In Defence of the Syrian Arab Army

The Muslim Brotherhood, for historical reasons (mainly its competition with secular Arab nationalism and dependence on Saudi sponsorship), has long represented a particular extremist sect within Sunni Islam. In doctrinal terms this is a salafism, which makes use of 'takfiri' ideas, by which all other sects can be considered apostates or unbelievers (infidels, kafir) and, for that reason, open to attack. This is an extreme sectarianism, which in Syria has given birth to the genocidal, salafi slogan 'Alawis to the grave, Christians to Beirut'. The FSA has acted on this.

Yet this is not a 'Sunni' view. Opinion polls in Syria and around the world show that Sunnis, including conservative Sunnis, are inclined to be tolerant to people of other faiths. A recent Pew Research Centre poll found that, while strong Muslim majorities in many countries support sharia to be "the official law of the land', similarly strong majorities also support freedom of religion for people of other faiths.

Syria's secular nationalism, enforced by the Baathist regime but reinforced by Shami or Damascene Islam traditions, has nurtured a powerful ecumenicism that sees Christians recognise Ramadan and Muslims recognise Easter. In other words, Syria, on the cross roads of civilisations, has an even stronger tolerant tradition than others.

This is a great problem for the Muslim Brotherhood, which has relied on 'takfiri' ideas to advance its political cause. The Brotherhood dominates both the exile 'opposition' and the armed groups that make up the 'Free Syrian Army', and does have some support amongst the Sunni merchant classes. But it relies on sectarianism. It is the Brotherhood, along with its foreign- and Al Qaeda-linked allies, that has promoted the idea of the Assad government as 'an Alawite regime', murdering Alawi and Shiia civilians, in attempts to incite wider community conflict.

The Brotherhood pretends to represent all Sunnis, or at least 'real Sunnis'. In practice most Sunnis reject them. The western media reported a series of FSA commanders in Aleppo (an overwhelmingly Sunni city) complaining about lack of support from the local people. 'I know they hate us' one told The Guardian, while Time magazine reported another saying: 'The Aleppans here, all of them, are loyal to the criminal Bashar, they inform on us'. This was later confirmed by a report carried out for NATO, which estimated that 70% of the Syrian population backed President Assad, and that much of this support came from secular Sunnis who were horrified by FSA atrocities.

The Syrian state, whatever its other flaws, has certainly represented a strong secular tradition. There are many signs of this. President Bashar al Assad himself is married to a Sunni woman. The Grand Mufti of Syria, Sheikh Ahmad Hassoun, is a strong Sunni supporter of the secular state. Sheikh Mohamad Al Bouti, murdered along with 42 others by an FSA suicide bomber in March 2013, was a senior Sunni Koranic scholar who backed the secular state. The western media tag on these men as being 'pro-Assad' rather misses the point.

Syria's secular tradition is nowhere stronger than in the Syrian Arab Army. Making up about 80% of Syria's armed forces and with half a million members, half regulars and half conscripts, the army is drawn from all the country's communities (Sunni, Alawi, Shiia, Christian, Druze, Kurd, Armenian, etc). However they identify as 'Syrian' and 'Arab' and confront a sectarian enemy that brands itself 'real Sunnis'.

A key objective of the Brotherhood's insurrection was always to split the Syrian Arab Army along sectarian lines. Indeed, a number of army officers did defect, mostly those with family links to the Brotherhood. FSA atrocities against Alawis and Christians (most of which were blamed on the government) must have raised community feelings. However, towards the end of 2011 the FSA-aligned spokesperson in England, Rami Abdel Rahman, who calls himself the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said less than 1000 soldiers had deserted.

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