I will swear. He said, “A car bombs kills twenty, and then the rest are terrified.”

I said, “Your men are killing themselves! They’re not even hurting those you call ‘apostates.’”

“The terror is enough,” he said.

And when things came close to exploding, I said, “Sheikh, save those with you and agree to a court that will rule between by God’s law. The brothers are being killed.”

And he said, “They came to die.”

Original text:

VICE News: "'The Regime Can't Be Trusted': Inside Syria's Aleppo as a Shaky Truce Begins"

New from me and Avi Asher-Schapiro at VICE News:

Aleppo has a new truce, but only after weeks of bloodshed. We spoke to survivors on both sides, plus reps of local rebel brigades and Jabhat al-Nusrah who talked about the city’s deadly shelling and the Nusrah presence in the city’s eastern half that’s been snarling up a new deal.

https://news.vice.com/article/aleppo-syria-bashar-al-assad-regime-russia-united-states-nusra-front-truce

War on the Rocks: "The Tangled Web of the Syrian Jihad"

New: I review Charles Lister’s The Syrian Jihad for War on the Rocks.

The Tangled Web of the Syrian Jihad

The Daily Beast: "One Kurdish Neighborhood in the Crossfire"

New from me on The Daily Beast:

While most of Syria got a ceasefire, Aleppo’s Kurdish al-Sheikh Maqsoud got two months of violence. Rebels and Kurdish forces each claim the other started the running battle on the edge of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, al-Sheikh Maqsoud’s civilians have been dying under apparently indiscriminate shelling – and now, Kurds allege, a chemical weapons strike – with no end in sight.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/15/did-syrian-rebels-gas-kurds-in-aleppo.html

VICE News: "Syrian Fighters Say the Ceasefire Is Getting Shakier and Shakier"

New from me on VICE News:

Syria is caught in a sort of half-war limbo. The internationally sponsored ceasefire remains in effect nationwide, but isolated clashes across the country seems to be escalating, and there are fears that a battle south of Aleppo city may be spiraling out of control.

But even as violence ticks up, it seems no one thinks the ceasefire will actually end. So long as Russia and the U.S. remain vested in a political solution, sources say, Syrians are locked in a war that’s mostly off, partially on.

https://news.vice.com/article/syrian-fighters-say-the-ceasefire-is-shakier-and-shakier

VICE News: "Rebels Ignored the Islamic State in South Syria, and It's Come Back to Haunt Them"

New from me and Avi Asher-Schapiro at VICE News:

Southern rebels have mostly been ignoring their local proto-ISIS creeps – in part, they say, because the US and their other state backers told them to. But now ISIS has come for them, and they're realizing they made a mistake.

https://news.vice.com/article/rebels-ignored-the-islamic-state-in-south-syria-and-its-come-back-to-haunt-them

World Politics Review: "Separating Nusra Front From Syria’s Rebels Is Easier Said Than Done"

New from me on World Politics Review:

Syria’s ceasefire has made clear the growing rift between the country’s mainstream opposition and Jabhat al-Nusrah, al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate. But at the same time, it's also highlighted how Nusrah it tangled up in and dependent on the opposition. It turns out that Nusrah is a symbiote – it can only succeed when it is attached to a Syrian opposition at war.

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/18405/separating-nusra-front-from-syria-s-rebels-is-easier-said-than-done

The Daily Beast: "Al-Qaeda’s Screwing up in Syria"

New from me on The Daily Beast:

New static between Jabhat al-Nusrah and mainstream Syrian rebels and a half-tell-all, half-anti-Nusrah jeremiad by the son of the founder of modern jihadism have embroiled the Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate in new controversy. Now opposition Syrians are debating Nusrah's place in the rebellion and re-litigating some of the grimier episodes in north Syria's recent history.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/05/al-qaeda-s-screwing-up-in-syria.html

War on the Rocks: "Are CIA-Backed Syrian Rebels Really Fighting Pentagon-Backed Syrian Rebels?"

New from me on War on the Rocks:

Everyone, take a breath. CIA-backed Syrian rebels are not fighting Pentagon-backed Syrian rebels.

http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/are-cia-backed-syrian-rebels-really-fighting-pentagon-backed-syrian-rebels/

VICE News: "The Syrian Ceasefire Is Held Together by an Unlikely Group of Frenemies — and WhatsApp"

New from me on VICE News:

It's been clear for a minute that Syria's ceasefire has brought violence way down nationwide. But I spoke to diplomats involved and Syrians on the ground, and it turns out that in addition to the overall reduction of violence, they've also managed to shut down specific ceasefire violations with help from WhatsApp and hustle. (I know, I was surprised, too.)

https://news.vice.com/article/the-americans-russians-and-the-un-are-keeping-syrias-shaky-ceasefire-afloat-with-whatsapp-text-messages

VICE News: "How Five Years of War Has Fractured Syria Into at Least Four States"

New from me and Avi Asher-Schapiro at VICE News:

After five years of war, Syria is split into parts that are irreconcilable – and inseparable.

https://news.vice.com/article/hold-for-tues-9am-gmt-how-five-years-of-war-has-fractured-syria-into-at-least-four-states

World Politics Review: "PKK Links, Nusra Parallels Make Syrian Kurds a Troubling U.S. Partner"

New from me on World Politics Review:

At least on this, Erdogan is right: The U.S. government’s absurd, untenable denials of YPG-PKK links are – surprise – absurd and untenable.

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/18201/pkk-links-nusra-parallels-make-syrian-kurds-a-troubling-u-s-partner

VICE News: "A Ceasefire Is Beginning in Syria — Except Where It Won't"

New from me on VICE News:

With a nationwide ceasefire set to go into effect tonight, there’s still little clarity on who it will actually cover – so at least in northern Syria, people just assume they’ll be bombed.

https://news.vice.com/article/a-ceasefire-is-beginning-in-syria-except-where-it-wont

Syria:Direct Interview

New two-part interview with me at Syria:Direct:

"Sam Heller on this moment in Syria: 'Building towards a soft partition,'" 24 February 2016.

"Sam Heller: 'Fighting over towns that exist in name only,'" 25 February 2016.

VICE News: "The Battle for Aleppo Shows That US Strategy in Syria Is in Tatters"

New from me on VICE News:

As fighting in north Aleppo rages out of control, all the things that don't make sense about U.S. strategy to combat ISIS in Syria are all not making sense, all at once.

https://news.vice.com/article/the-battle-for-aleppo-shows-that-us-strategy-in-syria-is-in-tatters

World Politics Review: "Handing Syria to Russia Would Inflame Jihadism Abroad"

New from me on World Politics Review:

So all the West cares about in Syria is counterterrorism? Well, here’s what would a regime victory would do to jihadism, inside and outside the country.

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/17934/handing-syria-to-russia-would-inflame-jihadism-abroad