The New Syrian Regime
An Islam That Excuses Necessities and Power Balances... Or Repeated Conspiracies and Traps?!
On August 19, 2025, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met with a delegation from the Jewish entity in Paris under American auspices to discuss a number of issues, including de-escalation in southern Syria and the reactivation of the 1974 disengagement agreement. Following the announcement of this meeting, debates arose among supporters of the Syrian revolution and the overthrow of Bashar and his regime, especially those who aspire to Islamic change, the implementation of Islam, and supporting the causes of Muslims around the world. Some of these people justified this meeting and negotiation with many pretexts, including power balances and the internal conditions of a worn-out and devastated Syria, while others rejected such meetings, considering them treason, a continuation of policies of submission and subservience, and the destruction of the aspirations and energies of the Syrian people.
This is not the first, second, or tenth time, and perhaps many more times, that Muslims and their peoples have been deceived by similar actions and situations; they see in them the possibility of liberation from the shackles of oppression and enslavement, and deliverance from unimaginable injustice, and they dream of victories and the fulfillment of aspirations, then things are revealed to be conspiracies in which they were victims of conspiracies by enemies and embedded agents, who have become accustomed to repeating their machinations and setting their traps, and in most of their conspiracies they succeed. And if they stumble for some reason, they circumvent their conspiracy and maneuver it, and increase the oppression and subjugation of the peoples, and tighten the bonds of oppression and humiliation on them. So what is the reason or reasons? And who is responsible? And until when will this situation continue and keep repeating itself?
Needless to say, the question "Until when will this situation continue?" is not about the duration or time, but about the reasons for the repeated occurrence in the traps of similar conspiracies. The required answer is to clarify the conditions that remove these reasons.
Yes, these are deceptions and conspiracies that are repeated every year, for more than a hundred years, including deadly oppression and humiliation. Nevertheless, there is no rejection of those reasons, nor repentance from them, and therefore no consideration of their difficult consequences, in accordance with the Almighty's saying: ﴿Indeed, those who fear Allah - when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember [Him] and at once they have insight﴾, and also His saying: ﴿Do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice but then they do not repent nor do they remember?﴾.
The required research and answer here is not to delve into studying the reality of the new Syrian regime, its president, and its staff, as this is clear, nor in analyzing the meeting of its foreign minister with the minister of the Jewish entity, nor in the fact that this meeting is taking place under the auspices of America. If these clear matters need to be researched, then this means that losing the compass and falling have reached a great extent. The discussion here is not about the general public, but about those who are at the forefront of making change, from those who hold positions of preaching and religious education, and positions of guiding movement and politics in it. The nation as a whole and its masses do not plan, change, or lead, but are led by those who are supposed to be people of knowledge, action, and leadership guidance, and the activists who are at the forefront of building and changing.
If a word must be said about this new regime in Syria, then no one claims that it applies Islam, nor is anyone unaware that it does not apply Islam, and that it is based on the Western secular foundations of disbelief in terms of its constitution and laws, and in terms of its commitment to the charters and resolutions of the United Nations. No one is unaware that the military movements to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad regime were planned by America, which arranged this matter and its details with Turkey and Russia. During that time and after it, there was no political position or significant manifestation of this regime that could be attributed to Islam. Rather, there is an insistence on internal policies that meet the demands of America, and a striking disregard for the repeated attacks by the Jews on Syria, which raise doubts and inquiries!! In addition to a complete and striking disregard for the terrible massacres committed by the Jewish entity in Gaza. So what do those who justify it justify or promote, and are there really legitimate pretexts for ignoring the positions of this regime and overlooking its reality, or is the overthrow of the Bashar regime a virtue that entitles him to commit all the abominations afterwards, even if they resemble the abominations of other regimes in the region? And why is there satisfaction with him from the rulers of the Gulf like Mohammed bin Salman, and from Erdogan, not to mention Trump and the American envoy Tom Barak and others?
Therefore, this announcement of the meeting between al-Shibani and the Jewish delegation, and the accompanying and subsequent official statements about moving towards normalization with it, is another unveiling of the face of this regime that reveals its dangerous tendencies.
What needs urgent research and necessary warning is the reasons for some of those interested in the affairs of the nation, who aspire to get rid of the hegemony and injustice of the West, and who are attributed to them, to defend this regime and its pillars, and to seek pretexts to cover up what is revealed of its evils. These people, by doing this, are unfortunately one of the reasons for the weakness of Muslims and their movement in the plans of their enemies, whether by fueling internal conflicts, or following the requirements of Sykes-Picot and ignoring many issues of Muslims. Although they reject sectarianism, Sykes-Picot, and national ties, they are practically engaging in them, using the difficulties of reality and the perceived closure of avenues as pretexts. And they push people by that to support policies and actions, which they are surprised after a while that they have shackled them with more restrictions, increased their burden on burden, and frustrated them after broad and promising hopes.
The permissibility of condoning the evils of this regime and others, under the pretext of power balances, the pressures of reality, the jurisprudence of calamities and necessities, and so on, is a mistake in understanding and action, even if it is done with good intentions. It is one of the reasons why the nation is in a state of helplessness and confusion, and leads to more of that. I do not know how these justifications differ from the fatwas of other scholars of the rulers. Is there anything different except for some appearances, alleged intentions, and perceived pretexts?!
Therefore, the reason for the nation's repeated failures, such as what we witnessed after the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, and others, and the reason for the betrayal of Muslims that we previously found in Afghanistan, Burma, and others, and we find it today more clearly and difficultly in Gaza, and the reason for promoting the current Syrian regime, which does not practically differ from the Tunisian or Egyptian regime except for deceptive covers, is not the nation that moved, revolted, and sacrificed, but rather the aforementioned elites; that is, sheikhs, preachers, and workers who have good intentions, but they are deceived by the machinations and conspiracies of the disbelievers, and they think well of agents and embedded ones, because of appearances and statements that are like bait on a trap, so they see them as a promising hope for the desired change, and they promote them, to then fall into their traps, and the people or the nation fall with them and with them.
Yes, the rise of the nation and its guidance to the right path, or its decline and wandering, and the correctness or error of its positions, and its impulsiveness or withdrawal, and its movement or sitting, is primarily due to the existence of these matters among its elites; among its scholars and preachers, its organizers and guides, and its thinkers and politicians who it trusts and follows. And what exists in the nation is to a large extent from what is with these.
But what makes these, from the people of knowledge and action, and the elites who aspire to Islamic change with eagerness, longing, and sincerity, what makes them easy prey to fall into the traps of deceivers and embedded ones, despite the repetition and similarity of the deceptions?
The answer to this question requires a serious study in order to identify and address them, and cooperation, dialogue, and contribution that goes beyond the limits of this article. But no matter how many the reasons, they go back to a basic reason, which is the nation's lack of statesmen. That is, men who are proficient in understanding the higher purposes of preserving the Islamic society and the Islamic nation, and understanding its general issues and the priorities of these issues, so that political vision; that is, thinking about caring for the general affairs of the nation is a habit of their habits, so they provide practical solutions that are disciplined by Sharia to its problems, away from despair or frustration, and from the illegitimate pretexts currently widespread among the elites mentioned above. The mentioned statesman combines disciplined Sharia knowledge that is far from the leniency of fatwas of justification and pretexts emanating from inclinations and not from the understanding mind and the controlling Sharia, and between the experience of understanding reality objectively and the ability to plan to address general problems and get out of predicaments in the shortest time and with the least costs. With this standard, it can be said that based on the wrong pretexts that we are witnessing, the Islamic nation suffers from a severe poverty of statesmen, and it is unlikely that it will have an entity and continue unless crowds of statesmen arise and grow in it, in addition to distinguished individuals among them who are the builders of a state, not just statesmen.
As for the detailed reasons for justifying deviations and fabricating pretexts for them, perhaps the most important of them is the difficulty of the reality and the size of the differences in the power balances between the disbelievers and the Muslims, in addition to the many experiences and large costs, which ended in failure, and to the disbelievers' awareness of the orientations of the Muslims and their movements that aim at changing and resuming Islamic life. In addition to that, the length of time and the passing of generations without achieving the goal, which led to a general feeling of the closure of avenues of Islamic change without expanding the doors of licenses. These are ideas of despair that push to open the doors of licenses wide, and to disengage from considering their locations, conditions, and obstacles. This is the most important and dangerous reason for justifying what the current Syrian regime is doing, and defending it despite its policies that do not differ from other regimes described as treason and subservience. The owners of these pretexts have no evidence for their positions except for a sentimental state that goes back to formal appearances and claims that are contradicted by the facts, and to intentions that are not helped by actions in anything. This is clinging to ropes of air, that is, to fantasies that do not exist, and as it is said: the drowning person clings to a straw.
It must be emphasized that this clinging to ropes of air or to the straw would not have been if it were not for the lack of politicians who are statesmen, with what that means and requires of the availability of determination, zeal, and intention, no matter how long the road is and how great the sacrifices are. It is what puts the majority of the mentioned elites when thinking about change in front of a difficult reality, for which they find no cure except to use weakness, helplessness, and necessities as pretexts, which forces them to one path, which is to take licenses with interests, needs, and ordinary hardships, which is illegitimate, and not with Sharia necessities or arduous hardships. This is not due to political weakness only, but also to a lack of knowledge, and both of them must be available together in the statesman.
There is an issue raised by some defenders of the current Syrian regime, despite the many indications of its illegitimacy and its severe lack of details or positions that support its description as Islamic. Which is their saying, for example: Negotiating with the enemy is permissible and not forbidden. Then these brothers proceed as if what this regime is doing of repeated negotiations with representatives of the Jewish entity is legitimate and permissible, and the proof is that it is in the interest of Syria and a point on the line. The answer is that the discussion is not only about the ruling on negotiation, for the Prophet ﷺ negotiated with the disbelievers in the trench, in Hudaybiyah, and others. The Rightly Guided Caliphs after him negotiated, and the negotiations were direct and indirect. Rather, the discussion is about the subject of the negotiations. That is, what is the negotiation about, is it about restoring rights or about giving them up? Is it for the purpose of restricting the Jewish entity and preparing to fight it, or for the purpose of moving step by step towards normalizing relations with it and recognizing it? Does any intention to relieve Gaza enter into these negotiations? Is there any view or evidence of a view among the rulers of Syria that Syria and its people are part of the Islamic countries, and they care about what concerns Muslims in the world, or is this something that does not exist and this regime does not have it? If that is the case, then where is Islam in this regime? And how does it differ from the Jordanian or Saudi regime, for example? The same thing is said about relations with America, and from showing the application of secularism, and preparing to weaken Syria in favor of non-Muslim groups, in addition to other fears such as gradually entering into what they call the Abraham Accords.
One of the points that the defenders of this regime, and its policies with America, the Jewish entity, and the countries of the region, adhere to is that it is a new regime and unable to enter into a war with the Jews. And if it does not remain silent about their attacks, they will destroy it. Therefore, it must submit and implement the orders of America in order to preserve its existence! If that is the case, then what is hoped for or expected from such a regime? What is its strategy for building self-strength and liberation? Is it a state in the true sense of the word at all?
The defenders of this regime argue that the Prophet ﷺ negotiated in the trench and almost offered to make concessions to the disbelievers. He negotiated in Hudaybiyah and made concessions. Such arguments clearly indicate bankruptcy in deduction and reasoning. The Prophet ﷺ, in all of that, was not subject to systems of disbelief, nor to laws or the authority of others, nor did he adhere to the directions or orders of his enemies in his internal or external policies. His negotiations preserved his state, its sovereignty, and its authority according to what he saw and decided. Where is what the rulers of the new regime in Syria are doing from this?!
One of the things that the defenders of this regime and its actions also raise is their saying: Put yourself in their place, what would you do? The answer is that it is not permissible for a Muslim to be in this position at all, just as it is not permissible for him to be in charge of a liquor store, or the manager of a gambling casino or a brothel of fornication and liquor. There is no doubt that it is not permissible for a Muslim to be in the position of a ruler who does not rule by Islam. If he is offered complete rule and with his own authority, on the condition that he does not rule by Islam, then this is not permissible, without a doubt. Such a thing was offered to the Prophet ﷺ and he rejected it outright. Verses were revealed in that, which were like a divine command and an Islamic global declaration that addresses the disbelievers and the world with a permanent address rejecting this pattern of rule. Surah Al-Kafirun was revealed in that, in which the rejection of disbelief in rule and relations is repeated three times.
The duty is to implement Islam, and it is not correct to take or reach the rule to implement other than Islam, so the origin of the topic and the legitimate goal is to exalt the word of Allah and not to exalt the movement or the group and its emir. Therefore, the claims of necessity here have no place, and they are misleading in portraying the facts, as there is no necessity for so-and-so or the so-and-so group to be in the rule or the ministry or in the palace. It is not permissible to serve the disbelievers and the colonialist enemies in ruling the Muslim countries or to give any sovereignty or authority to them over them, even if that is in exchange for interests for the Muslims, such as overthrowing a ruler by disbelief or a tyrant. The duty of Muslims is to work for change and to establish rule by Islam and to overthrow tyrants, in cooperation with the believers, and with loyalty among the believers, and to rely on the believers. Allah the Almighty said: ﴿Your ally is none but Allah and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed - those who establish prayer and give zakah, and they bow [in worship]. And whoever is an ally of Allah and His Messenger and those who have believed - indeed, the party of Allah will be the predominant﴾. It is not permissible to rely on the disbelievers in that, nor on their agents, nor to cooperate with them in order to reach the rule, and this is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and his method. Allah the Almighty said: ﴿And do not incline toward those who do wrong, lest you be touched by the Fire, and you would not have other than Allah any protectors; then you would not be helped﴾.
﴿Do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice but then they do not repent nor do they remember?﴾
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Dr. Mahmoud Abdel-Hadi
