Mohammad Habash

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Mohamed Habasch

Mohammad Habash , also Mohamed Habasch ( Arabic محمد حبش Muhammad Habasch , DMG Muḥammad Ḥabaš ; * October 1, 1962 in Damascus ), is an Islamic scholar and well-known representative of reform theology with Syrian characteristics. He was a member of the Syrian People's Council . Due to his opposition to the Assad regime, he left Syria in 2012. He now lives in the United Arab Emirates and teaches a. a. at the University of Abu Dhabi .

Live and act

Habash was born the son of an imam . He studied a. a. in Damascus, Tripoli , Karachi , Beirut and Khartoum Islamic scholarship, Arabic literature and recitation of the Koran . Habash married the granddaughter of the Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmad Kuftaru and thus approached the leadership of the Sunni Islam in Syria. However, there he encountered resistance with his reform ideas, according to which not only Islam, but also the other monotheistic book religions can lead to bliss.

Habash engaged in interreligious dialogue and regularly wrote columns on theological topics in the state newspaper Al-Thawra . In 2001 he received approval to open a private think tank in the field of religious studies . He was considered a representative of a Sufism-inspired religious renewal movement. In the early 2000s, Habash became an internationally known Syrian theologian who also received foreign delegations and journalists. According to some observers, the Syrian regime intended with his support to counterbalance the growing influence of Salafist and Wahhabi preachers. In 2010 Habash criticized the face veil ( niqab ) for women and stated that it was not an Islamic, but a "regional" tradition. In addition, he successfully campaigned for a tightening of the Syrian criminal law against so-called honor killings, which had been trivialized until then .

Positions in the Syrian Civil War since 2011

In 2003 Habash was elected as an independent candidate in the People's Council, the Syrian unicameral parliament dominated by the Ba'ath Party. In 2010, Habash allegedly had to resign from all religious activities under the orders of the Ministry of Religious Foundations. Due to his positions and public appearances in the media, Habash was generally seen as an advocate for the Syrian regime. At the beginning of the uprising in Syria in 2011, which culminated in the Syrian Civil War , Habash expressed himself as a representative of a moderate opposition and called for a political solution to the conflict. At the end of 2012 he left Syria and settled in Dubai , where he called for the resignation of Bashar al-Assad and accused the regime of using jihadist extremists for its own purposes. In 2019 it became known that Habash is a member of the “ Council of the Syrian Charter ”, a social peace and dialogue initiative of influential figures from the regime-controlled part of Syria and the Syrian diaspora.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Outdated Islamic teachings must be amended, UAE professor says. Accessed December 30, 2019 .
  2. ^ Thomas Pierret: Religion and State in Syria. The Sunni Ulama from Coup to Revolution . Cambridge University Press, New York 2013, pp. 130-131 .
  3. ^ Line Khatib: Islamic Revivalism in Syria: The Rise and Fall of Ba'thist Secularism . Routledge, Oxon 2011, pp. 166 .
  4. ↑ Portrait Muhammad Habash: Commitment to the Dialogue of Religions - Qantara.de. Retrieved December 29, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Clerical Era . In: The New Republic . October 2, 2006, ISSN  0028-6583 ( newrepublic.com [accessed December 29, 2019]).
  6. ↑ Gabriela M. Keller: Headscarf Debate: Syria banishes the Nikab from universities . July 20, 2010 ( welt.de [accessed December 30, 2019]).
  7. ↑ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): Honor killings are now also punishable in Syria | DW | 07/10/2009. Accessed December 30, 2019 (German).
  8. ^ Muhammad al-Habash Resigns from All Religious Activities. In: Syria Comment. September 12, 2010, accessed December 29, 2019 .
  9. ^ Radicals are Assad's best friends. Accessed December 30, 2019 .
  10. ^ German Bundestag: Written Questions, week of April 8, 2019. Printed matter 19/9360 p. 27, 2019, accessed on December 29, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Habash, Mohammad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Habash, Mohamed; Habash, Muhammad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Syrian scholar of Islam and reform theologian
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Damascus