Al-Ahbash Explained

Association of Islamic Charitable Projects
Native Name:Arabic: جمعية المشاريع الخيرية الإسلامية
Leader:Shaykh Hussam Qaraqira
Religion:Sunni neo-traditionalism (Ash'ari, Rifaʽi, Sufi)
Foundation:1930s
1983
Ideology:Pragmatism
Religious pluralism
Anti-Salafi
National:March 8 Alliance
Headquarters:Various
Seats1 Title:Parliament of Lebanon
Website:

Al-Ahbash (Arabic: الأحباش,, English: "The Ethiopians"), also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (Arabic: جمعية المشاريع الخيرية الإسلامية,, AICP)[1] is a neo-traditionalist Sufi religious movement and, in Lebanon, political party, which was founded in the mid-1980s.[2] The group follow the teachings of Ethiopian scholar Abdullah al-Harari. Due to the group's origins and activity in Lebanon, the Ahbash have been described as the "activist expression of Lebanese Sufism."[3]

The Ahbash have been noted for their ardent criticism of conservative strains of Islam, including the Salafi movement and Wahhabism.[4] The movement has been described as one of the "most controversial Muslim associations" among modern Islamic groups[3] and, within Sunni Islam, opponents of the Ahbash have frequently referred to the movement as unorthodox and deviant.[5]

History

The AICP was founded in the 1930s by Ahmad al-Ajuz[6] and arrived in Lebanon in the 1950s, where "they blended Sunni and Shi'a theology with Sufi spiritualism into a doctrinal eclecticism that preached nonviolence and political quietism."[7] The AICP remained without a leader until the 1980s when Abdullah al-Harari became the nominal head of the organization[8] and was taken over by Al-Ahbash in 1983.[3]

Al-Ahbash was founded in the suburb of Bourj Abu Haidar, in West Beirut, as a small philanthropic and spiritualist movement among the Sunni lower classes.[3] From there they spread throughout Lebanon to Tripoli, Akkar and Iqlim al-Kharrub in the Chouf, where they founded educational and religious institutions.[9] Beginning in the 1990s, Ahbash propelled from a minority group to the largest Sunni religious organization in Lebanon, mainly due to Syrian government backing[10] —having close links to Syrian intelligence.[11] The Syrians supported and promoted the Ahbash in order to limit the influence of radical and fundamentalist Sunni movements in Lebanon.[12] [13] [14] Their growth was also aided by the forcible seizure and control of many prominent mosques in West Beirut in the early 1980s, despite the protests of Dar al-Fatwa (the official body for Lebanon's Sunni Muslims).[12] [13] At the end of the 1990s there were close to 250,000 Ahbash members worldwide, according to a high-ranking Ahbash activist.[1]

Several public figures became Ahbash members when it emerged in France beginning in 1991, such as rapper Kery James or Abd Samad Moussaoui.[15]

On 31 August 1995, members of a Salafi jihadi group called "Osbat al-Ansar" killed the leader of Al-Ahbash, Sheikh Nizar Halabi,[16] [3] [17] who was reportedly being groomed by the Syrians to become Lebanon's Grand Mufti.[13] His murder led to a heavy-handed Syrian response—concluding with the gruesome public execution of his assassins in 1997.[18]

It has been compared to the Turkish Gülen movement.[19]

Religious beliefs

Al-Ahbash beliefs are an interpretation of Islam combining elements of Sunni Islam and Shia Islam with Sufi spiritualism. Al-Ahbash follows the Shafi school and Ash'ari theology, their Sufi aspect is derived from the Rifa'i brotherhood.[10] The group rejects Islamist figures such as Ibn Taymiyyah, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Sayyid Qutb. It advocates Islamic pluralism, and opposition to political activism (its slogan is "the resounding voice of moderation").[3] It also promotes its beliefs internationally through a major internet presence and regional offices, notably in the United States.[20]

In Canada and the United States, the Al-Ahbash pray using the South-east direction in contrast to the majority of the Muslims in the region who pray facing the North-east direction in their mosques.[21] [22] [23]

Doctrinal aspects

Syncreticism

Shaykh Habashi's syncretic teachings draw upon different branches of Islamic theology, and thereby elude unambiguous classification. In an address to his followers, Shaykh Habashi stated that "[w]e are Ash'aris and Shafi'is. The Ash'ariyya is the basis of our belief, and the Shfi'iyya is our daily code."[1] According to Thomas Pierret, Ahbash's ideology "can be termed 'neo-traditionalist', in that it aims to preserve the Islamic heritage of the Ottoman era - which they consider themselves to be the inheritors."[20]

Shaykh Habashi in his books and lectures blends[24] [25] [26] [27] [28] elements of Sunni and Shi'a theological doctrines with Sufi spiritualism by supporting the legitimacy of Imam Ali and his descendants while condemning Mu'awiyya, the caliph and governor of Damascus, and his son Yazid as "seditious" thus adopting Shi'ite tradition whereas setting apart from all other Sunni jurists.[3] [6] [8] [29] [30] Although not explicitly stated, Sufism plays also an important role in al-Ahbash's doctrine as demonstrated by the practice of several Sufi traditions such as the pilgrimage to holy men's tombs (Ziyarat), mystical dancing sessions, use of musical bands in religious ceremonies[31] and the support of three Sufi Tariqas.[3] The contention that it is a primarily Sufi movement,[3] however, has been disputed.[1]

Moderation

Mustafa Kabla and Haggai Erlich identify "moderation" (wasatiyyah) as the key word in al-Ahbash's "necessary science of religion"[3] and instance the group's twelve-goal platform whose second item calls for "[p]reaching moderation [...] and good behavior as ways of implementing religious principles, while combating extremism and zeal."[1] This position is also reflected in the groups's decided opposition to the Salafist movement and Islamist thinkers, namely Sayyid Qutb, Muhammed ibn 'Abd-al-Wahhab, and Ibn Taymiyyah.[1] [3]

Rejection of anthropomorphism

One further critical cleavage is al-Ahbash's strict rejection of any form of anthropomorphism of God of which they accuse Wahhabis.[1] Consequently, Shaykh Habashi holds that "it does not befit God to speak like that, and his word is not a voice or letters"[32] and that therefore, the Qur'an contains the word of God but could be written only after "Gabriel listened to His word, understood it, and passed it on to the prophets and the angels."[1] [27] This is a highly controversial point of view within Islam which is not fully compatible with the consensus of Sunnis, and Wahhabis accuse Ahbash of doubt regarding the origin of the Qur'an.[1] Another famous example regards the interpretations of the Qur'anic sentence describing God seated on his throne after creating the world. According to Wahhabi texts, this means that he literally sat on his throne; however, according to Shaykh Habashi, copying the Mu'tazila school of thought, it meant that he took control of the world.[33] [34]

Separation of religion and state

The arguably most important split, however, is the question of the relation between religion, politics, and the state. Departing from most Islamic writings on this topic, al-Ahbash advocates a separation of religion and state and thereby rejects the idea of an Islamic state. Al-Fakhani, an AICP representative said "Most of our states are Islamic and Muslims wish the presence of an Islamic state, but the regional and international conditions do not allow it."[35] Consequently, the group repeatedly emphasized the need for Muslim-Christian co-existence and tolerance towards other religious groups in Lebanon.[1]

Takfir

The tolerant stance in Al-Ahbash's public rhetoric is doubted by some Muslim groups, orthodox Sunni in particular. They accuse the group of an excessive use of Takfir – the act of declaring another Muslim an unbeliever – and thereby of the provocation of inner-Islamic tensions.[20] [36] [37] Al-Ahbash has mainly used takfir against Wahhabi and Salafi leaders.[38] [39] According to Tariq Ramadan, Al-Ahbash "adherents carry on a permanent double discourse: to Western questioners, they claim to support the emancipation of women and laicism to oppose the "fundamentalists" (all the issues they know are sensitive and useful for getting them recognized). However, within Muslim communities, they carry on an extremely intransigent and closed discourse, usually treating most of the principal Muslim ulama as kuffar by which they mean "unbeliever,' "impious people"). They base their teachings on interpretations recognized as deviant by all other schools of thought and all other scholars of note (for example, their singular understanding of the meaning of the name of God, or their assertion that the Qur'anic Text was interpreted by the angel Gabriel, or the practice of praying to the dead). Their approach on very specific points of doctrine (such as those we have referred to) is hostile and usually violent."[40]

Political positions

As a political party, when al-Ahbash ran for the 1992 Lebanese parliamentary elections, this constituency enabled its candidate, Adnan Trabulsi, to win a seat in a Beirut district after the Ahbash and Hezbollah concluded an undeclared alliance in Beirut that assured the election of their respective candidates.[3] However, Trabulsi lost in the subsequent 1996 elections.[41] In 2018, Trabulsi was again elected to serve on the Lebanese Parliament.

The Ahbash are also allied to the Amal Movement, a Shia party,[3] and Mustaqbal.[42]

Controversy

The group are seen as being controversial within Islam for its anti-Salafi religious stance, as their Sufi and other beliefs are seen as heretical.[3] [20] [43] As a result, they are commonly described by Wahhabis as combining "Sufi polytheism, shirk, with Shi'i covert anti-Sunna tactics".[44] They are also viewed by other Muslims groups as being favoured by the governments of the United States, Europe, Ethiopia, and Australia, who "do indeed welcome the Ahbash activities among their Muslim citizens."[45] They have been described as a sect by various commentators,[40] [43] [46] [47] while others see them as a valid religious movement.[6] [8] The AICP runs a network of Islamic schools in affiliation with Al-Azhar according to Kabha and Erlich[44] although a range of scholars from the latter institution, including previous Presidents and Ali Gomaa, the former Grand Mufti of Egypt, have described the Al-Ahbash movement as deviant and unorthodox in their edicts or Fatwas (an official statement or order from an Islamic religious leader),[48] [49] and members of the movement were arrested "attempting to spread their beliefs on the campuses of Al-Azhar University" under the Egyptian penal code.

Australia

In 2011, the Australian National Imams Council accused the Muslim Community Radio Incorporated as being associated with Al-Ahbash, which they described as a fringe cult organisation and violent, and made public announcement for government officials not to renew its broadcasting license.[50] However, the Australian Communications and Media Authority granted a 5-year license in 2011, which drew criticism from Islamic groups.[51] In 2006, the Imam of Lakemba Mosque in Sydney, Taj El-Din Hilaly, threatened to back out of the Howard government's, Muslim Community Reference Group because of the inclusion of Dr. Mustapha Kara-Ali, who was affiliated with Al-Ahbash.[52] [53]

Egypt

In 2003, Ali Gomaa, the former Grand Mufti of Egypt, issued a fatwa describing the Ahbash as "deviant" that sought to "corrupt the Muslim creed and incite sedition amongst the Muslim Ummah. Moreover, they are paid agents to the enemies of Islam." In 2007, Egypt also arrested 22 men for seeking to spread the Ahbash faith in the country.[54]

Ethiopia

In 2012, Muslim protesters in Addis Ababa accused the Ethiopian government of Meles Zenawi of promoting Al-Ahbash among the Muslim population of the country.[4]

Jordan

During the 1990s fighting broke out between the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Ahbash in what became known as the "war of the mosques". The fighting was started due to the brotherhood believing that Jordan's Ministry of Religious Endowments were giving precedence to Al-Ahbash members being allowed to teach in mosques from which they themselves were banned.[55]

Lebanon

Due to its strong historical links with the Syrian government of the al-Assad family, the Ahbash have often been in conflict with the Lebanese supporters of the anti-Syrian Hariri family and in 2005 at least two of its members were initially implicated—jailed and later released—in the Assassination of Rafic Hariri.[56] The Ahbash also strongly opposed and demonstrated against the Cedar Revolution that was triggered by Hariri's assassination.[57] [58] Ahbash reportedly remains neutral in the Syrian Civil War, despite pressure from both sides.[59]

In 2010, Ahbash and Hezbollah members were involved in a street battle which was perceived to be over parking issues. Both groups later met to form a joint compensation fund for the victims of the conflict.[60] However, despite this instance of violence, the Ahbash have "normal" and "friendly" relations with Hezbollah. The Ahbash have also engaged in bloody clashes in Sidon and Tripoli, in the 1990s, against the rival Sunni Al-Jama'ah Al-Islamiyah.[3]

Saudi Arabia

Former grand mufti of Saudi Arabia Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz declared Ahbash a "deviant faction".[61]

Ukraine

Roman Silantiev states that the mufti of Ukraine, Ahmad Tamim, a Lebanese citizen, has been accused of belonging to the "sinister sect" of Ahbash by his opponents, however, his opponents find it difficult to define the heresy of Ahbash. Ahmad Tamim's opponent mufti Said Ismaigilov allegedly has links to groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.[62]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Kabha. Mustafa. Erlich, Haggai. 55520804. Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 38. 4. 519–538. Cambridge University Press. United States. 2006. 10.1017/s0020743806412459. 4129146 . 0020-7438.
  2. Book: Seddon, David. A political and economic dictionary of the Middle East. 2004. Routledge. 978-1857432121. 1st. 22.
  3. Hamzeh. A. Nizar . Dekmejian, R. Hrair. A Sufi Response to Political Islamism: Al-Ahbash of Lebanon. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 28. 217–229. American University of Beirut. Beirut. 1996. 10.1017/S0020743800063145. 154765577 . 10 April 2009.
  4. News: Maasho. Aaron. Ethiopian Muslims protest government 'interference'. https://web.archive.org/web/20120513231828/http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE84A00W20120511. dead. 13 May 2012. Reuters Africa. 11 May 2012.
  5. Abbink . Jon . Religious freedom and the political order: the Ethiopian 'secular state' and the containment of Muslim identity politics . Journal of Eastern African Studies . 3 July 2014 . 8 . 3 . 346–365 . 10.1080/17531055.2014.917855 . 33389563 . 1753-1055. 1887/27585 . free .
  6. Book: Rubin, Barry. Guide to Islamist Movements. limited. 2009. M.E. Sharpe. 978-0765617477. 322.
  7. Book: Gambill, Gary C.. Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisi. 2009. Palgrave Macmillan. 978-0230605879. Barry M. Rubin.
  8. Book: Rougier, Bernard. Everyday jihad: the rise of militant Islam among Palestinians in Lebanon. 2007. Harvard University Press. 978-0674025295. 113. registration.
  9. Book: Sfei, Antoine. The Columbia world dictionary of Islamism. 2008. Columbia University Press. 978-0231146401. Olivier Roy. 26.
  10. Pierret. Thomas. Al-Ahbash. Basic Reference. 28. 217–229. Edinburgh Academics. Scotland, UK. 2010. 10.1017/S0020743800063145. 154765577 . 27 April 2012.
  11. Web site: Raphaël Lefèvre. The Roots of Crisis in Northern Lebanon. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 28 October 2014. 8. April 2014.
  12. Book: Dietrich Jung. Jung. Dietrich. The Middle East and Palestine: Global Politics and Regional Conflict. limited. 18 September 2004. Palgrave Macmillan. 9781403982124. 156.
  13. Gary C. Gambill. Islamist Groups in Lebanon. Middle East Review of International Affairs. December 2007. 11. 4. 44. 12 April 2015. 9 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160309212919/http://www.rubincenter.org/meria/2007/12/Gambill.pdf. dead.
  14. Book: Nicholas Blanford. Killing Mr Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East. 25 August 2006. I.B.Tauris. 9780857714053. 177.
  15. Book: Amghar . Boubekeur . Emerson. Samir . Amel . Emerson. European Islam: The Challenges for Society and Public Policy. 2007. Centre for European Policy Studies. 978-9290797104. 29.
  16. Middle East International No 508, 8 September 1995, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; G.H.Jansen pp.13-14
  17. Book: Rubin, Barry M.. Chronologies of Modern Terrorism. limited. 2008. M.E. Sharpe. 978-0765620477. 265.
  18. Gary C. Gambill. Islamist Groups in Lebanon. Middle East Review of International Affairs. December 2007. 11. 4. 46. 12 April 2015. 9 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160309212919/http://www.rubincenter.org/meria/2007/12/Gambill.pdf. dead.
  19. Web site: Mukerrem . Miftah . Turkey and Ethiopia at Crossroads: Ahbashism and Gulenism . Insamer . 2018-07-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180704093256/http://insamer.com/tr/turkey-and-ethiopia-at-crossroads-ahbashism-and-gulenism_383.html . 2018-07-04 . dead .
  20. Pierret . Thomas. Internet in a Sectarian Islamic Context . ISIM Review. Spring 2005. 15 . International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World . The Netherlands . 2005 . 10 April 2009 .
  21. Web site: Which Way Mecca? It's Relative The Issue Divides Muslims Here. Is It Southeast? Northeast? . May 25, 1994 . The Philadelphia Inquirer . May 25, 1994 . July 17, 2016 . Macklin, William R..
  22. Web site: Ethiopian Muslims Protest Indoctrination by Government Sponsored Sect . The Muslim Link . October 12, 2015 . July 17, 2016.
  23. Web site: Al-Ahbash: Evolution and Beliefs . Islam Online . September 25, 2007 . July 17, 2016 . A Group of Islamic Researchers.
  24. Book: al-Habashi, Shaykh 'Abdallah. Sarih al-Bayan (Explicit Declaration). 1990. Jam'iyyat al-Mashari'. Beirut, Lebanon. 86, 88, 90, 105 ('These ahadith are: "For whosoever I am master, this Ali is his master; O God support whosoever is"'), 111 ('Habashi does not give much importance to the Hanafi and Maliki Schools of Law'), 107, 195.
  25. none. Manar Al-Huda . Association of Islamic Charitable Projects . Beirut, Lebanon . 199293. November 1992, 32; April 1993, 37; April–May 1993, 45.
  26. Book: al-Habashi, Shaykh 'Abdallah. Al-Kafil bi-'Ilm al-Din al-Daruri (The Guarantor of the Necessary Science of Faith) . 1994. Burj Abi Haydar Mosque . Beirut, Lebanon. 46.
  27. Book: al-Habashi, Shaykh 'Abdallah. Bughyat al-talib . Association of Islamic Charitable Projects . Beirut, Lebanon. 31.
  28. News: al-Habashi. Shaykh 'Abdallah. Shaykh Abdalla's lecture, 26 January 2003 . Association of Islamic Charitable Projects . Beirut, Lebanon.
  29. Book: Rubin, Barry. Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis. limited. 2009. Palgrave Macmillan. 978-0230623064. 139.
  30. Book: Marshall, Paul. Shea, Nina. Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide. 2011. Oxford University Press, USA. 978-0199812288. 356.
  31. "A Sufi Response to Political Islamism" by R. Hrair Dekmejian & A. Nizar Hamzeh, p.225.
  32. Cited in Kabla and Erlich 2006: 531
  33. Book: Mustafa Kabha. Haggai Erlich. Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam. November 2006. Cambridge University Press. 531. 27 October 2014.
  34. Book: Patrick Desplat. Terje Østebø. Muslim Ethiopia: The Christian Legacy, Identity Politics, and Islamic Reformism. 18 April 2013. Palgrave Macmillan. 9781137322098. 181.
  35. News: Al-Ahbash: Their Ideology and Evolution. 12 July 2017. The Levant News. 18 December 2015.
  36. Web site: "Ahbashism", Government and Ethiopian Muslim Protests . Ethiomedia . May 12, 2012 . July 17, 2016 . Mul’ataa, Yuunus Hajji . https://web.archive.org/web/20161004185447/http://www.ethiomedia.com/2012_report/ahbashism_campaign.pdf . October 4, 2016 . dead . mdy-all .
  37. Book: Lebanese Salafis Between the Gulf and Europe: Development, Fractionalization and Transnational Networks of Salafism in Lebanon . Amsterdam University Press . Pall, Zoltan . 2013 . 44–47 . 978-9089644510.
  38. Book: Rougier. Bernard. The Sunni Tragedy in the Middle East: Northern Lebanon from al-Qaeda to ISIS. Princeton University Press. 88. 17 July 2016. 9781400873579. 2015-10-13.
  39. The Beirut Review: A Journal on Lebanon and the Middle East . The Beirut Review: A Journal on Lebanon and the Middle East . 1994 . 7 . 124.
  40. Book: Ramadan, Tariq. Western Muslims and the Future of Islam. 2004. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-517111-2. 55.
  41. Hamzeh and Demekjian 1996: 225; el Khazen 2003: 620, Table 2
  42. Web site: Lebanon’s Sunni Islamists—A Growing Force. Carnegie Middle East Center. Omayma Abdel-Latif. January 2008. 6.
  43. Book: Grayling, A. C.. Ideas That Matter: The Concepts That Shape the 21st Century. 2010. Basic Books. 978-0230623064. 139.
  44. Book: Mustafa Kabha. Haggai Erlich. Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam. November 2006. Cambridge University Press. 529. 27 October 2014. (Refers to Al-Ahbash's own monthly magazine, Manar Al-Huda 93 (December 2000): 36-42 and their other sources and web-sites.)
  45. Book: Mustafa Kabha. Haggai Erlich. Al-Ahbash and Wahhabiyya: Interpretations of Islam. November 2006. Cambridge University Press. 527–8. 27 October 2014.
  46. News: Syria and the Hariri assassination. The Economist (print edition). 27 October 2005 .
  47. Book: Roy, Oliver. Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah. 2006. Columbia University Press. 0231134991. 227.
  48. Web site: Analysis: Grozny Fatwa On 'True Believers' Triggers Major Controversy. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/RFE/RL, Inc. . September 14, 2016 . March 27, 2017 . Liz Fuller. (Excerpt: "Conference participants, who included Ahmed El-Tayeb, rector of Cairo's Al-Azhar Islamic University, adopted a fatwa stipulating that the sole true adherents of traditional Islam are those who abide by Kalam scholastic theology, belong to one of the four madhhabs (legal schools)......It identifies the Salafi strain of Sunni Islam professed in Saudi Arabia as a "dangerous and erroneous contemporary sect," along with the extremist group Islamic State, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and the Habashis.")
  49. Book: Yawar, Athar Ahmed . From Madness to Eternity: Psychiatry and Sufi Healing in the Postmodern World . UCL (University College London) . 2020 . London, United Kingdom . 166 . en . March 2, 2021. (Refers to the fatwās against the Ahbash from a range of scholars, including Ali Gomaa, the Mufti of Egypt (fatwā dated 1999), and Ahmad Umar Hashim, the president of Al-Azhar University (2001).)
  50. News: O'Brien. Natalie. Muslims call for 'radical' radio station to be closed. Sydney Morning Herald. 9 January 2011.
  51. News: Norrie. Justin. Muslim radio stays on airwaves. Sydney Morning Herald. 22 May 2011.
  52. News: Divided, angry Muslim advisory body meets . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 26 February 2006.
  53. Web site: Kerbaj . Richard . Howard's Muslim advisory team split . WWRN . The Australian.
  54. https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054204/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/12/13/42886.html "Egypt arrests 22 men for corrupting Islam"
  55. Book: Tal, Nahman. Radical Islam in Egypt and Jordan. 2005. Sussex Academic Press. 978-1845190989. 215.
  56. News: Elise Knutsen. STL defense strategy takes shape in Sabaa questioning. 13 April 2015. The Daily Star (Lebanon). 20 March 2015.
  57. Barry Rubin, Guide to Islamist Movements, pp.322-323.
  58. David Gardner, I.B. Tauris, Last chance: the Middle East in the balance, 15 June 2009, the University of Michigan, pp. 135, 140.
  59. Web site: Lebanon: Al-Ahbash Retreat from Politics . Al-Akhbar . January 29, 2013 . July 17, 2016 . Choufi, Firas . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112215/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14719 . March 4, 2016 . dead .
  60. News: Hezbollah, Al Ahbash chiefs meet over Borj Abi Haidar incident. Yalibnan. 30 August 2010.
  61. Book: Rougier. Bernard. Everyday Jihad. Harvard University Press. 296. registration. bin baz ahbash.. 11 April 2016. 9780674025295. 2007.
  62. News: Silantiev. Roman. Nationwide Ambitions. 12 February 2017. Nezavisimaya Gazeta. 17 September 2014.