Syria’s insurgent chief, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has dismissed the web controversy over movies displaying him gesturing to a younger lady to cowl her hair earlier than he posed for a photograph along with her final week.
The incident sparked criticism from each liberal and conservative commentators amid intense hypothesis concerning the county’s future path after rebels swept to energy.
Liberals noticed the request from the top of the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as an indication that he would possibly search to implement an Islamic system in Syria after main the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, whereas hardline conservatives criticised him for consenting to be photographed with the girl within the first place.
“I didn’t pressure her. But it surely’s my private freedom. I would like images taken for me the way in which that fits me,” Sharaa mentioned in an interview with the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen.
The girl, Lea Kheirallah, has additionally mentioned that she was not bothered by the request.
She mentioned he had requested in “light and fatherly approach”, and that she thought “the chief has the proper to be offered in the way in which he sees match”.
Nevertheless, the incident demonstrated a number of the difficulties any future chief of Syria might need in interesting to and uniting such a religiously numerous nation.
Sunni Muslims make up nearly all of the inhabitants, with the rest break up between Christians, Alawites, Druze and Ismailis.
There may be additionally a variety of views among the many numerous political and armed teams who have been against Assad, with some wanting a secular democracy and others wanting governance in accordance with Islamic regulation.
HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, initially imposed strict behaviour and gown codes guidelines when it seized management of the previous insurgent stronghold of Idlib province in 2017. Nevertheless, it revoked these guidelines lately in response to public criticism.
The Quran, Islam’s holy guide, tells Muslims – women and men – to decorate modestly.
Male modesty has been interpreted to be masking the world from the navel to the knee – and for girls it’s typically seen as masking every part besides their face, palms and ft when within the presence of males they aren’t associated or married to.
Lea Kheirallah requested to take a photograph with Sharaa – who was beforehand identified by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – when he toured the Mezzeh space of Damascus on 10 December.
Earlier than agreeing, Sharaa gestured for her to cowl her hair and he or she complied, elevating the hood on her jumper after which standing beside him for the photograph.
Many video clips and footage of the incident have been shared on social media, sparking widespread outrage amongst extraordinary customers and media commentators.
Folks with liberal or non-conservative views noticed it as a troubling glimpse into Syria’s potential future beneath HTS, fearing more and more conservative insurance policies just like the requirement for all ladies to put on a hijab, or scarf.
France 24’s Arabic channel mentioned the incident, with a headline asking if Syria was “heading in direction of Islamic rule”.
Others have been sharper of their condemnation. One Syrian journalist mentioned: “We changed one dictator with a reactionary dictator.”
On social media, different commentators warned of “ultra-extremists” ascending to energy, whereas others decried the “forcing of a free lady” to undertake a conservative look.
Islamist hardliners on Telegram criticised Sharaa for agreeing to be filmed and photographed subsequent to a younger lady within the first place.
Some known as Ms Kheirallah a “mutabarijah” – a unfavorable time period for girls thought of immodestly dressed or carrying make-up.
Such hardline figures ranged from clerics to influential commentators whose views are sometimes shared and skim by Syria-focused conservative communities on-line, and are prone to attain HTS supporters and presumably officers.
Most of them seem like based mostly in Syria, primarily within the former HTS-dominated insurgent stronghold of Idlib, with some having beforehand served in HTS ranks.
They argued that it was religiously impermissible for unrelated women and men to work together carefully and accused Sharaa of searching for “useless public consideration” and displaying “indulgence” in issues opposite to strict non secular teachings.
A submit on one Telegram channel known as Min Idlib (From Idlib) mentioned the HTS chief was “too busy taking selfies with younger women” to deal with calls for for releasing prisoners from HTS jails in Idlib.
Most of the conservative figures who spoke out in opposition to the photograph have criticised Sharaa up to now for political in addition to non secular causes, and embody clerics who’ve left HTS.
