group	Alawis علوية
founder
population	About 4 million
region1
pop1	About 3.5 million
region2
pop2	An estimated 100,000
region3
pop3	About 450,000 thousand
region4	Lebanon/Golan Heights
pop4	About 2000 live in Ghajar
region5
pop5	Alawites comprise 2% of Lebanese born people in Australia
rels	Shia Islam
scrips	Qur'an, Kitab al Majmu
langs	Arabic, Turkish}}

The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris (''‘Alawīyyah'' , '''' , and '')'' are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who are often described as a branch of Shia Islam.

Etymology

The Alawis take their name from cousin and son-in-law of , who was the first Shi'a Imam and the fourth and last "Rightly Guided Caliph" of Sunni Islam.

Until fairly recently Alawis were referred to as "Nusairis", named after Abu Shu'ayb Muhammad ibn Nusayr (d. ca 270 h, 863 AD) who is reported to have attended the circles of the last three Imams of the prophet Muhammad's line. This name is considered derogatory, and Alawis refer to themselves as Alawis. Nusairis have allegedly "generally preferred" to be called 'Alawis, because of its association with 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, rather than Abu Shu'ayb Muhammad Ibn Nusayr. In September 1920, French occupational forces instituted the policy of referring to them by the term "'Alawi".

In older sources they are often referred to as Ansaris, as this is how they referred to themselves, according to the Reverend Samuel Lyde, who lived among Alawis in the mid-19th century. Another source states that "Ansari", as referring to Alawites, is simply a Western mistransliteration of Nosairi.

Alawis are distinct from the Turkish-based ''Alevi'' religious sect, although the terms share similar etymologies.

History

The origin of the Alawis is disputed. The Alawis themselves trace their origins to the followers of the eleventh Imām, Hassan al-'Askarī (d. 873), and his pupil (d. 868).

The sect seems to have been organised by a follower of known as al-Khasibi, who died in Aleppo about 969. In 1032 Al-Khaṣībī's grandson and pupil al-Tabarani moved to Latakia, which was then controlled by the Byzantine Empire. Al-Tabarani became the perfector of the Alawi faith through his numerous writings. He and his pupils converted the rural population of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range and the plain of Cilicia to the Alawi faith. Samuel Lyde believed the population was of ancient Canaanite origins, but that parts had come from where the sect originated. Professor Felix von Luschan (1911), according to his conclusions from anthropometric measurements, makes the Druze, Maronites, and Alawites, together with the Armenians, Bektashis, ‘Ali-Ilahis, and Yezidis of Asia Minor and Persia, the modern representatives of the ancient Hittites.

Under the Ottoman Empire they were ill treated, and they resisted an attempt to convert them to Sunni Islam. They revolted against the Ottomans on several occasions, and maintained virtual autonomy in their mountains. T. E. Lawrence wrote of their isolationism: "The sect, vital in itself, was clannish in feeling and politics. One Nosairi would not betray another, and would hardly not betray an unbeliever." After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Syria and Lebanon came under a French mandate. The French, when they occupied Syria in 1920, recognized the term "Alawi", gave autonomy to them and other minority groups, and accepted them into their colonial troops. Under the mandate, many Alawi chieftains supported the notion of a separate Alawi nation and tried to convert their autonomy into independence. A territory of "Alaouites" was created in 1925. In May 1930, the Government of Latakia was created; it lasted until February 28, 1937, when it was incorporated into Syria.

In 1939 a portion of northwest Syria, the Sanjak of Alexandretta, now Hatay, that contained a large number of Alawis, was given to Turkey by the French following a plebiscite carried out in the province under the guidance of League of Nations which favored joining Turkey. However, this development greatly angered the Alawi community and Syrians in general. In 1938, the Turkish military had gone into Alexandretta and expelled most of its Arab and Armenian inhabitants. Before this, Alawi Arabs and Armenians were the majority of the province's population Zaki al-Arsuzi, the young Alawi leader from Iskandarun province in the Sanjak of Alexandretta, who led the resistance to the annexation of his province to the Turks, later became a founder of the Ba'ath Party along with the Eastern Orthodox Christian schoolteacher Michel Aflaq. After World War II, Salman Al Murshid played a major role in uniting the Alawi province with Syria. He was executed by the newly independent Syrian government in Damascus on December 12, 1946 only three days after a hasty political trial.

Syria became independent on April 17, 1946. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Syria endured a succession of military coups in 1949, the rise of the Ba'ath Party, and unification of the country with Egypt in the United Arab Republic in 1958. The UAR lasted for three years and broke apart in 1961, when a group of army officers seized power and declared Syria independent again. A further succession of coups ensued until a secretive military committee, which included a number of disgruntled Alawi officers, including Hafez al-Assad and Salah Jadid, helped the Ba'ath Party take power in 1963. In 1966, Alawi-oriented military officers successfully rebelled and expelled the old Ba'ath that had looked to the Christian Michel Aflaq and the Sunni Muslim Salah al-Din al-Bitar for leadership. They promoted Zaki al-Arsuzi as the "Socrates" of their reconstituted Ba'ath Party.

In 1970, then-Air Force General Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, took power and instigated a "Correctionist Movement" in the Ba'ath Party. His coming to power has been compared to "an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries."

In 1971 al-Assad became president of Syria, a function that the Constitution allows only a Sunni Muslim to hold. In 1973 a new constitution was published that omitted the old requirement that the religion of the state is Islam and replaced it with the statement that the religion of the republic's president is Islam. Protests erupted when the statement was altered, and to satisfy this requirement in 1974, Musa Sadr, a leader of the Twelvers of Lebanon and founder of the Amal Movement who had earlier sought to unite Lebanese Alawis and Shias under the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council without success, issued a fatwa stating that Alawis were a community of Twelver Shia Muslims. Under the dictatorial but secular Assad regime, religious minorities were tolerated, political dissent was not.

After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad maintained the outlines of his father's regime. Although the Alawis comprise the entirety of the top military and intelligence offices, government employees from lower bureaucratic ranks are largely from the majority Sunni Muslim faith, who represent about 74% of Syria's population. Today the Alawis exist as a minority, but are the most politically powerful sect in Syria and the only one with directly government control.

Beliefs

Alawis are self-described Shi'i Muslims, and have been called Shia by other sources including the highly influential Lebanese Shia cleric Musa al-Sadr of Lebanon. On the other hand, no sunni authority has ever categorized Alawites as Muslims. Ibn Kathir and other respected Sunni scholars historically categorized them as pagans in their religious works and documents. At least one source has compared them to Baha'is, Babis, Bektashis, Ahmadis, and "similar groups that have arisen within the Muslim community", and declared that "it has always been the consensus of the Muslim Ulama, both Sunni and Shi'i, that the Nusayri Alawi are kuffar unbelievers and mushrikun polytheists." On the other hand, the prominent Sunni Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, issued a fatwah recognizing them as part of the Muslim community in the wake of Arab nationalism.

The Alawite sect initially resisted encouragement to be categorized as Shi'ite Muslims. Alawites have had a mixed view of themselves propagated. Ali Sulayman al-Ahmad, chief judge of the Alawite state, replied “We are Alawi Muslims. Our book is the Quran. Our prophet is Muhammad. The Ka`ba is our qibla, and our religion is Islam.”

Heterodox

Many of the tenets of the faith are secret and known only to a select few Alawi. In the 19th century, however, an Alawite named Sulaiman al-Adni converted to Christianity and in 1863, compiled a book called ''Al-Bakurah as-Suliamaniya fi Kashf Asrar ad-Diyanah an-Nusairiyah'' (The First Fruits of Sulaiman in Revealing the Secrets of the Nusairi Religion). Orientalists like Louis Massignon gained access to a number of Nusairi manuscripts.

According to some sources, Alawis have integrated doctrines from other religions (Syncretism), in particular from Ismaili Islam and Christianity. According to scholar Cyril Glasse, it is thought that "as a small, historically beleaguered ethnic group", the Alawi "absorbed elements" from the different religions that influenced their area from Hellenistic times onward, while maintaining their own beliefs, and "pretended to adhere to the dominant religion of the age." Alawites are reported to celebrate certain Christian festivals, "in their own way", including Christmas, Easter, and Palm Sunday, and their religious ceremonies make use of bread and wine. According to Matti Moosa, a "leading scholar of the Nusayris",

The Christian elements in the Nusayri religion are unmistakable. They include the concept of trinity; the celebration of Christmas, the consecration of the Qurban, that is, the sacrament of the flesh and blood which Christ offered to his disciples, and, most important, the celebration of the Quddas (a lengthy prayer proclaiming the divine attributes of Ali and the personification of all the biblical patriarchs from Adam to Simon Peter, founder of the Church, who is seen, paradoxically, as the embodiment of true Islam).

Glasse writes that they also practice a religious feast called by the Persian name Naw Ruz. Alawis have much in common with the Ismailis in terms of overall beliefs, and they are sometimes regarded as "an offshoot of this group." According to scholar Umar F. Abd-Allah, who uses Sulaiman al-Adni's book along with other sources, the Alawis, like the Ismailis and related groups, believe that the Shariah has both an esoteric, allegorical (''Batini'') meaning and an exoteric, literal (''zahiri'') meaning and that only the hidden meaning is intended. Alawis believe the esoteric meaning is known only to the Imams and later to the Bab and was hidden even to the Islamic prophet Muhammad himself. Only the Bab has access to this esoteric meaning in the absence of the Imam.

Alawis believe in a "trinity" or "schema" of `Ain-Mim-Sin, which stands for `Ali, Muhammad, and Salman al-Farsi, the Persian Companion of Muhammad. Muhammad is known as ''ism'', or "name", Ali as ''bab'', or "door", and Salman al-Farsi as ''ma'na'', or "meaning", with both Muhammad and Ali considered to be emanations of Salman al-Farsi. According to Abd-Allah, each of these three is said to have been an incarnation of God. Ali, however, constitutes the most important part of this trinity. The Alawi testimony of faith is: `I have borne witness that there is no God but He, the most High, the object of worship and that there is no concealing veil (''hijab'') except the lord Muhammad, the object of praise, (as-Sayyid Muhmmad al-Mahmud), and there is not Bab except the lord Salman al-Farisi` The Nusairis believe in the subsequent incarnation of God in other persons after the passing of `Ali, Muhammad, and Salman al-Farisi...

Some sources have suggested that the non-Muslim nature of many of the historical Alawi beliefs notwithstanding, Alawi beliefs may have changed in recent decades. In the early 1970s a booklet entitled ''al-`Alawiyyun Shi'atu Ahl al-Bait'' (The Alawis are Followers of the Household of the Prophet), was issued in which doctrines of the Imami Shi'ah were described as 'Alawi, and which was "signed by of numerous `Alawi` men of religion". This book and Musa Sadr's proclamation have led one scholar to wonder whether "a mass conversion from Nusairism to Shi'ah Islam" has taken place. Another scholar suggests that factors such as the high profile of Alawi in Syria, the strong aversion of the Muslim majority to apostasy, and the relative lack of importance of religious doctrine to Alawi identity may have induced Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad and his successor son to press their fellow Alawi "to behave like 'regular Muslims', shedding or at least concealing their distinctive aspects."

Alawis have their own scholars, referred to as shaikhs, although more recently there has been a movement to bring Alawism and the other branches of Twelver Islam together through educational exchange programs in Syria and Qumm.

Distinct Alawi beliefs include the belief that prayers are not necessary, they don't fast, nor perform pilgrimage, nor have specific places of worship. Ultimately they reject the Five Pillars of Islam and mainstream religious practice. This is likely due to the Qur'an only being a secondary religious source from them. Their theology and methodology are primarily derived from the Alawi holy book, Kitab al Majmu which contains 16 distinct sections, called Surahs, after the Qur'an chapter names.

Population

Syria

Traditionally Alawis have lived in the Alawite Mountains along the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Latakia and Tartous are the region's principal cities. Today Alawis are also concentrated in the plains around Hama and Homs. Alawis also live in all major cities of Syria. They have been estimated to constitute about 10% of Syria's population (which would be in 2011 about 2 million people of about 23.1 million people in Syria).

There are four Alawi confederations — Kalbiyah, Khaiyatin, Haddadin, and Matawirah — each divided into tribes. Alawis are concentrated in the Latakia region of Syria, extending north to Antioch (Antakya), Turkey, and in and around Homs and Hama.

Before 1953 they held reserved seats in the Syrian Parliament, like all other religious communities. After that, including for the 1960 census, there were only general Muslim and Christian categories, without mention of subgroups in order to reduce "communalism" (''taïfiyya'').

Lebanon

There are an estimated 40.000 to 100,000 Alawis in Lebanon, where they are recognized as one of the 18 official Lebanese sects. Due to the efforts of their leader Ali Eid, the Taif Agreement of 1989 gave them two reserved seats in the Parliament. Lebanese Alawis live mostly in the Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood of Tripoli and Akkar, in 15 villages, and are mainly represented by the Arab Democratic Party.

Turkey

In order to avoid confusion with Alevis, they prefer the self-appellation ''Arap Alevileri'' ("Arab Alevis") in Turkish. The term ''Nusayrī'', which used to exist in (often polemical) theological texts is also revived in recent studies. In Çukurova, they are named as ''Fellah'' and ''Arabuşağı'', the latter considered highly offensive by Alawis, by the Sunni population. A quasi-official name used particularly in 1930s by Turkish authorities was ''Eti Türkleri'' ("Hittite Turks"), in order to conceal their Arab origins. Today, this term is almost obsolete but it is still used by some people of older generations as a euphemism.

The exact number of ‘Alawī in Turkey is unknown, but there were 185 000 Alawis in 1970 (this number suggest ca 400 000 in 2009). As Muslims, they are not recorded separately from Sunnis in ID registration. In the 1965 census (the last Turkish census where informants were asked their mother tongue), 180,000 people in the three provinces declared their mother tongue as Arabic. However, Arabic-speaking Sunni and Christian people are also included in this figure.

Alawis traditionally speak the same dialect of Levantine Arabic with Syrian Alawis. Arabic is best preserved in rural communities and Samandağ. Younger people in Çukurova cities and (to a lesser extent) in İskenderun tend to speak Turkish. Turkish spoken by ‘Alawī is distinguished by ‘Alawī and non-‘Alawī alike with its particular accents and vocabulary. Knowledge of Arabic alphabet is confined to religious leaders and men who had worked or studied in Arab countries.

‘Alawī show a considerable pattern of social mobility. Until 1960s, they used to work bound to Sunni aghas around Antakya and they were among the poorest folk in Çukurova. Today, ‘Alawī are prominent in economic sectors such as transportation and commerce. A large professional middle-class had also emerged.

In recent years, there has been a tendency of exogamy, particularly among males who had attended universities and/or had lived in other parts of Turkey. These marriages are highly tolerated but exogamy of women, as with other patrilineal groups, is usually disfavoured.

‘Alawī , like Alevis, mainly have strong leftist political preferences. However, some people in rural areas (usually members of notable ‘Alawī families) may be found supporting secularist conservative parties such as True Path Party. Most ‘Alawī s feel discriminated by the policies of Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı.

Golan Heights

There are also about 2000 Alawis living in the village of Ghajar, split between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

See also

Hamdanids

Mirdasids

Uqailids

References

;Notes

External links

بيان عقيدة العلويين

Category:Alawites Category:Arab groups Category:Esoteric schools of thought Category:Ethnoreligious groups Category:Fertile Crescent Category:Islamic mysticism Category:Shi'a Islamic sects Category:Twelvers Category:Ja'fari Category:Shi'a communities

ar:علويون (طائفة) ca:Secta dels alawites da:Alawisme de:Nusairier et:Alaviidid es:Alauismo eo:Alavitoj fa:علوی fr:Alaouites it:Alauiti he:עלאווים lt:Alavitai ms:Alawit nl:Alawieten ja:アラウィー派 no:Alawiter pl:Alawizm pt:Alauitas ro:Alawi ru:Алавиты sv:Nusayrier tr:Nusayriler uk:Алавіти

Mohammad Salman (born 7 August 1981, Karachi) is an international cricketer from Pakistan. He is a right handed batsman and a wicketkeeper.

International

Salman made his international debut (in all formats) verses West Indies in the only T20 played at Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on 21 April 2011. His first dismissal in international cricket was the stumping of Marlon Samuels of the bowling of Saeed Ajmal.

T20 Career

In his debut match on 21 April 2011 verses the West Indies, he took one catch (Darren Sammy) and initiated one stumping (Marlon Samuels).

References

Category:1981 births Category:Pakistani cricketers Category:People from Karachi Category:Living people

generation	Sahaba
color	#cef2e0
name	Salman the Persian(''Salman e Farsi'')
birth	568
death	644 (aged 78)
Acceptance of islam	1
Authenticity	Authentic among Shia and Sunni
Narrated from	Ali ibn Abi Talib
From him/her narrated	Sulaym ibn Qays }}

Salman the Persian or Salman al Farisi ( ''Salman e Farsi'', ''Salman al-Farisi'') was one of Muhammad's companions.

During some of his later meetings with the other ''Sahaba'', he was referred to as Abu Abdullah ("Father of Abdullah").

Biography

Birth place

Salman the Persian was born with the Persian name Rouzbeh, either in the city of Kazerun in Fars Province, or Isfahan in Isfahan Province, Iran.

Battle of the Trench

It was Salman who came up with the idea of digging a great trench around the city of Medina to defend the city and its people from the army of 10,000 non-Muslims of Arabia. Muhammad and his companions agreed and accepted Salman's plan because it was safer and there would be a better chance that the non-Muslim army of Arabia would have a larger number of casualties. Salman came up with the idea from remembering the same thing happening in Persia; when the Persians learned that their enemies planned to invade their territory, they dug a trench around them to be safe. The attack that the Muslims had expected, is known as the Battle of the Trench.

While some sources gather him with the ''Muhajirun'', other sources narrate that during the Battle of the Trench, one of ''Muhajirun'' stated "Salman is one of us, Muhajireen", but this was challenged by the Muslims of Medina known in Arabic as the ''Ansar''. A lively argument began between the two groups, each of them claiming that Salman belonged to their group, and not to the other group. Muhammad arrived on the scene, and heard the argument. He was amused by the claims, but he soon put an end to their arguments by saying: "Salman is neither Muhajir nor Ansar. He is one of us. He is one of the People of the House, ''ahl al-Bayt''."

Salman's Dream

A few days before his death, Salman said he was blessed with a dream, in which the deceased Muhammad, appeared to tell him that he would die on Friday in Ctesiphon.

Uthman's era

Salman the Persian died during the reign of the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan at the age of 78. He is thought to have been buried in Ctesiphon, Al-Mada'in in present-day Iraq. Though Ctesiphon has long been abandoned, the nearby town of Salman Pak is named after him. It is also claimed that his grave is in Lod (Lydda), Palestine/Israel, in the modern quarter of Ramat Eshkol.

A hadith

A measure of Salman's scriptual attainment can be gleaned by the following narrations. The second narration implies that Salman could also read Hebrew.

Works

He translated part of the Qur'an into Persian, thus becoming the first person to interpret the Qur'an into a foreign language.

Quotation

Shi'a view

Shias, Twelvers in particular, hold Salman in high esteem for a hadith attributed to him, in which all twelve Imāms were mentioned to him by name, from Muhammad. He is also mentioned in one hadith regarding the perfect Shia.

states:

Sufi view

Sufis refer to him often; in the Oveyssi-Shahmaghsoudi order and Naqshbandi order, Salman is the third person in the chain connecting devotees with Muhammad.

See also

Sulaym ibn Qays

List of non-Arab Sahaba

Sunni view of the Sahaba

References

External links

Sahaba.net: Salman al-Farisi

Biography of Salman al-Farisi (according to a Naqshbandi Sufi order)

Category:Sahaba favored by Shi'as Category:Male Sahaba Category:Year of birth missing Category:Qur'an translators Category:Converts to Islam Category:7th-century people Category:Iranian Muslims Category:Sassanid people Category:People from Kazerun

ar:سلمان الفارسي bn:সালমান আল ফারিসী de:Salman der Perser es:Salmán el Persa fa:سلمان فارسی fr:Salman le Perse id:Salman al-Farisi it:Salman al-Farsi he:סלמאן הפרסי pl:Salman al-Farisi pt:Salman, o Persa sk:Salmán al-Fárisí so:Salmaan Alfaarisi R.C. tt:Сәлмән әл-Фәриси tr:Selman-ı Farısi uk:Сальман аль-Фарісі ur:سلمان فارسی

The Persian is a major character from the Gaston Leroux novel ''The Phantom of the Opera''. In the book he is the one who tells most of the background of Erik's history. He is referred to by Erik as the "daroga", Persian for "police-chief", and his memoirs are featured in five chapters of the novel. He appears in the Susan Kay fan novel Phantom as a major character.

In the musical, his character and Madame Giry's are added together, as she shows Raoul where Erik lives, however, unlike the Persian, she does not accompany him to Erik's lair.

Biography

According to his account of himself in the novel, the Persian served as the chief of police (daroga) in the court of the Shah of Persia during the years that Erik was there. He refers to these times as "the rosy hours of Mazenderan". Being kindhearted, he helped Erik escape from Persia when the Shah-in-Shah ordered him executed, a trick that involved presenting a body washed up on the shore as Erik's. When news of the escape spread, the Shah-in-Shah punished the Persian by stripping him of his property and sending him into exile. He later traveled to Paris and took up living in a small, middle-class flat in the Rue de Rivoli, across the street from the Tuileries, on the modest pension he received from the Persian government. He became known as a fixture of the Opera, considered an eccentric Persian who was allowed to wander backstage where he pleased. He has a Persian servant whose name is Darius.

He is described in the novel as having an "ebony skin, with eyes of jade", and he wears a short astrakhan cap along with normal dress clothes. Leroux writes that he has "a noble and generous heart" and is very concerned for the fate of others.

Role in the Plot

The Persian first appears during Christine and Raoul's mad flight from the rooftops and warns them to go a different way. He next makes himself known after Christine's disappearance when he suddenly appears to Raoul and warns him, "ERIK'S SECRETS CONCERN NO ONE BUT HIMSELF!" Raoul ignores this warning by telling the commissary the whole story, but the Persian intercepts him and tells him that it is Erik, not Raoul's brother Philippe, who has carried off Christine. He leads Raoul through the passages of the Opera House to Christine's dressing room, where they go through the revolving door hidden in Christine's mirror and travel down through the passages under the Opera. Raoul is very confused as to the purpose of the long pistol the Persian has given him, as he is only instructed to keep his hand as if he were ready to fire - and that it does not even matter whether he is holding the weapon. The Persian eventually reveals that keeping the hand at the level of the eyes is a defense against the Punjab lasso. No matter how expert the thrower is, the lasso cannot be tightened around a neck with a hand blocking its path.

When they finally reach the back entrance to Erik's house, where Joseph Buquet was found hanged, they drop into what turns out to be Erik's torture-chamber. This chamber contains heat-reflecting mirrors that reach from floor to ceiling, with an iron tree in a corner, making its occupant feel like he or she is in an unending forest of trees made of iron. (Buquet had stumbled into this room and used a Punjab lasso hanging from a tree branch to kill himself.) The Persian finds a hidden exit that allows him and Raoul to drop into a still-lower room filled with gunpowder; unless Christine agrees to marry Erik, he will blow up the Opera House. She accepts this offer and water floods into the powder room, nearly drowning Raoul and the Persian.

The novel concludes some 30 years after these events, with the Persian - now old and sick, and still attended by Darius - telling how he and Raoul were saved from the flood by Erik, who allowed all three captives to go free.

Apocrypha

In Susan Kay's 1990 novel ''Phantom'', the Persian's name is given as Nadir Khan. Distantly related to the Shah, he is assigned the office of chief of police in Mazenderan, where the shah and his court spend the summers. He is a widower, his wife Rookheeya having died while giving birth to their son Reza. Out of love for the memory of Rookheeya, Nadir has never had any other wife and occasionally avails himself of servant women rather than get remarried. He is very fond of Reza, who bears a great resemblance to his mother and is dying of Tay-Sachs Disease. Nadir has a great dislike of cats, and they seem to know it. Unfortunately, the shah owns a number of favorite cats and Nadir considers himself lucky to get off with imperial displeasure and a deep scratch on the ankle when he accidentally steps on a cat's tail. In an earlier adapted novel by Theadora Bruns his name is Oded.

In Nicholas Meyer's novel ''The Canary Trainer'', the role of the Persian is largely taken by an incognito Sherlock Holmes.

Kim Newman's short stories "Angels of Music" and "The Mark of Kane" from the ''Tales of the Shadowmen'' anthology series are a parody of ''Charlie's Angels''. In the stories, Erik is the equivalent of Charlie and the Persian takes the role of Bosley.

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1909 Persian Persian, The

Name	Bashar al-Assad بشار الأسد
Office	President of Syria
Primeminister	Muhammad Mustafa MeroMuhammad Naji al-OtariAdel Safar
Vicepresident	Farouk al-SharaaNajah al-Attar
Term start	17 July 2000
Predecessor	Abdul Halim Khaddam (Acting)
Office2	Leader of the Ba'ath Party
Term start2	10 June 2000
Predecessor2	Hafez al-Assad
Birth date	September 11, 1965
Birth place	Damascus, Syria
Party	Ba'ath Party
Spouse	Asma al-Akhras
Alma mater	Damascus University
Profession	Ophthalmologist
Religion	Alawi
Website	The President }}

Bashar al-Assad (, ''''; born 11 September 1965) is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death. Al-Assad was elected in 2000 and 2007, but was unopposed each time.

Early life, education and career

Bashar al-Assad was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965, the son of Aniseh (née Makhluf) and Hafez al-Assad. Initially Bashar had few political aspirations. His father had been grooming Bashar's older brother, Basil al-Assad, as a future president. Bashar studied ophthalmology at Damascus University 1988 and arrived in London in 1992 to continue his studies. He was recalled in 1994 to join the Syrian army after Basil's death in an automobile accident. Bashar entered the military academy at Homs, north of Damascus, following the death of Basil, and was propelled through the ranks to become a colonel in January 1999. The accident made Bashar his father's new heir-apparent.

When the elder Assad died in 2000, Bashar was appointed leader of the Baath-Party and the Army and was elected president unopposed with what the regime claimed to be a massive popular support (97.2% of the votes), after the Majlis Al Sha'ab (Parliament) swiftly voted to lower the minimum age for candidates from 40 to 34 (Assad's age when he was elected). On 27 May 2007 Bashar was approved as president for another seven-year term, with the official result of 97.6% of the votes in a referendum without another candidate.

Assad stands about 189 cm (6 ft 2 in). He speaks English fluently and also speaks casual conversational French, having studied at the Franco-Arab al-Hurriyah school in Damascus, before going on to medical school at the University of Damascus Faculty of Medicine. He completed his ophthalmology residency training in Tishreen Military Hospital of Damascus and subsequently went on to receive sub-specialty training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital in London. (He did not finish his formal training, due to the unexpected death of his brother.) Bashar was a staff colonel in the Syrian military.

In December 2000, Assad married Asma Assad, née Akhras, a Syrian from Acton (west London) whom he met in the United Kingdom, where she was born and raised. On 3 December 2001, they became the parents of their first-born child, named Hafez after his late grandfather. Zein was born on 5 November 2003, and Karim on 16 December 2004.

Presidency

In his domestic policy, he has been criticized for a disregard for human rights, economic lapses, and corruption. In his foreign policy, Al-Assad is an outspoken critic of the United States and Israel. The Ba'ath Party remains in control of the parliament, and is constitutionally the "leading party" of the state. Until he became president, Bashar al-Assad was not greatly involved in politics; his only public role was head of the Syrian Computer Society, which introduced the Internet to Syria in 2001. Al-Assad was confirmed as president by an unopposed referendum in 2000. He was expected to take a more liberal approach than his father. In an interview he stated that he saw democracy in Syria as 'a tool to a better life' but then argued that it would take time for democracy to come about and that it could not be rushed. Politically and economically, Syrian life has changed only slightly since 2000. Immediately after he took office a reform movement made cautious advances during the Damascus Spring, which led al-Assad to shut down Mezzeh prison and release hundreds of political prisoners. However, security crackdowns commenced again within the year.

Economy

Economic liberalization in Syria has been limited, with industry still heavily state-controlled. However some changes have occurred including the introduction of private banking and the encouragement of foreign involvement, most notably in the oil sector. The need for a diversification of the economy has been pressed for by some as it has been predicted that Syria will change from exporting to having to import oil by 2015. The reliance upon oil is reflected by manufacturing exports representing only 3.1 percent of Syria’s GDP. These issues are especially relevant as Syria’s population is predicted to more than double to over 34 million by 2050. There have been mild economic sanctions (the Syria Accountability Act) applied by the United States which further complicate the situation. Of major importance are the negotiations for a free trade association agreement with the European Union.

Human rights

A 2007 law required internet cafes to record all the comments users post on chat forums. Websites such as Wikipedia Arabic, YouTube and Facebook were blocked intermittently between 2008 and February 2011.

Human Rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have detailed how Bashar's regime and secret police routinely torture, imprison, and kill political opponents, and those who speak out against the regime.

Since 2006 it expanded the use of travel bans against dissidents, a practice that is illegal under international law. In that regard, Syria is the worst offender among Arab states.

In an interview with ABC News in 2007 he stated: "We don't have such [things as] political prisoners," yet the ''New York Times'' reported the arrest of 30 political prisoners in Syria in December 2007.

''Foreign Policy'' magazine analyzed his position in the wake of the 2011 protests:

Foreign relations

Assad's first official foreign trip was to meet Jacques Chirac in France, who had warm relations with him. The Middle Eastern Quarterly noted that "As in the case of Iraq, there are lingering questions of Syrian payments to French politicians. Many French politicians join associations and charitable boards both for financial and political gain. The board of the L'Association d'Amitié France-Syrie (France-Syria Friendship Association) boasts among its members former prime minister Raymond Barre, former secretary of state Claude Cheysson, and 2007 presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy".

The United States, European Union, the March 14 Alliance, Israel, and France accuse Assad of logistically supporting militant groups aimed at Israel and any opposing member to his government. These include most political parties other than Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. According to MEMRI, Assad claimed the United States could benefit from the Syrian experience in fighting organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood at the Hama Massacre.

Assad opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite a long-standing animosity between the Syrian and Iraqi governments. Assad used Syria's seat in one of rotating positions on the United Nations Security Council to try to prevent the invasion of Iraq. Following the Iraq invasion by coalition forces, Assad was accused of supporting the Iraqi insurgency. A US general accused him of providing funding, logistics, and training to Iraqi and foreign Muslims to launch attacks against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.

The February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the accusation of Syrian involvement and support for anti-Israeli groups, helped precipitate a crisis in relations with the United States. Assad was criticized for Syria's presence in Lebanon which ended in 2005, and the US put Syria under sanctions partly because of this. At Pope John Paul II's funeral in 2005, Assad shook hands with the Israeli president Moshe Katsav.

In the Arab world, Assad mended relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization but relations with many Arab states, in particular Saudi Arabia, have been deteriorating. This is in part due to Assad's continued intervention in Lebanon and his alliance with Iran. Around the time of the 2008 South Ossetia war, Assad made an official visit to Russia. In an interview with the Russian TV channel Vesti, he asserted that one cannot separate the events in the Caucasus from the US presence in Iraq, which he condemned as a direct threat to [Syria's] security."

After the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, many media outlets accused Syria of being involved. as Hariri was anti-Syrian. However, Assad argued that Syria's gradual withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, beginning in 2000, was precipitated as a result of the event and ended on may 2005.

In 2011, Assad told the Wall Street Journal that he considered himself "anti-Israel" and "anti-West", and that because of these policies he was not in danger of being overthrown.

Involvement in Lebanon

Despite gaining re-election in 2007, al-Assad’s position was considered by some to have been weakened by the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon following the "Cedar Revolution" in 2005. There has also been pressure from the US concerning claims that Syria is linked to terrorist networks, exacerbated by Syrian condemnation of the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah military leader, in Damascus in 2008. Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majeed stated that, "Syria, which condemns this cowardly terrorist act, expresses condolences to the martyr family and to the Lebanese people.”

Arab-Israeli conflict

In a speech about the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict in August 2006, Bashar al-Assad said that Hezbollah had "hoisted the banner of victory," hailing its actions as a "successful resistance." He claimed that Arab resistance was growing stronger, and warned Israel that "your warplanes, rockets, and your atomic bomb will not protect you in the future." He called Israel an enemy with whom no peace could be achieved as long as they and their allies (especially the U.S.) support the practice of preemptive war. In the same speech, he also called Arab leaders that have criticized Hezbollah "half-men."

In April 2008, Assad told a Qatari newspaper that Syria and Israel had been discussing a peace treaty for a year, with Turkey as a go-between. This was confirmed in May 2008, by a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. As well as a peace treaty, the future of the Golan Heights is being discussed. Assad was quoted in ''The Guardian'' as telling the Qatari paper: :''. . . there would be no direct negotiations with Israel until a new US president takes office. The US was the only party qualified to sponsor any direct talks, [Assad] told the paper, but added that the Bush administration "does not have the vision or will for the peace process. It does not have anything."''

According to leaked American cables, Bashar al Assad called Hamas an "uninvited guest" and said "If you want me to be effective and active, I have to have a relationship with all parties. Hamas is Muslim Brotherhood, but we have to deal with the reality of their presence.", comparing Hamas to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood which was crushed by his father Hafez al Assad. He then claimed Hamas would disappear if peace was brought to the Middle East.

Assad has indicated that the peace treaty that he envisions would not be the same kind of peace treaty Israel has with Egypt where there is a legal border crossing and open trade. In a 2006 interview with Charlie Rose, Assad said “There is a big difference between talking about a peace treaty and peace. A peace treaty is like a permanent ceasefire. There’s no war, maybe you have an embassy, but you actually won’t have trade, you won’t have normal relations because people will not be sympathetic to this relation as long as they are sympathetic with the Palestinians: half a million who live in Syria and half a million in Lebanon and another few millions in other Arab countries.”

During the visit of Pope John Paul II to Syria in 2001, Bashar al-Assad requested an apology to Muslims for the medieval Crusades and criticized Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Comparing their suffering to that believed to have been endured by Jesus Christ in Palestine, Assad claimed that the Jews "tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad." Responding to claims that his comment was antisemitic, Assad said that whereas Judaism is a racially heterogeneous religion, the Syrian people are the core of the Semitic race and therefore are opposed to the term ''antisemitism''. When offered to retract his comment implying that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' suffering, Assad replied, "As always, these are historical facts that we cannot deny," and stressed that his remarks were not anti-Jewish. On the other hand, in February 2011 Bashar backed an initiative to restore 10 synagogues in Syria, which had a Jewish community numbering 30,000 in 1947 but has only 200 Jews today.

2011 uprising

Protests in Syria started on 26 January and were influenced by other protests in the region. Protesters have been calling for political reforms and the reinstatement of civil rights, as well as an end to the state of emergency which has been in place since 1963. One attempt at a "day of rage" was set for 4–5 February, though it ended up uneventful. Protests on 18–19 March were the largest to take place in Syria for decades and Syrian authorities have responded with violence against its protesting citizens.

On 18 May 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an Executive order putting into effect sanctions against Bashar Assad in an effort to pressure his regime "to end its use of violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system that protects the rights of the Syrian people." The sanctions effectively freeze any of the Syrian President's assets either in the United States proper or within U.S. jurisdiction. On May 23, 2011 EU Foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add Mr Assad and nine other officials to a list affected by travel bans and asset freezes. On May 24, 2011 Canada imposed sanctions on Syrian leaders, one of which is Assad.

On 20 June 2011, in a speech lasting nearly an hour, in response to the demands of protesters and foreign pressure, al-Assad promised a "national dialogue" involving movement toward reform, new parliamentary elections, and greater freedoms. He also urged refugees to return home from Turkey, while assuring them amnesty and blaming all unrest on a small number of "saboteurs".

In August 2011, Syrian security forces attacked the country's best-known political cartoonist, Ali Farzat, a noted critic of Syria's government and its five-month crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators and dissent. Relatives of the severely beaten humorist told Western media the attackers threatened to break Farzat's bones as a warning for him to stop drawing cartoons of government officials, particularly Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Ferzat, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday, was hospitalized with fractures in both hands and blunt force trauma to the head.

See also

List of state leaders

Cabinet of Syria

Assad family

References

Further reading

''Bashar Al-Assad (Major World Leaders)'' by Susan Muaddi Darraj, (June 2005, Chelsea House Publications) ISBN 0-7910-8262-8 for young adults

''Syria Under Bashar Al-Asad: Modernisation and the Limits of Change'' by Volker Perthes, (2004, Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-856750-2 (''Adelphi Papers'' #366)

''Bashar's First Year: From Ophthalmology to a National Vision (Research Memorandum)'' by Yossi Baidatz, (2001, Washington Institute for Near East Policy) ISBN B0006RVLNM

''Syria: Revolution From Above'' by Raymond Hinnebusch (Routledge; 1st edition, August 2002) ISBN 0-415-28568-2

''Bashar al-Assad and John F. Kennedy,'' Forward Magazine (Syria) ''Assad: We too were not very happy with Annapolis,'' Forward Magazine (Syria)

''Seven years of Bashar al-Assad’s rule 2000-2007,'' Forward Magazine (Syria)

External links

Official website

*Biography, decrees, speeches, interviews, press releases

*Transcript of 2010 conversation

Profile at the LookLex Encyclopedia

Unofficial website

Unofficial website with CV, Speeches, Pictures and Mideast Just Peace

;Articles

Syria’s Proxy Forces in Iraq, Al-Hayat (London), 12 April 2003 at Middle East Intelligence Bulletin

Profile: Syria's Bashar al-Assad ''BBC News'', 10 March 2005

Bashar al-Assad's Lebanon Gamble, William Harris, ''Middle East Quarterly'', Summer 2005

Assad on the Brink, David Hirst, ''The Nation'', 21 November 2005

Syria's Leaders, Esther Pan, Council on Foreign Relations, 10 March 2006

Connecting the dots in Lebanon, Omar Raad, Ya Libnan Volunteer, 2 December 2006

The Assad Dynasty in Syria: From Father to Son, Kristin Helberg, ''Deutsche Welle'', 2009 at ''qantara.de''

Interview With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ''The Wall Street Journal'', 31 January 2011

Profile: Bashar al-Assad, ''Al Jazeera English'', 25 March 2011

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Category:1965 births Category:Arab nationalist heads of state Category:Arab politicians Category:Assad family Category:Ba'ath Party (Syria) politicians Category:Current national leaders Category:Living people Category:Ophthalmologists Category:People from Damascus Category:People of the 2011 Syrian protests Category:Presidents of Syria Category:Syrian Alawites Category:Damascus University alumni

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