بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم إعلان تشكيل تجمع أهل العلم في الشام الحمد لله الحافظ لدين الإسلام بعلمائه، وجاعلهم ورثة رسله وأنبيائه، القائـل: (وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَكْتُمُونَهُ ) والقائـل: ( وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنـكَرِ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُـمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ). والصلاة والسلام الأدومان الأطيبان علي سيدنا رسول الله القائل: “العلماء ورثة الأنبياء” والقائل: “لتأمرن بالمعروف ولتنهون عن المنكر أو ليسلطن الله عليكم شراركم فيدعو خياركم فلا يستجاب لكم”. أما بعد: فإنه مانعمت الأمة الإسلامية بشيء نعمتها بالوحدة والائتلاف، و ما أصيبت الأمة بشيء مصابها بالفرقة والاختلاف. ولقد حدا بنا حادي الخوف والإشفاق لحال ساحتنا، تلك الحال التي لا تسر صديقا ولا تغيظ عدوا بحكم التفرق الحاصل على نحو يدق ناقوس الخطر ويقرع طبول الحذر من عواقب تنتظر من غير إنكـار للدور الكريم لكثير من الصادقين والمخلصين في كافة المناشط والأصعدة قال تعالى: (ولا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءَهُمْ) والواجب الشرعي يحتم على أهل العلم وبخاصة في هذه المرحلة العصيبة وما يعترينا من التفرق والتشرذم وتكالب الأعداء أن يأخذ أهل العلم زمام المبادرة، قياما بدورهم المحوري المنوط بهم مستصحبين زخم المطالبات داخليا وخارجيـا، مستحضرين مناشدات الجنود والفعاليات والسواد الأعظم بضرورة توحيد العمل الشرعي ولا يتحقق ذلك إلا باجتماع أهل العلم وطلبته المؤثرين العاملين في الداخل السوري كونهم الأجدر علما بالواقع وبصرا بمواطن الداء وطرائق العلاج والدواء. وقـد من الله تعالى على ثلة ميمونة من أهـل العلم فقرروا الاجتماع تحت مظلة مباركـة هي : “تجمع أهل العلم في الشام” لتشكيل مرجعية شرعية تبين الموقف من كبرى الأحداث على مستوى الساحة وإصدار الفتاوى في النوازل والقضايـا العامة، وتوجيه دفة الساحة بما يحقق وحدة الصف و مزيداً من الاعتصام، وسيكون من أولويات هذا التجمع إنشاء محكمة عليا مستقلة لفض النزاعات بين الفصائل والنظر في ادعاءات الفصائل بعضها على بعض على وفق أحكام شريعتنا الغراء. وندعو جميع الفصائل والكيانات للاستجابة لنداء التجمع وقبول المحكمة العليا من جميع مكونات الساحة لبيان الحقوق وفض النزاعات، والتجمع مفتوح لحملة العلم ليعينوا إخوانهم على هذه المسؤولية

الجليلة ، والله ولي التوفيق. المؤسسون ( أعضاء الأمانة العامة ) : – الشيخ أبو عبد الرحمن عبد الرزاق المهدي – الشيخ أبو الحارث المصري – الشيخ أبو مارية ميسر بن علي القحطاني – الدكتور أبو محمد عبد الله المحيسني – الدكتور أبو عبد الرحمن مظهر الويس – الشيخ أبو تيم عباس شريفة – الدكتور أبو محمد أيمن هاروش – الشيخ أبو محمد الصادق – الشيخ أبو أيوب المصري شريف هزاع – الشيخ أبو اسلام الحموي عبد الناصر العلوان – الدكتور أبو النور احمد محمد نجيب – الشيخ أبو الصادق موفق الحموي

Tajammu Ahlil Ilm fi Al-Sham

تجمع أهل العلم في الشام

An assemblage of twelve scholars, who joined together on 10 Shawwal 1437 / 15 July 2016 Thursday under the name “Assembly of the People of Knowledge in Levant”, calling themselves the members of the general trust (a’dau al-amanah al-ammah). Their motive is to support the unity and cohesion of the opposition factions –the mujahidin in Syria– and to establish a supreme court that looks to their matters of disagreement. This unity was preceded by the convention Mubadarat Ahl al-Ilm fi Al-Sham in 1437, that included many scholars of this unity, and the Shura Council of the People of Knowledge in the Levant (مجلس شورى أهل العلم في الشام) in 1436 that comprised 28 scholars, among them Sh. Abu Basir at-Tartusi, Abu Bakr Alloush, Ayman Haroush, Abduljalil Zayduddin and Abul Abbas Al-Shami.

As it can be recognised from the photograph above, not all members are situated in Syria. Nine are included in the photo, Sh. Abu Mariyah al-Qahtani does not appear as he avoids cameras for security reasons –there is no picture of him– , and the remaining two; Sh. Ayman Haroush (?) and Sh. Abbas Sharifah are based in Istanbul.

Below are comprehensive information on the twelve members of the assemblage.

Abu Abdurrahman Abdurrazzaq Al-Mahdi

أبو عبد الرحمن عبد الزراق المهدي

He originates from Damascus’s Al-Salihiyah district and was born in 1961.

His pursuit of Islamic Sciences started in 1977 in the Al-Fathu’l Islami institution in Damascus, studying under the great scholars of the city, most famous among them Abdur Razzaq al-Halabi, the mufti of Hanafis and one who collected mutawatir recitations. He read to him the whole Koran in the narration of Hafs and received a license (ijāzah) reaching to the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He also studied under Sheikh Adīb al-Kallās and many other scholars.

The sheikh has a great love for Hadith Sciences and distinguishing them between sahih (authentic) and da’if (weak) since he commenced seeking knowledge. He studied hadith books and terminologies and has read the classical books along the works of later and contemporary scholars. His most eminent teacher is Sheikh Abdul Qader Arnaout, the eminent hadith scholar of Levant. He studied under him Qawaid at-Tahdith by al-Qasimi. Frequenting him, he would sit and benefit from him. Sheikh Al-Arnaout would praise him, and his sons are said to have a good relationship with him and recommend people to benefit from him.

When Al-Mahdi graduated from the Islamic Shar’i College, he started working in the revision of religious books (tahqīq). He was appointed as an imam and preacher for several mosques in Damascus and its rural areas. The authoritarian vigilance of the Syrian Regime had coerced him to pause preaching and studying activities more than once due to security reasons.

For a short period of time Al-Mahdi had left Syria for Tunisia, were he continued his preaching and teaching activities. After the outbreak of the revolution in Syria, he returned to his country to assist his people in their uprising. He responds to the question of fighters and ordinary civilians, delivers sermons of advice and incitement to the mujahidin and provides Sharia lessons. The sheikh has intermittently hosted a visual program answering questions concerning Islamic rulings called “Fatawa min ardi al-Sham“. Later this activity was carried on in a public Telegram group.

Since his rearrival in Syria, Sh. Abdur Razzaq al-Mahdi followed an approach of non-alignment, conducting his activities independently and not joining any faction. He participated in independent Islamic councils and courts nonetheless, and served as a judge in the Army of Conquest. The sheikh was also involved in the establishment of the Council for the Liberation of Al-Sham (Tahrir al-Sham), that followed long negotiations for unity and was a promising merger of a great range of Islamic factions. His stay in the entity did not last long though, as he was the first scholar to leave the body on 8 March 2017, stating that he was not able to prevent injustices from happening, which came in reference to the fight between Tahrir al-Sham and Liwa al-Aqsa, the remnants of an extreme trend among the ranks of the disbanded Jund al-Aqsa faction. Sh. Abdur Razzaq did not join any new faction thenceforth and continues his work independently, thus being respected by almost all factions and enabling him to act as a negotiator between them.

Activities of Sh. Abdul Razzaq al-Mahdi in revising books concentrate on the subject of Hadith, particularly the fields of Takhrij (researching variants of the hadiths), Tashih (authentifying hadiths) and Taḍyif (classifying to be “weak”). Below is a list of his works.

Tafsir

Tafsiru’l Korani’l Azim by Ibn Kathir, 5 volumes

Tafsiru’l Qurtubi, al-Jami’ li’l-Ahkami’l Koran, 10 volumes

Tafsiru’sh Shawkani, Fathu’l Qadir; 5 volumes

Ahkamu’l Koran by Ibn al-Arabi; 4 volumes

Tafsiru’l Baghawi; 5 volumes

Tafsiru’l Kashaf by Zamahshari; 5 volumes, including an Appendix

al-Bahru’l Muhit by Abu Hayyan; 8 volumes

at-Tashīl by Ibn Juzayy; 2 volumes

Adwau’l Bayan by al Shanqiti

Fathul Bayan by Sadiq Hasan Khan

Islamic sciences

at-Tamhid by Ibn Abdilbarr

Fathul Qadir by Ibn Humām; 5 volumes [Hanafi Fiqh]

al-Lubāb; 3 volumes [Hanafi Fiqh]

al-Uddah Sharhul ‘Umdah

ar-Rawdul Murabba’

Bidāyatul Mujtahid by Ibn Rushd (Averroes)

al-I’tisam by al-Shātibi

Fathul Majid

Sharia by Ajuri

Tarikhul Madina by Ibn an-Najjar

Zadul Ma’ad by Ibn Qayyim

Talbisu Iblis by Ibn Jawzi

Mukthasar Zadul Ma’ād and Mukhtasar as-Sīrah by Muhammad ibn Abdulwahhab

Miscellaneous

Kitabu’l Adhkar by an-Nawawī

ar-Rihlatu fi talabil hadith by al-Khatīb al-Baghdadi

al-Khatim by al-Bayhaqī with an introduction

Muwatta; 4 volumes revision with a lengthy and detailed takhrij of the hadiths, especially those concerning balaaghah, mursal ones and mawqufhadiths considered marfu’ along with a beneficent commentary. It has not been printed later.

Telegram: https://t.me/abdarrazaqm2018

Abu Harith Al-Misri

أبو حارث المصري أسامة القاسم

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Assumed to be in his late fifties or early sixties, his real name is Usamah ِِAl-Qasim and he served as a mufti in the Egyptian Jihad Organization. Being a prominent member therein, he was involved in the assassination of Anwar as-Sadat and was consequentially sentenced to 50 years of prison, of which he served 26 years. He had no pledge of allegiance to Al Qaeda, but approved of its activities, albeit criticising the timing of some operations, saying that a start before adequate preparations is wrong.

When he came out in August 2007 he preliminary did not engage in public. After Muhammad al-Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood became president, he entered the stage of politics under the Nur Party, though not much actively. When Mursi was ousted in 2013, he talked in support of him and vehemently criticised his protesting enemies. Short time after he moved to Syria and engaged in dawah and jurisprudence activities. Eventually becoming a member of Jabhat al-Nusra’s Shar’i Council. He is assumed to be very close to Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani and defended him following the critique of Sh. Ayman al-Zawahiri to the group in an audio message in November 2017. He has not allowed taking photos of him for a long time citing security reasons, until appearing for the first time on camera in March 2016.

Abu Mariya Muyassar b. Ali Al-Qahtani

أبو مارية مُيسَّر بن علي القحطاني

Born in Mossul, Iraq, Abu Mariyah has studied Islamic knowledge from local scholars. In the course of his life he participated in the jihad against the American intervention under Al Qaeda. After moving to Syria, he served as the general shari responsible in the Al-Nusra Front for some time, until being replaced due to some disagreements. He was part of Tahrir al-Sham during its foundation and belongs to the organisation.

Sheikh Abu Mariyah has appeared for the first time on media in the second episode of Daimeh 2. Responding to questions, he tells of his pursuit of knowledge starting with Sh. Faris Falih Al-Mawsalli, who is from the scholars of Mosul and considered a mujthaid of Imam Ahmad’s school there. Sh. Abu Mariyah studied under him the “Umda” and “Kaafi” of Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdisi and “Mithlul Waqaat“. He also studied under him the summary of Bukhari and Muslim, the biography of the prophet with the book of Mubarakfuri. A further scholar he lists is Abu Hanin Al-Mawsalli, also known as Sheikh Fahim, who, he says, had a great impact on him as he inculcated him with the teachings of decency and manner. He stayed two years with him and studied under Sh. Abu Hanin many topics of Fiqh and Usul Al-Fiqh and also some matters concerning Hadith. His third scholar from Mossul is Sh. Abu Abdullah Al-Mayahi, under whom he studied the Koran and its ten recitations. He took from him the principles of Imam Ahmad’s school in addition to his studies with Sh. Faris Falih. He also studied Compared Fiqh under the sheikh, who was a profound seeker of knowledge. Abu Mariyah further explains that Sh. Al-Mayahi effectively warned them against extremism and contributed to his character development.

Besides the scholars of Mossul, he had contact with the scholars of Syria, among them Sh. Abdur Razzaq Al-Mahdi, of whom he received an ijaza. He further lists Sh. Abu Al-Fadl, Sh. Omar al-Haddoushi, whom he considers his teacher, and Sh. Sharif Al-Kattani. Abu Mariyah moves on to explain that there were scholars he met in prison and benefited from, among them Sh. Sabah Al-Badrani, under whom he studied some chapters of “Al-Muhalla” by Ibn al-Hazm, and Sheikh Azzam Abu al-Muadh, of whom he took lessons on Hadith and Fiqh.

Dr. Abu Muhammad Abdullah Al-Muhaysini

د. أبو محمد عبدالله المحيسني

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He was born in the city of Buraidah, al-Qasim, to a known religious family, whose roots reach to the Shammar tribe of Najd. Attending elementary school here, he continued secondary school and college in Mecca, studying in the Meccan Haram Academy (مَعهَد الحَرَم المكي) at the sacred mosque. At the age of 15 he completed the memorisation of Koran. Then he started learning hadith under Sheikh Yahya b. Abdulaziz al-Yahya, memorising the summary of the Nine Books (al-kutub at-tis’ah) in four years.

In the same period he studied classic hadith books like Taysir Al-Allam, Sharhu Umdatu’l Ahkam, Subul As-Salam and Al-Bayquniyyah in addition to Alfiyyatu Ibn Malik on Arabic and Kitab At-Tawhid on Tawhid. There he studied under scholars like the Pakistani muhaddith Abdulwakil Al-Hashimi. Subsequently he graduated from the University of Umm al-Qura in the field of Islamic Jurisprudence. Afterwards he travelled to Mauritania, where he stayed for a short time, studying ander Sheikh Muhammad Ad-Dedew, Sh. Muhammad As-Shinqiti and Sh ِِAl-Addous. Back in Arabia, he studied at the hands of Sh. Abdulaziz At-Tarifi, Sh. Abdulkarim Al-Khudayi and Sh. Ibn Jibrin in addition to Sh. Abdulaziz Ar-Rajihi, Sh. Sulayman Al-Majid, Sh. Khalid Al-Muslih and Sh. Hussam As-Sudayr. He also studied under Sh. Al-Uthaymin and Sh. Dahsh for a while. Additionally he studied Al-Mughni and Rawda under Sh. Khalid Al-Mu’jil. He studied Aqidah under Sh. Al-Ghunayman and Tawhid under Sh. Al-Barrak.

Later he enrolled in the Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, studying the Supreme Institute for Judiciary and obtaining a master’s degree. There he also studied Aqidah under Sh. Sulayman Al-Ulwan, who is most influential to Sheikh Al-Muhaysini. Then he returned to the University of Umm al-Qura in Mecca to work on his doctoral dissertation of Comparative Fiqh around the rule of war refugees according to Islam, which took him two and half years including two years of methodological training.

Muhaysini is married and has children. His father Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Mohaisany is a known Koran reciter and has served as the imam and preacher of a local mosque in Mecca. He has at least once been arrested by government authorities for his public prayers.

Abdullah Al-Muhaysini arrived in Syria in 2013 after his uncle Omar Al-Muhaysini had previously been martyred there fighting the Assad regime. In an interview with IZRS he stated that his intention when departing towards Syria had been to resolve the internal conflicts between the mujahidin.

Despite restrictions from authorities including a travel ban, Sh. Al-Muhaysini managed to clandestinely enter Syria. Since his arrival, he actively served as a preacher and judge, delivering sermons in local mosques, issuing religious verdicts and counselling Islamic groups. He participated in the establishment of religious schools and founded the Jihad Callers’ Center (مَركَز دُعاة الجِهاد). In addition he has appeared on the front lines many times, inciting the mujahidin and raising their morale. During the conquest of Idlib in 2015, he served as the official judge of the Army of Conquest for Idlib City. Working independently Sh. Muhaysini has good ties to a great range of Islamic factions in Syria, which enables him to intervene in conflicts and negotiate resolutions. He was one of the founding scholars and vehement supporters of the promising merger Tahrir al-Sham, but left the entity on 11th September 2017 in the midst of clashes with Ahrar al-Sham and subsequent to the leak of audio recordings in which the group’s Idlib commander asked permission to arrest the sheikh who discouraged the fighters from fighting fellow Muslims. He continues his activities independently thenceforth.

Telegram: https://t.me/mmmhesne1

English Telegram: https://t.me/Muhaysinieng

Dr. Abu Abdurrahman Mazhar Al-Ways

د. أبو عبد الرحمن مظهر الويس

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Mazhar al-Ways, titled Abu Abdurrahman Al-Shami, is a Syrian scholar. He is an ex-detainee of Saydnaya Prison. His main point of interest is the research of matters relating the foundation of belief (aqidah).

He was born in 1980 in the town of Al-Ashara, in Deir ez-Zor Governorate into a practising family. After finishing secondary school he studied medicine in Damascus University. Then he joined an institute for Fiqh According To The Four Schools in Damascus. Despite being detained by the government, he continued acquiring knowledge from the scholars in prison and even memorised the Qur’an through audition. When he was transferred to the Deir ez-Zour Central Prison, he obtained the possibility to smuggle video tapes containing lessons into the prison.

He served as the head of the Shar’i Council of the Factions in the East of Syria. Later he became a shar’i in Jabhat Fath al-Sham (prev. Al-Nusra Front) and continued on this position through out the transition to the Tahrir al-Sham merger.

Works:

Distinctive Signs in Disclosing the Religion of the Renegadesالعلامات الفارقة في كشف دين المارقة : A book comparing the Islamic State Organisation with former Kharijite groups At-Tuhfatu’s Saydnawiyyah التحفة الصيدناوية [شرح صوتي] Warning the Free Follower from Judging the Free Syrian Army (to be) Disbelievers Tahdhiru’l Muttabi’ al-Hurr min Takfiri’l Jayshi’l Hurr تحذير المتبع الحر من تكفير الجيش الحر

Abu Taym Abbas Sharifah

عباس شريفة أبو تيم

He studied Islamic Fiqh in the Sharia Department of Damascus University. Currently living in Istanbul, he is politically active and writes on political matters from an Islamic point of view. He has many articles published, comprising nine in Aljazeera, along with a couple of books.

He is critical of Tahrir al-Sham and its leading figure Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/abbas_sharifeh

Works

Towards an organisational understanding that unites the ummah and surpasses the threshold of partisanship نحو فقه حركي يجمع الأمة ويتجاوز العتبة الحزبية Principles of Political Fiqh from the Prophetic Biography قواعد في الفقه السياسي الرشيد من السيرة النبوية

Dr. Abu Muhammad Ayman Harush

د. أبو محمد أيمن هاروش

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Born in 1977 in the town of Jaranaz of the region Ma’arat an-Numan, he obtained a doctorate in Usul al-Fiqh from the Department of Sharia and Law in Sudan. Being a hafiz of Koran and of the ten reading styles, he worked as an imam-khatib in his local town. He also served as a lecturer in the University of Aleppo and as an imam of the Imam Faris Mosque in Umm Khanan. In addition he has some fictional writings and poems. He was a member of the Majlis al-Imna and served as a member in the Shar’i Council of Ahrar al-Sham. He had been hosting a program called Fiqhu Al-Thwra in the Al-Safa Channel.

Telegram: https://t.me/haroush

Abu Muhammad As-Sadiq

أبو محمد الصادق

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Born in the village of Javiq (Çevik), Sheikh Nidal Hasan is from the Kurds of Afrin. Raised in Huraytan, rural North Aleppo, he graduated from the Engineering Academy in Aleppo and afterwards joined the Sharia Department, which he absolved in 1995. Before, he had studied in a Shariah Institute in Lebanon. While studying for a master in Damascus he was detained by the regime. After his release he worked in the madrasahs of Rural Aleppo and joined a secret organisation against the regime, where he is said to have served as a representative of Abu Musab az-Zarqawi. In 2005 he was detained by the regime for a second time, along with 18 people from the leader cadre of the organisation, other members following them in 2006. They stayed in the prison of Saydnaya until 2011 and some of them are still in Adra Prison or the Hama Political Prison.

During the first years of the Syrian Revolution he lead an education centre called “As-Siraj al-Munir”, which is still persisting. Then he was assigned to the Shar’i Council of Aleppo as he was not aligned to any faction. He has also served as the head of the Shurah Council of the Shar’is Forum (مجلس شورى ملتقى الشرعيين). After Sh. Abu Abdulmalik was martyred in the notorious explosion of September 2014, he was appointed the General Shar’i of the movement, until being replaced with Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Najib Abu an-Nur in November 2015 along with the partition of this office. He was part of Jaysh al-Ahrar brigade that formed its separate entity apart from Ahrar al-Sham in January 2016, until it remerged some time later. Eventually Sh. As-Sadiq abandoned all allegiances and works independently thenceforth.

He has close relations to Abu Salih Tahhan, the former head of Ahrar al-Sham’s military wing who later diverged from the group founding the splinter faction Jaysh al-Ahrar, and Abu Khuzaymah the former commander of Ahrar al-Sham in the Latakia region. Sh. As-Sadiq is assumed to be close to Al-Qaeda in his ideas. He voiced against the Turkish Euphrates Shield operation that intended to establish a safe-zone in the north by pushing away IS, a stance that was opposed by other scholars of the movement.

Twitter: @AbuMohamadSa

Abu Ayyub Al-Misri Sharif Hazza’

أبو أيوب المصري شريف هزاع

Muhammad Fuad Hasan as-Sayyid Hazza’. Born in Shibin El Kom, Mounifah Governorate, Egypt on 13th June 1957. From his youth on and during his university life he was adherent to the religion. He joined the Pharmacy Department but left it for the Business Department, which he subsequently abandoned too, leaving the country for Arabia, where he obtained a degree in Islamic Sciences from the Islamic University of Medina in 1985, his main point of interest being Hadith. During his fourth year of university in Arabia, he married and had a daughter, Sumayyah. Later he travelled to Jordan to continue his hadith studies under Sh. Al-Albani. During his stay in Jordan he occupied himself with revising hadith books. He has also revised some books of Sh. Ibn Taymiyyah, like al-Fatawa al-Mahmudiyyah al-Kubra and Al-Furqan bayna Awliya’ur Rahman wa Awliya’ush Shaytan and some books of Al-Shawkani like At-Tuhaf fi Madhahib as-Salaf. He has also written some fiqh books himself, like Al-Udhru bi’l Jahl. He served as an imam for a great local mosque there before returning. After his wife gave birth to their third child Muadh, after the second one, Bilal on 20 October 1987, they travelled to Pakistan together and he obtained a master degree in Hadith Sciences in Pashawar. He was simultaneously leading dawah activities there in the Institue for the Organisation of Tawhid and Jihad. After less than one year they left Pakistan for Egypt, than to the Emirates and from there to Indonesia, where Abu Ayyub started teaching Islamic Sciences in institutions. Towards the end of 1998 he decided to return to Egypt and resettle there.

Back in Egypt, he was unjustly arrested in 1999 under emergency law[1] within the context of “Those Who Arrived From Albania” and sentenced to seven years of prison in the Tora Prison, also known as the Scorpion Prison (sijn al-aqrab). He was released in 2007 but suffers from various illnesses. In September 2012 he travelled to Syria to serve as a preacher for the uprising. He used to teach in local Syrian mosques and preach to the Mujahidin in the barracks around Aleppo. He worked in the front “Fath al-Sham” (ambivalent) that he left in 2016. Currently he is close to the factions of Tahrir Suriya.

Upon questions in an interview with “Muhit”, Sh. Sarif Hazza’ called himself a Salafi-Jihadi. In response to the question whether he supported Muhammad al-Mursi, he expressed his support for him on the way of obtaining the authority (tamkin) to establish the Sharia and that he judges him on the evident as long as there does not appear anything in contradiction to his words.

The nickname “Abu Ayyub al-Misri” was given by his friends for his great love of the companion Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. In 2006 he was mistaken as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the deputy of the successor of Az-Zarqawi, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, as they share the same title, although he was in prison then.

Twitter: @Sherifhazzaa

Dr. Abu An-Nur Ahmad Muhammad Najib

د. أبو النور أحمد محمد نجيب

Having a doctorate in Islamic Sharia Sh. Ahmad Najib served as the head of the Shar’i Council in Aleppo. In November 2015 he was appointed as the head of Ahrar al-Sham’s Judicial Council, being the first to occupy this position, as the office was newly established following the partition of the Shar’i Council headed by Sh. Abu Muhammad As-Sadiq into two parts, the Office for Dawah and Irshad (maktabu’d da’wati wa’l irshad) and the Judicial Council (al-hayatu’l qadaiyyah).[2] He is critical of Al Qaeda and said to be close to the Muslim Brotherhood in his views.

He is critical of Tahrir al-Sham and its leading figure Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani.

Twitter: @Dr_ahmad_Najeeb

Abu As-Sadiq Muwaffaq Al-Hamawi

أبو الصادق موَفَّق الحموي

Also known as Abu Ibrahim. He is the head of Ahrar al-Sham’s Council for Dawah and Irshad since 7th May 2016, succeeding Abu Jabir Hashim ash-Sheikh. He had served as the head of the Shar’i Council of Hama before. On 15th July 2016 his car was targeted by a failed explosive attack when returning from a gathering along with Abu Islam al-Hamawi. With the foundation of the Tahrir Suriya Front through the merger of the Ahrar al-Sham and Nuraddin Az-Zinki movements, Sh. Muwaffaq al-Hamawi was appointed as the General Shar’i of the new entity.

Twitter: @muwaffaksadek

Abu Islam al-Hamawi Abudnnasir al-Alwan

أبو إسلام الحموي عبدالناصر العلوان

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Born in Hama in 1976, he grew up in the city and joined a Shar’i Preparation Institue following primary school. After Islamic secondary school he enrolled in the Al-Fathu’l Islami Institute in Damascus and studied there for six years. In Damascus he studied at the hands of Sh. Mustafa Al-H…, Sh. Adib Al-Kallas and Sh. Nuraddin Itr. He served as a member in Ahrar al-Sham’s Council for Dawah and Irshad and is predominantly occupied with preaching.

Sources

The information were mostly taken from Arabic websites. As there is not much information available on these personalities, the reliability of information is not perfectly assured. Withal most information included are objective and may be trusted. The parts of Sh. Al-Muhaysini and Sh. Al-Mahdi were adopted from previous researches with some modifications. See: https://noblesofsham.wordpress.com

I’lan Tashkil Tajammu’ Ahl al-Ilm fi al-Sham, YouTube (Assembly Scholars), 14.07.2016, 4:46 Duration https://youtu.be/OeFOi4KK09g الإعلان عن تأسيس “تجمُّع أهل العلم في الشام”, ad-Durar al-Shamiyyah 07.2017 https://eldorar.com/node/100459 Rajab, Ali, «أبو الحارث المصري».. مفتي الجهاد يقود القاعدة في سوريا), Bawwabatu Fitu, 10.09.2017 https://eldorar.com/node/83384 http://www.aman-dostor.org/2513 http://www.vetogate.com/2989452 http://midan.aljazeera.net/reality/politics/2017/2/23/%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%85 http://islamspedia.com/%D9%85%D8%B8%D9%87%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%B3 Twitter @dr_shamee Facebook https://www.facebook.com/%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B8%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%B3-370973349722358/ http://blogs.aljazeera.net/zxctyu930poi528awq https://www.facebook.com/abas.abotim/ https://syriandreeeams.wordpress.com/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A1/ Almuhajirun, “If you do not do so, there will be fitnah on earth and great corruption” 18.09.2016https://jihadology.net/category/individuals/ideologues/shaykh-dr-ayman-harush/ https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/04/al-qaeda-linked-cleric-leads-new-recruiting-campaign-for-jihadists-in-syria.php https://justpaste.it/sadeq http://www.almodon.com/arabworld/2015/11/20/%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%B9%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A https://eldorar.com/node/59829 https://www.masress.com/moheet/475413 https://www.maghress.com/oujdia/3009 https://www.enabbaladi.net/archives/164078 https://www.enabbaladi.net/archives/91889 https://www.enabbaladi.net/archives/52835 http://madardaily.com/2015/11/22/%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%A6%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4/ http://alakhbar.spiru.la/node/291051 http://www.almodon.com/arabworld/2016/12/12/%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AE%D9%84-%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84

Further Reading

The Syrian Islamic Council, 2014. Thomas Pierret, Carnegie Middle East Center

The Struggle for Religious Authority in Syria, 2014. Thomas Pierret, Carnegie Middle East Center

[1] The emergency law in Egypt was imposed following the assassination of Anwar Sadat and extended every three years until the revolution in 2011.

[2] https://www.enabbaladi.net/archives/52835