Eurasia Press & News
On January 29, 2025, a “Convention to Announce the Victory of the Syrian Revolution” was held in Damascus, where Ahmed Al-Sharaa aka Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, who had served as leader of jihadi group Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), was announced interim president of Syria.[1] A “Statement Announcing the Victory of the Syrian Revolution” was also issued by the HTS-linked Military Operations Command, cancelling the Assad regime’s 2012 constitution, disbanding the People’s Assembly, and dissolving the previous regime’s military, security agencies and militias, as well as the Baath party and National Progressive Front. The statement also announced the dissolution of all rebel military factions and political and civilian institutions, merging them into those of the Syrian state.[2]
The convention’s resolutions, particularly the appointment of Al-Sharaa as Syrian president, were celebrated by several Syrian jihadi clerics. Another jihadi cleric, the Canada-based Egyptian-born Tariq Abdelhaleem, who had long been an outspoken opponent of HTS, described Al-Sharaa’s appointment as a “disaster,” calling him a dictator and comparing him to Islamic State (ISIS) founder Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Syria-Based Jihadi Clerics Celebrate Vanishing Of Assad Regime, End Of Factionalism, Appointment Of Legitimate Sunni President
In a January 29 Telegram post, senior HTS religious official Mazhar Al-Ways celebrated the event as a “historic day” when the revolution’s gains and martyrs’ sacrifices were “translated into a practical reality”; the fall of the Assad regime with all its symbols, laws, and institutions was announced; and the “commander of the great battle of liberation” was appointed Syria’s leader by influential people possessing “revolutionary legitimacy.” He added: “Today the path of building the new Syrian state was blazed through the cooperation of its sons, zeal of its men, and insight of its leaders,” and asked Allah to “help us all [do] what is good and correct.”[3]
Another Syria-based jihadi cleric, Saudi-born ‘Abdallah Al-Muhaysini, wrote: “Today factionalism sets for the sun of the Syrian state to rise. Today the dream of unity – for which I strove for six years straight, held meetings which each lasted eight to twelve hours, and suffered in all this much harm, which I hope Allah will accept – today we are gladdened with the end of factionalism, so praise to You, Allah.”[4]
On January 30, Syrian jihadi cleric’Abd Al-Razzaq Al-Mahdi celebrated that the Assad family, Baath party, “the shabbihah [pro-regime thugs] and militias of [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei and the Party of Al-Lat [a pre-Islamic goddess, a pejorative term for Lebanese Hizbullah], and the [Iraqi] Popular Mobilization Units” have all disappeared “never to return.” Rejoicing over the appointment of “brother” Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Al-Mahdi noted that he is Syria’s first Sunni president after 54 years of Assad family rule. He asked Allah to help Al-Sharaa act in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah and follow the example of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and the “Just Caliph” ‘Umar bin ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz, and to give him advisors who guide him to act properly, adding: “O Allah, as You began this matter with good, complete it with good and seal it with good.”[5]
Pro-Al-Qaeda Cleric Brands Al-Sharaa A “Doctor” Who Appointed Himself, Compares Him To ISIS’ Al-Baghdadi, Calls His Appointment A “Disaster”
In contrast, the Canada-based Abdelhaleem, a supporter of Al-Qaeda, wrote dismissively in a January 29 Telegram post: “What happened today in the so-called speech of victory, and what came after it – the chants of the mob, Nusayris [a pejorative term for Alawites], and all the minorities that buy the favor of the new dictator who appointed himself president – is a disaster on all fronts.” He bemoaned that some social media accounts, which he had thought were run by “intelligent people,” had reported on Al-Sharaa’s appointment enthusiastically, “as if the goal of the revolution was that ‘Mr. Ahmed Al-Sharaa should be president of the Syrian Arab Republic!'”[6]
In another post, he asked who had appointed Al-Sharaa, posting a “non-innocent question: What is the difference between the appointment of Al-Joulani as president, and that of Al-Baghdadi as caliph? Who are the influential people [tasked with appointed a ruler according to shari’a]?”[7] [1] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Syrian Leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa Delivers ‘Victory Speech,’ Outlines Syria’s Future Roadmap, Announces Dissolution Of Ba’ath Party, Armed Factions Into New ‘Syrian Army’; Military Operations Command Declares Al-Sharaa President Of Syria During Transitional Phase, January 29, 2025.
[2] Telegram, January 29, 2025. [3] Telegram, January 29, 2025. [4] Telegram, January 29, 2025. [5] Telegram, January 30, 2025. [6] Telegram, January 29, 2025. [7] Telegram, January 29, 2025.
