Emir Abdelkader: a source of inspiration for harmonious interfaith coexistence in Syria
“If Muslims and Christians had wanted to pay attention to me, I would have put an end to their quarrels; they would have become, externally and internally, brothers.”
Abd el-Kader
The Syrian people have not finished counting their dead and missing, families continue to look for theirs in the numerous prisons of the former regime and millions of Syrians displaced internally or refugees outside are awaiting the meeting the conditions for their return.
Meanwhile, Western capitals and the mainstream media have continued to express their concern for the fate of minorities in Syria since the fall of Bashar Al Assad.
The risk of reprisals against minorities who were exploited by the old regime is not an illusion. The risk of an appropriation of power by radical Islamists tempted to establish a theocratic regime also exists.
But this risk is not inevitable in Syria. The leaders of the rebellion that brought down the dictatorial regime of Bashar Al Assad are committed to promoting the reconstruction of Syria on an inclusive basis open to all components of the Syrian people.
No one is obliged to take the words of the new leaders at their word. But UN representatives noted positive and reassuring signs in this direction.
The hope of an inclusive transition
The hope for an inclusive political transition is real. Both the pressures coming from the Syrian people who want to turn the page on past suffering and the diplomatic pressures from international and regional powers are moving in this direction and that is so much the better.
In this collective effort to drive out the demons of vengeance and discord, Syrians will be called upon to mobilize all their historical and symbolic resources which constitute factors of peace and civil harmony.
Islam which teaches that “there is no constraint in religion” (surah Al Baqqara, verse 256) has experienced numerous attempts at monopolization and distortion throughout its centuries-old history, most often dictated by unacknowledged social and political motives.
But the teachings of Islam have also been used by reform movements which have always existed to confront injustice and tyranny.
In their struggle for a peaceful and inclusive political transition with a view to leading to the adoption of a new Constitution which guarantees harmonious interfaith coexistence on the basis of respect for the fundamental rights of all citizens, Syrians will have to remember the actions heroes of all the righteous who have bequeathed to new Muslim generations a heritage full of courage and nobility.
The gesture full of nobility of Emir Abdelkader
Among the historic stations which remain like a beacon in the night and which deserve to be summoned once again to illuminate the path leading towards a reconciled and united Syria, we can only remember the experience of Emir Abdelkader.
Echoing the concerns that are growing among confessional minorities in Syria following the fall of the Baathist regime which exploited these minorities for more than fifty years, the site close to Maronite circles, Lebanon News did not hesitate to recall the eminent role played by Emir Abdelkader in the rescue of several thousand Christians in Damascus in 1860: “Already in the 19th century, Syrian minorities had faced massive persecution. In 1860-1861, a bloody conflict broke out between the Druze and the Christians in Mount Lebanon and Damascus. This violence led to the humanitarian intervention of France, under Napoleon III, who sent a military expedition to protect Maronite Christians. In Damascus, the famous Algerian emir Abdelkader, refugee in Syria after his fight against the French, had played a key role in protecting thousands of Christians threatened by the rioters. His courageous action, hailed by Christians and Muslims, remains a strong symbol of religious coexistence in a region often marked by sectarian tensions. » (Lebanon News, 9/12/2024)
A few years ago, the Catholic daily The Cross returned to this epic tale of Emir Abdelkader under the title: “The Muslim friend of Christians”:
“ In Lebanon, the Druses, practicing a religion derived from Islam, begin to massacre the Maronites, their Christian neighbors. The movement quickly reached Syria and notably Damascus between July 9 and 17, 1860. Abd el-Kader intervened by force to protect the Christian families who had come to take refuge in large numbers in the Algerian neighborhood. He saved nearly 1,500 from certain death, while several thousand others died.
The noble attitude of the Emir during the massacres in Damascus is praised in France. Napoleon III awarded him the grand cordon of the Legion of Honor, which he wore with pride until his death in Damascus in 1883. » (La Croix, 11/21/2016)
In the new Syria which is searching for itself and at a time when foreign powers are on the lookout for the slightest slippage, when they are not going to provoke it within the framework of underground operations of which they have the secret, to intervene and try to influence the course of events in the direction of their strategic interests, the gesture of Emir Abdelkader will constitute a source of inspiration for a policy of salutary tolerance which will have the double merit of preventing foreign interference and promoting coexistence harmonious interfaith.
