Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

by Raphael Lefevre
Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

by Raphael Lefevre

Hardcover(New Edition)

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Overview

When the convulsions of the Arab Spring first became manifest in Syria in March 2011, the Ba'athist regime was quick to blame the protests on the "Syrian Muslim Brotherhood" and its "al-Qaeda affiliates." But who are these Islamists so determined to rule a post-Assad Syria?

Little has been published on militant Islam in Syria since Hafez Assad's regime destroyed the Islamist movement in its stronghold of Hama in February 1982. This book bridges that gap by providing readers with the first comprehensive account of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's history to date.

In this ground-breaking account of Syria's most prominent, yet highly secretive, Islamist organisation, the author draws on previously untapped sources: the memoirs of former Syrian jihadists; British and American archives; and also a series of wide-ranging interviews with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's historical leaders as well as those who battled against them—many speaking on the record for the first time. Ashes of Hama uncovers the major aspects of the Islamist struggle: from the Brotherhood's radicalisation and its "jihad" against the Ba'athist regime and subsequent exile, to a spectacular comeback at the forefront of the Syrian revolution in 2011—a remarkable turnaround for an Islamist movement which all analysts had pronounced dead amid the ruins of Hama in 1982.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780199330621
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 11/11/2013
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Raphaël Lefèvre is a Gates Scholar and PhD student at King's College, Cambridge University, where he also earned an MPhil in International Relations. He has published extensively on the Syrian Islamic movement and is the co-author of State and Islam in Baathist Syria: Confrontation or Co-optation?

Table of Contents

PART I
THE EMERGENCE OF A POLITICIZED ISLAM IN SYRIA
(1860–1963)
1. The Emergence of a Politicized Islam in Syria (1860–1944)
The "Damascus school": the Salafiyya movement in Syria
Politicizing Islam: the rise of the "Islamic populists"
2. Islam and Democracy: The Muslim Brotherhood in Postindependence
Syria (1946–1963)
The Egyptian roots
The Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood
Competing for power in Syria's parliamentary democracy
Defending Islam with pragmatism
"'Islamic socialism': a Muslim drink in a Marxist cup"
Losing ground to the Ba'ath Party

PART II
THE ISLAMIC OPPOSITION TO BA'ATHISM
(1963–1982)
3. The Islamic Reaction to the Ba'athist Revolution
A clash of ideology
A clash of constituencies
The ideological failure of Ba'athism
Urban uprisings
4. "A Minority Cannot Forever Rule a Majority"
Sunnis and Alawites: a history of mistrust
The "revenge of a minority"?
The "Alawization" of the Syrian regime: myth or reality?
Atmosphere of sectarian civil war

PART III
THE RISE OF JIHADISM IN LATE 1970s SYRIA
(1963–1982)
5. The Radicalization of the Islamic Movement (1963–1980)
The moderation of the Damascus Ikhwan
The split in the "Damascus wing"
The radicalization of the Islamic movement
Birth of an extremist organization: the Fighting Vanguard
6. Endorsing Jihad Against The Ba'ath (1980–1982)
State repression
The Muslim Brotherhood's jihad
A last stand: the Hama uprising
A "Camp David conspiracy"?

PART IV
ASHES OF HAMA: THE SYRIAN ISLAMIST
MOVEMENT SINCE 1982
7. The Fate of Militant Islam After the Hama Revolt
Al Qaeda: the Syrian connection
The Syrian mukhabarat and radical Islam: a blowback?
Taming political Islam
8. Struggling for Relevance: The Muslim Brotherhood's Exile
Divided between the "Hama clan" and the "Aleppo faction"
Back to basics: the ideological evolution
Engaging with the Syrian opposition
9. Uprisings in Syria: A Revenge on History
Fostering Islamic radicalization
The Brotherhood's rebirth from ashes
Back to Syria: opportunities and challenges

Epilogue

APPENDIXES
Appendix 1: List of the successive Leaders of Syria's Muslim
Brotherhood
Appendix 2: Abdullah Azzam on the Role of Marwan Hadid
During the 1964 Hama Riots
Appendix 3: Abdullah Azzam on Marwan Hadid's Death
Appendix 4: Abu Mus'ab al-Suri on the Training Tactic of al-Talia al-Muqatila
Appendix 5: Abu Mus'ab al-Suri on the Battle of Hama in
February 1982
Appendix 6: The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's Most Important
Statement Regarding Their Evolution and Their
Vision of Syria's Future
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