The Islamic factor has a tangible effect on the internal situation and foreign policy of many states of the Muslim regions. Recently, it has also gained unprecedented importance in the international political arena. News agencies around the world hourly report on new events in a particular country in the world, in which Islamic religious and political groups took part.
The source, the territorial base of these groups is Syria. Religion of 90% of the citizens of this country is Islam, which encourages people to associate terrorism and the Islamic faith. In the media space, you can increasingly see the cliche "Syrian terrorists", "Syrian suicide bombers" and more.
Such associations contribute to the escalation of conflict and stimulate a sense of "Islamic danger." It is enough to recall the bloody story of "Charlie Ebdo", which was provoked by their religious cartoons, and the next attacks on official, peaceful Islam, they say, the roots of the problem are in Islamic dogma. Traditional Islam, and specifically the moderate Islamic religion of Syria, has long been successfully integrated into the modern world, peacefully coexists with other religions and stresses its rejection of extremism with all its might.
A brief excursion into the pre-Islamic period of Syrian history
Syria is located on the line of contact of several continents at once: its continental part is in contact with Western Asia, the south of the country borders on the Arabian Peninsula, and the north - on Asia Minor. Since ancient times, Syria has been the intersection of major trade routes and a point of generalization of several religious systems: Palestine, Phenicia, Mesopotamia and Egypt.
The main feature of the organization of the pantheon of gods in the territory of ancient Syria was its decentralization. Various Syrian cities had their own cults, however, there was also a mandatory, “official” cult: all, without exception, the kingdoms worshiped the gods Baal and Baalat.
Folk cults are mainly associated with gods favoring agriculture: the gods of rain, harvest, harvest, winemaking, etc. The exceptional cruelty of the ancient Syrian cults can also be noted: the deities were considered exclusively evil and harmful, which is why they had to be constantly seduced with the help of victims, most often human ones.
Thus, the religion of Syria in the ancient period can be characterized as a system combining private communal-agricultural cults with national cults.
The history of the spread of Islam in Syria
Islam began to spread in Syria at the beginning of the 7th century. Its appearance is associated with the development of monotheistic religions - Judaism and Christianity, as well as with the evolution of the religious consciousness of the people of Arabia. By the 7th century, there were many people in Syria who believed in one God, nevertheless did not classify themselves as Jews and Christians. Islam fit perfectly into the situation, becoming the very factor that united disparate tribes, "laid" an ideological basis for political, social and economic changes.
By the end of Muhammad’s life, an Islamic state was formed in which all secular and all religious power was in the hands of Muhammad. After the death of the prophet, a situation arose when the ruler should be a man who would hold in his hands both the religious and secular components, in other words, the deputy prophet on earth, the “Caliph”. A new form of state, the caliphate, is also emerging.
The first four caliphs, according to Arabic historiography, were called the righteous caliphs. All of them were associates of Muhammad. Only one of the caliphs - Abu Bakr - dies by his death, the rest were killed. Before his death, Abu Bakr appointed his successor Omar. It was under him that Syria, Iraq, Egypt and part of Libya came under the rule of the Caliphate. The Arabian Muslim state could already safely be called an empire.
The first task that the caliphate faced was leveling out old tribal cults and redirecting the energy of the Arab tribes from obsolete primitive traditions to a good cause. Conquering wars became such a thing. After some time, as a result of these wars, a small religious system grew into a world-wide civilization.
The entire territory of Syria almost without a fight lost ground. The population was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the forces of Omar did not touch the elderly and children, did not mutilate prisoners and did not rob local residents. Caliph Omar also gave the order not to touch the Christians and let the population choose their religion on their own. Syria has not yet been aware of such a gentle approach, and therefore the local population willingly converted to Islam.
The reasons for this willing change of faith can be described by remembering what religion in Syria dominated just before the arrival of Omar. Christianity, by then already quite widespread in Syria, was still incomprehensible to the people, who had only recently departed from tribal cults, Islam was an understandable, consistent monotheism, moreover, it respected the sacred values and personalities of Christianity (in the Qur'an there are Isa and Mariam - Christian Jesus and Mary).
Syria's modern religious palette
In modern Syria, Muslims make up more than 90% of the population (75% are Sunnis, the rest are Alawites, Shiites and Druze).
The Christian religion of Syria has 10% of its population (of which more than half are Syrian Orthodox, while the rest are Catholics, Orthodox and adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church).
The most significant national minority of Syria are the Kurds. The religion of the Kurds in Syria is extremely diverse: about 80% of all Kurds are Sunnis, there are also many Shiites and Alawites. In addition, there are Kurds professing Christianity and Judaism. Yezidism can be called the most extraordinary Kurdish religious movement.
Religious and political conflicts in the territory of modern Syria
Nowadays, the phenomenon of mass anti-Islamic psychosis is associated, to a large extent, with the propaganda of the terrorists of the Islamic State. On the Internet every day there is evidence of new "PR actions" of ISIS extremists, al-Qaeda and other transnational organizations based on the ideology of Islamic radicalism. This ideology represents a decisive interpretation of Islamic dogma in the context of the idealization of the early Islamic way of life and the political strategy based on it, aimed at creating a world-wide Caliphate, governed by Sharia law.
This ideologically justified alternative is precisely the theoretical basis of the war against the West and against their fellow citizens who profess Islam of a different kind, declared by the terrorists of the “Islamic State”. This terrorist group is in stiff opposition to the Assad government, which adheres to more moderate religious norms and cooperates with Western countries.
Thus, despite the fact that the true Islamic religion of Syria is now stained with blood, this blood lies on the conscience of terrorists, sponsors and accomplices of terrorism. The causes of these bloody conflicts lie in the field of politics and economics (in the territory of Muslim states there are oil and gas reserves, which are of strategic importance for the economy of Western countries), but not in the field of Islamic faith. Islamic dogma is the ideological lever of extremists, a means of manipulation for their own geopolitical and geoeconomic purposes.