Islamic front

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Islamic front

Logo of the Islamic Front (Syria) .svg
Official logo of the Islamic Front

Flag of the Islamic Front (Syria) .svg
Administration flag, war flag

Flag of the Islamic Front (Syria) (Black) .svg
Lineup 22nd of November 2013
Country Syria
Armed forces United Armed Forces
Strength 45,000-70,000 (March 2014)
Nickname IF
commander
Commander in chief Ahmed Issa el-Sheikh
Head of the Politburo Abu Jaber
Hasan Abbud † (Former)
Military chief Abu Hammam al-Buwaidani
Zahran Alloush † (Former)
Important
commanders

Abu Abdullah al-Kurdi
(leader of the KIF )
Abu Omar Hureitan
(deputy leader)

The Islamic Front ( Arabic الجبهة الإسلامية al-Jabha al-Islāmiyya ) is an alliance of seven Islamist opposition groups in the civil war in Syria . It was founded on November 22, 2013 and was the largest opposition alliance at the time (an estimate of at least 45,000 fighters).

Founding members are the Islamist Ahrar asch-Scham , the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front based in Idlib , At-Tauhid-Brigade (largest opposition group in Aleppo ), the Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) operating in Damascus , the Homs- based Liwaʾ al- Haqq , the Kurdish Islamic Front ( al-Jabha al-Islamiya al-Kurdiya ) and the Syrian Islamic Front . The declared goal of the alliance is the overthrow of the Assad government and the establishment of an Islamic state . It is also intended to cooperate with the Free Syrian Army . As was the case with Islamist extremism before the Syrian conflict, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is considered to be the most important supporter of the Islamic Front .

The leader of the Islamic Front is Ahmed Issa al-Sheikh (Suqur al-Sham), former leader of the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front . His deputy is Abu Omar Hreitan from the At-Tawheed Brigade. The head of the military operations is Zahran Allousch of the Jaish al-Islam. The head of the Politburo is Hassan Abboud, leader of the Syrian Islamic Front .

The members should be organizationally united over a period of three months. The existence of the constituent groups should then go out. In May 2015, however, individual components such as Ahrar asch-Scham (now the largest member group) and Jaish al-Islam (second largest) could be distinguished. According to information from Foreign Policy , the Islamic Front actually disintegrated again in 2014 and only exists by name.

ideology

According to its own statement, the Islamic Front strives for an Islamic state , but distances itself from the terrorist organization of the same name . According to US political scientist Joshua Landis, the ideology of the Islamic Front is very similar to that of al-Qaeda - both glorified the caliphate , opposed democracy and interwoven their interpretation of Sharia law, welcomed foreign fighters from the Islamic umma and carried the black banner of the Islam in front of the Syrian national flag.

Her military leader Zahran Alloush , son of a Salafist cleric living in Saudi Arabia , had repeatedly made derogatory or aggressive statements in public towards people of different faiths. He described Shiites as "unclean" or as rāfida ("rejecters") and explained with reference to them that this "filth" had to be washed away by ash-Shām (i.e. Greater Syria). He also demanded that Syria be freed from the "dirty works and misdeeds" of the Alawites, whom he describes with the swear word "Nusairi".

aims

According to the founding charter of the Islamic Front, the self-declared goals are:

  • The fall of the regime and the establishment of security throughout Syria
  • The work to anchor religion in the individual, society and the state
  • The preservation of Islamic identity in society and the creation of a full-fledged Islamic personality
  • The reconstruction of Syria on an impeccable basis of justice, independence and solidarity in accordance with the principles of Islam
  • Active participation in the development of society
  • The training of educated managers for all areas of life

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richard Hall: Factbox: Syria's rebel groups. Reuters, accessed January 9, 2014 .
  2. ^ A b Hassan Hassan: Front to Back. In: Foreign Policy. Retrieved March 4, 2014 .
  3. ^ Leading Syrian rebel groups form new Islamic Front. BBC, November 22, 2013, accessed May 26, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Barbara Surk and Diaa Hadid, Associated Press: Syrian Muslim Rebel Groups Say They Have Unified. ABC News, November 22, 2013, accessed May 26, 2015 .
  5. ↑ a b c Basma Atassi: Major Syrian rebel groups join forces. Al Jazeera English, November 22, 2013, accessed May 26, 2015 .
  6. ↑ a b c Leading Syrian rebel groups form new Islamic Front. BBC, November 22, 2013, accessed May 26, 2015 .
  7. ^ Edward Dark: Syrian FSA fades in shadow of Saudi-backed opposition front. In: AL Monitor , December 11, 2013.
  8. ^ Yousaf Butt: How Saudi Wahhabism Is the Fountainhead of Islamist Terrorism. In: Huffington Post. January 21, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2017 (American English).
  9. ^ A b Alex MacDonald: Rise of Jaish al-Islam marks a turn in Syria conflict. In: Middle East Eye , May 7, 2015.
  10. ^ Lisa Lundquist: Analysis - Formation of Islamic Front in Syria benefits jihadist groups
  11. ↑ Alex MacDonald: Rise of Jaish al-Islam marks a turn in Syria conflict
  12. ↑ a b Jürg Bischoff: Zahran Allush - Syria's most powerful rebel leader. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (online), December 19, 2013.
  13. ↑ DerOrient: German translation of the founding charter of the Islamic Front - https://derorient.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/die-charta-der-syrischen-islamischen-front.pdf