Professor Abdallah Khalil Al-Tamimi, a Syrian religious scholar and peace activist who has spent more than three decades in exile studying Islamic jurisprudence and foundational principles, spoke to The Jerusalem Post from his temporary residence in Australia, sharing his perspective on Syria’s tumultuous past, its fractured present, and his vision for a peaceful future.
Nowadays, Al-Tamimi works enthusiastically to build bridges between religions and sects, which also made him a subject of stark opposition due to his speaking to Israeli outlets. Originally from Homs, Syria, he had worked with the Syrian opposition since 1993 and had been living in exile for over 30 years. Though he had made several brief returns to Syria and Lebanon, these visits became increasingly impossible as the conflict intensified.
“When the uprising began, I worked with the Free Syrian Army,” he recalled, “but I eventually stepped back because things were going terribly wrong for our people. We found ourselves unable to cooperate with any faction.”
In 2006, Al-Tamimi joined the Democratic Coalition of Syria and traveled to Washington, where he spoke before Congress. The mission was clear: to fight against the Assad regime. However, what emerged in the power vacuum was far from the democratic vision they had championed.
‘Al-Sharaa views Sunnis as infidels’
Al-Tamimi regarded the new Syrian leader, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, as “a leader who appeared seemingly out of nowhere in 2012. Al-Sharaa’ is not even his real name; it’s fabricated. No one knows his actual identity,” Al-Tamimi explained with frustration.
“He and his followers blocked the progress of the Syrian revolution, eliminated Sunni leadership, and reduced all Syrian achievements to a small colony for his extremist group in Idlib.”
According to Al-Tamimi, Al-Sharaa killed far more Sunni revolutionaries than members of Assad regime, and essentially eliminated most of Syria’s Sunni leadership, which raises the question of the jihadi leader’s real allegiance. “French and Turkish efforts are responsible for Al-Sharaa’s ascent,” he claimed.
Al-Tamimi argued that, for Al-Sharaa, mainstream Sunnis are also deemed infidels. “They believe they have permission to kill all ‘non-believers,’ including Sunnis, whom they view as pagans and ‘tomb worshippers,” the cleric added.
“They reject our schools of thoughts, considering all our imams to be pagans. They believe only the Islam of Abd al-Wahhab is the correct form, and everyone else is an infidel,” Al-Tamimi said, referring to the fundamentalist school of thought that originated in Arabia.
Al-Tamimi painted a grim picture of ‘justice’ under the new regime. “Their newly appointed Justice Minister, Shadi Al-Waisi, previously oversaw local courts that executed women after accusing them of adultery. How can someone like that be Minister of Justice? Justice requires standards of fairness. Under their rule, if you say something they dislike or that doesn’t conform to their invented religion, they execute you. They’re like ISIS, just with more ‘modern’ weapons, using bullets instead of swords.”
According to Al-Tamimi, in just the past months since rising to power, Al-Sharaa’s loyalists executed thousands of people “merely because someone accused them of working with the previous regime. Three times more Sunnis have been killed than Alawites. Syria is in complete chaos.”
On the issue of the ensuing clashes between Al-Sharaa’s loyalists and the Alawite minority in Syria, from which the ousted leader Bashar Al-Assad stemmed, Al-Tamimi found it challenging to express much solidarity, pointing to the sectarian nature of the conflict. “This is simply not my war. The Alawite regime killed two million Sunnis based on sectarian grounds. They regarded us to be infidels, just like Al-Sharaa does now. And now they’re killing each other because both believe that the other is an infidel that must be dealt with.”
Al-Tamimi was particularly adamant about correcting what he saw as a dangerous misrepresentation. “Al-Sharaa is not Sunni! He arrived specifically to blame Sunnis for terrorism, barbarism, and savagery. I am Sunni, and there are thousands of Sunni scholars like me in Syria who disagree with him on everything—theology, the Prophet’s messages, Sharia, Quranic interpretations. They practice ‘takfir,’ claiming all others are not Sunni! They view other Sunnis as infidels, insisting only Salafists are true Sunnis.”
The sheikh explained that millions of Syrians remain outside the country, with many finding it very challenging to return. “We know we haven’t achieved freedom yet. Both regimes are enemy regimes,” he said, referring to both Assad’s government and the new leadership.
When asked about recent reports on agreements between minorities in Syria and the new Al-Sharaa led regime, Al-Tamimi replied. “Look to history and see if you can find an agreement honored between two militias which signed an agreement. They’re all militias! This deal contains only broad principles with no details. When you look at Israel’s peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, you see they were filled with details to the brim. This one just has big words in an attempt to silence criticism.”
Despite this, the scholar spoke warmly about the Druze community in Syria. “The Druze, however, are far from being simply a militia. They’ve been organized for 1,000 years. They’ve always wanted to be part of Syria but only asked for a representative, a functioning government that cares for ordinary citizens, which they never obtained.”
A way forward
When prompted to talk about his view regarding possible solutions, Al-Tamimi became animated. “The world should push for external administration under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, just like what happened in Kosovo and Bosnia. We have no politicians left—they’ve all been assassinated. We need international help against the Salafists.” He laughed bitterly. “They called me a traitor and an Israeli agent who only wants Israel to conquer Syria. Everyone knows Israel won’t conquer Syria! It’s a tiny nation of 10 million people.”
His vision for Syria’s future centered on a Swiss-style confederation. “Small provinces with internal self-governance—not for the entire country but for services, security, local affairs. This would satisfy everyone. Alawites would be happy in their areas, governing themselves, having their own police, judges, and tax collectors – and so will everyone else. Infrastructure in large cities would be handled by the central government, managing relations between provinces.”
The sheikh’s eyes brightened as he elaborated on this model. “Each province would choose its representatives however it wants. Bedouins could be led by their sheikhs, the Druze by their Sheikh Al-Aql. This is the most successful model throughout the world.”
Finally, Al-Tamimi offered a surprising perspective about Israel. “Sunnis are the majority in Syria. Once they take power in a federal government, Syria will be Israel’s best friend and a friend to all countries in the region. It will be a modern state. Many Syrians educated in the West know exactly how a civilized country works. They have no problems with Israel as a friendly state.”
Al-Tamimi stressed, “We don’t see Israel as an enemy. Hostility toward Israel has been used to lead millions of people for generations to fight and die in wars without reason. Assad accused Sunnis of being Israeli agents who would dare to make peace, and now we’re seeing the same accusations everywhere.”
Sheikh Al-Tamimi’s final words reflected both hope and pragmatism. “I’ve spoken with rabbis, journalists, Israeli activists—I’ve explained that ideologically, we have no aggressive ideology against Jews or anyone who isn’t Muslim. We have laws of war and peace that we must follow, and none include the destruction of Israel. Crossing the boundaries between countries and religions—we can build a better Middle East to the world.”
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