The Hidden Gates of Damascus

A man's thoughts about women equality

2005-10-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

First of all I want to apologize for not posting for a long time. I have been busy a lot, and at some time of desperation and boredom, I considered deleting the whole blog, because of my inactivity. At the end, I decided to stick with it, and update it whenever I can, even if that means one update every couple of months.

Here are a few thoughts of mine about women's rights:

The state of women in Syria is not that great, although we have to admit that it's better than many countries in the area and the east.

In Ancient Syria, our most important deities were goddesses. Ishtar/Astarte was our high goddess. Femininity, fertility, and beauty of women represented the most holy aspects of life and creation. Unfortunately, the jealous masculinity prevailed by influencing every aspect of our lives, from simple basic duties to bigger issues like leadership and religion.

Many people, when they argue against women equality with men, they say that women are different than men, and each have their own rights and duties. Their logic comes from understanding equality in this way:

a woman who's equal to men would wake up early, get her kids ready to go to school. Afterwards, she'd have to hurry to go to her job and work for many hours. She'd have to run back home to feed her children and husband. Then, she'd start her house chores: cleaning, cooking, teaching her kids...etc

According to these people, this equality is bad for women. Of course this is bad for women, but you can't call this equality. Women are not made to be maids, and men are not made to be served by women. Equality means that women and men have the right to do what they want, and BOTH OF THEM have to take care of their house and children.

If you're a man and you have children, they don't automatically become your women's children. It's your responsibility, like its hers, to raise your children and care about them. Also, doing some house chores (ex. cleaning your own mess) won't lower or degrade your manhood (a.k.a. Vanity). In the contrary, helping your wife makes you a part of the family, instead of being a mere financial provider, you'd become an important part of your family's life.

When this collaboration between men and women actually happen, things would become easy for both men and women. Only at that time, women will be able to work in a real equal atmosphere. Only then will men have a real connection with their own families.

The French feminist Simone de Beauvoire once said that women are often treated as a minority when the topic of equality is being approached. Are we blind? Or is it that the 50 - 50 % means nothing to our mathematically educated minds?

The most fact that bothers me when it comes to equality, is not the men who are used to be possessive and controlling for centuries. The annoying thing is when you see women not only accepting being submissive, but also praising their men and allowing them to have the "right" to beat them.

If we need a better society, then we have to use every aspect and every power that can contribute to it. We can't lay down 50% of the society and oppress it, and then wonder why we have many flaws and problems.

We should use 100% of our efforts to build up a good and healthy society. That means, men and women should unite and walk forward together step by step.

Stop the "Honor Crime"

2005-09-28T19:07:00.000-04:00

I haven't had time to update the blog, but I was really excited when I read an article at Syra-news.com website, and I had to post something about it.

We all hear about the horrible so-called "Honor Crimes" that steal women's lives away mercilessly. Fathers, husbands, and brothers kill their daughters and sisters just for thinking that they had a relationship with someone without them knowing.
It's basically about Sex. The Syrian honor is unfortunatily stuck between the legs of Syrian women.

It is really unfair to have perverted men, who go to brothels everyother day, talking about "Honor" and "abstinence". Women always have to follow the rules and stay virgin, while men can have whatever they want.

When these horrible men commit their "honor" Crimes, they get a little jail time. Most of the time it doesn't get longer than 2 years. There's no honor in killing. Even if there's a so-called "honor" it should be condemned.

Fortunatily enough the "Syrian women" website, have started an online petition to outlaw the wrong use of the "Criminal acts with "honor" intentions" law. I'm so glad that women and men are waking up and starting these movement to grant the security of women and their rights.

Please visit their website and sign the petition:
http://www.nesasy.com/honorcrimes/honorcrimes.html

2005-09-08T21:26:00.000-04:00

The rudiments have always been misinterpreted during history, dispite the good intentions of many disciples who's faithfull belief was strong and unswayed.
Most leaders interpret the old words to their advantage in the attempt of gaining leadership and power over those unfortunate enough to fall under their maliciousness and manipulative ways. This misuse of trust will forever stain the pages of history, echoing the exploitation and the frailty of decent men carried away by nurtured rancour...

words by M.Jansen

I hope one day that people would look at the core of their belief and goodness, and decide for themselves...

Is the state really Secular?

2005-08-30T21:05:00.000-04:00

As I stated before, Syria is one of the few countries in the area that are officially secular. Many religious people complain about the secularism of the state. Some even blame secularism for all the failures in our economies and politics.
Let’s look closely for a second before we blame anyone for our failures. Is the state indeed secular?

First let’s start with defining Secularism? According todictionary.com
Secularism is “The view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education”.

Now let’s see how Secularism applies in our dear country.

1. Our civil affairs and laws are hugely influenced by the Islamic law, “Shari a”, and the Syrian Judicial law takes the model of the Hanafite Sunni laws as a good example to follow. The influence mostly appears in personal affairs such as marriage, divorce, paternity, custody of children, and inheritance.

2. Our public and private school oblige students to receive religious education as a part of their curriculum from the 1st grade to the 12th.
-Sunni, Alawaite, Ismilite, Druz, Izidi, Sufi, and Shiite students (and all the non-religious and Atheist students whose families or ancestors belong to the sects just mentioned)are gathered under one category. They study a book that basically teaches some picked information from the Sunni faith.

-Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant students (plus the Atheists and Non-religious ones) are gathered under one category. They also study one book which follows a faith that I assume follows the Orthodox faith, because they represent the majority of Christian. But it is known that the first lessons always deal with and glorifies “martyrdom”. These lessons also happen to have some not-very-spiritual quotes from famous Syrian politicians too.

For further and more specific information about religious education in Syrian schools, you could read the essay: Islamic Education in Syria: Undoing Secularism by Professor Joshua M. Landis

3. All missionaries, except a few Sunni and Christian ones, are prohibited from entering the country or promoting their faith, at least legally.

4. By law, Inter-faith marriages are permissible. However, the offspring of the marriage will always belong to the Islamic faith, whether the mother or the father is Muslim. So if an Atheist, Buddhist, or a Christian married a Muslim man or a woman in Syria, all their children will be considered officially as Muslims.

5. All conversions to any religion, except to Islam, are prohibited. I don’t know if it is a written or unwritten law, but I have a tragic story to tell you. It’s about a Damascene guy who used to live in our neighborhood.

He is the son of a prominent Syrian Actor. He and his friend were interested in learning about other faiths. Secretly, they converted to Christianity, but for some reason the secret wasn’t kept hidden very well. They started having hard time from the people around them including their friends and families that disowned them. That part of the story is not remarkably stranger than other conversion stories worldwide. However, things got even worse. When it was time for them to join the military service, they were badly treated and one of them got shot twice by some militant who wanted to convert them back. They served jail time for months. Many attempts of conversions went in vain, until the two headstrong guys were released and told to go free in condition they don’t tell anybody about their conversion.
The small details of that story might not be 100% accurate, but the story was told by the guy’s mother. She’s the only person in his family that is still in contact with him.

On the other hand, I heard about many people who openly talk about their Atheism, religious-bashing, conversions, or religious freedom. An example for that would be Nabil Fayad who is becoming a political and religious celeberity in Syria.

Having said all of the above, I would like to mention that I am not Anti or Pro Secular or Religious states in Syria. I just wanted to point that our versions of Religious and Secular states look so much alike and function in the same way. Furthermore, neither option worked well to secure our freedom of belief (whatever we believe or NOT believe in). Of course, provided that people who care about freedom of belief exist in this country.

Prophet Muhammad and Damascus

2005-08-18T18:12:00.000-04:00

There are two legends concerning the trip of Prophet Muhammad to Damascus, and his refusal to enter the great city.

The first and most popular legend says that the Prophet took the mountain road to Damascus. On the horizon, he saw the beautiful and enchanting oasis city, and he decided to stop his journey because "man should only enter Paradise once

The other legends says that the Prophet approached Damascus from the southern side in an area called "Qadam" "قدم" which means "foot". He turned back and didn't continue the trip, because he stumbled in the road and took it as a bad sign.

That area "Qadam" (foot) is probably named after the footprint impression on a piece of marble in its mosque. In old times, the footprint was believed to be made by Moses, but nowadays, it is believed to be made by the Prophet Muhammad.

The Beautiful Damascus of the 19th Century

2005-08-18T02:36:00.000-04:00

Here are some of what an American, an English, and a French authors had to say about the beautiful Damascus of the 19th century.

Mark Twain talked about his visit to Damascus in his book The Innocent Abroad, published in 1869 :

"... no recorded event has occurred in the world but Damascus was in existence to receive the news of it. Go back as far as you will into the vague past, there was always a Damascus. To Damascus years are only moments, decades are only flitting trifles of time. She measures time not by days, months and years, but by the empires she has seen rise and prosper and crumble to ruin. She is a type of immortality. She saw Greece rise and flourish two thousand years, and die. In her old age she saw Rome built, she saw it oversahdow the world with its power; she saw it perish..... She has looked upon the dry bones of a thousand empires and will see the tombs of a thousand more before she dies."

The English historian and traveller, Alexaner Kinglake said:

"The juice of her life is the gushing and ice-cold torrent that tumbles from the snowy sides of Anti-Lebanon. Close along on the river's edge through seven sweet miles of rustling boughs and deepest shade, the city spreads out her whole length; as a man falls flat, face forward on the brook that he may drink and drink again: so Damascus,thirsting for ever, lies down with her lips to the stream and clings to its rushing waters."

The French poet and traveller, Alphonse de Lamartine, wrote in April of 1833 about his arrival to Damascus:

"through a gap in the rocks, my eye fell on the strangest and most fantastic sight which man has ever seen: it was Damascus and its boundless desert, a few hundred feet below my path... first the town, surrounded by its walls,,, a forest of minarets of all shapes, watered by the seven branches of its river, and streams without number, until the view is lost in a labyrinth of flower gardens and trees....."

Unfortunatily, many people who read these positive appraisals would feel disappointed when they visit Damascus of the 21st century. The city that has survived many invasions and wars for centuries is withering little by little. The river is drying up. The flowers are being pulled out. The gardens have been destroyed. The people are abandoning her. The overwhelming strive of restoring and maintenaing the dying beauty is put in the hands of a few locals and foreigners who have been mesmerized by her beauty.

When the Syrian god led the Arabian gods...

2005-08-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

The most worshiped and higehst deity in pre-islamic Arabia (now Saudi Arabia and the other Arabian Gulf countries) during that time was "Hubal", Our Syrian god of the Moon. Hubal, although Syrian, was not as important to Syrians as he was to the Arabs.

His statue was placed over the Ka'ba in Mecca, and he represented the strongest deity that led all the other 360 gods and goddesses that had idoles in the Ka'ba.

At that period, there were a few Christian,Jewish and Hanafite tribes, which were all monotheistic (believing in only one God). However, the majority of the population was Pagan.

The fact that isn't popular about those Pagans is that they were henotheistic, meaning that they believe in one high God without denying the fact that there exists other gods. The Highest God for Arabs at that time was called Allah. Although Allah had no statue in the Ka'ba, he was considered the highest of all deities. It is believed that they used to worship the smaller gods and goddesses as a channel to reach Allah.

According to "No god but God" by Reza Aslan, Allah's three daughters, Al-lat,Al-Uzza, and Al-Manat were very prominent goddesses in the Ka'ba. People used to pray for the three goddesses for water, rain and for health.

Some pages online claim that Hubal is Allah, but he had a different name. Also those pages mentioned that there's a posiblity that Hubal ,the god of the moon, was the influence behind the symbol of Islam, the crescent. However, both of the claims could lack some precision and accuracy.

The Majority...

2005-08-04T12:56:00.000-04:00

The major religion in Syria is Sunni, or Orthodox, Islam. Islam reached Syria a few years after the death of the Prophet, Muhammad, when the Arabs army conquered Syria completely in 640.The Sunni sect is also the major sect in Islam worldwide, except in a few countries like Iran and Iraq.

According to The CIA Factbook, Sunnis make 74% of the Syrian nation. Thinking that all the Sunnis have the same mindset is not completely precise.

Sunnis belong to four different schools of law. During the first 3 centuries after Islam, Muslim scholars were the ones to influence verdicts, especially the cases that weren't mentioned in the Quran or the Shari'a. In the eleventh century, link-minded scholars established legal institution:

- The Shafii School, was founded on the principles of Muhammad ash-shafii (d. 820), who held the Sunna to be the most important source of law.

- The Maliki School, which is primarily observed in West Africa, was founded by Malik ibn Anas (d. 795), who relied almost exclusively on the traditions of Medina in forming his opinions.

-The Hanbali School of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), the most traditionalist of the legal schools. It tends to dominate ultraconservative countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

-The Hanafi School of Abu Hanifah (d. 767). It is the largest and most diverse legal tradition with regard to breadth of interpretation. It is also considered the most 'liberal' Sunni school of law.

The majority of Syrian Sunnis follow the Hanafi School. There are also considerable number of Sunnis who follow the The Shafii School.

Nowadays, all the school of laws seem to emerge and be influenced by political, economical, and international events. You can find people who identify themselves as followers of a certain School of Law, while not necessarily following its law, just because their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents belonged to that School.

Of course, there existed many movements through the centuries after the establishment of these four Schools. Wahabism, the movement to "purify" Islam from all "outside" and "strange" influences is the most concervative movement that ever existed. In addition to small groups who follow the teachings of some Sheikhs who were influencial at certain point in time.

The Syrian version of “I believe in …. because….”

2005-07-22T02:41:00.000-04:00

One thing you’ll find apparent in Syria, is how the vast majority belong to the “believers’ community”. You can rarely find people who question their own faith , at least not openly. The question “Is there a God?” has no necessity to be asked. You are most likely to be born to a family that tells you there’s a God. Your teachers and classmates at school know that there’s a God too.

Usually, when you ask people around the world about their religion and why they believe in it, you'd expect an in-depth answer like this:
"I believe in [fill in the religion you want] because it offers me so much peace of mind, it gives me strength, and it makes me closer to [Insert the higher power you want].

On the other hand, after a long and productive conversation in Syria, you'd receive an answer in the vein of this model:
"I believe in [fill in the religion you want] because this religion and that religion are completely wrong. I have all the evidence to proof my assertions.That being said, my religion is the correct one, because the rest are wrong. Besides, it's the religion of my parents, and they can't be wrong".

I have received this kind of reaction for almost all my life, whether online, or in real life. The interesting thing is that these kind of answers don't pertain a certain sect or religion, because I have received them from Christians, Sunnis, Alawites, and Druz.

The fascinating thing is that those methods - of proving others wrong - used by these people could be used again to prove their own religion wrong. The method they use to argue about other religions consist of historical facts, changes in the holybooks, burning old manuscripts, and influences from pagan or former religions. All these methods could be applied to all religions and sects of Syria, (Whether you and I like it or not).

Of course, proving everybody else as a "wrong believer" is the easy way out to prove the dilemma and the skepticism of your own faith. This actaully shows a lack of faith, lack of confidence, and lack of the general knowledge about one's religion.

I am also surprised how people know and learn about the "others'" religions even more than they do, or care to, about their own. Can't believers go deeper inside their own religion and find out why they belong to that religion, instead of knowing why they don't belong to other religions?

Religions in Syria nowadays serve less and less religious purposes. They've become more of a card of identity, that enables you to say "I'm this or that", "I can get married to this and that", and "I don't prefer to hang out with this and that".

I don't like to generalize so much, but I'm trying to shed some light on some of the Syrian mentality. This entry was sort of an introduction (to prepare some sectarian people) to accept that there will be some info, that they might not like, about other religions. I Do hope that the information that will be provided later about the various sects of Syria won't be held against the people of those certain faiths.

Lastly, our purpose as the youth of Syria is to pinpoint our mistakes and hypocrisies in order to grow and to improve our society. Please, keep that in mind.

Syrian "Devil Worshiper"??

2005-07-15T18:49:00.000-04:00

It is time again to talk about a not-very-well-known minority in Syria. Izedism or Yezidism "يزيدية", is an ancient eastern religion that could be traced back to the old days of Sumerians and Babylonians in Iraq. Most of the followers of the faith live in Iraq, while a few thousands live in Syria and Turkey. The people who follow Izedism are called “Izedis”.
I tried to find a definition for the word “Izedi” and almost all the sources defined them as “One of an Oriental religious sect which worships Satan or the Devil.” Also, most of the people who know about the existence of Izedis call them “Devil Worshipers”.

This definition might be shocking to most of us. But what kind of rituals do they have that could prompt someone to call them such name?
Izedis, like Christians and Muslims, are monotheists, meaning that they believe in One God. However, Izedism disagreement with the other monotheistic religions evolves around Lucifer. Lucifer to Christians and Muslim is a fallen angel who disobeyed God, and then he became the source of all evil, the Devil. On the other hand, Izedis believe that Lucifer had sinned and disobeyed God, but at the end he repented his sins and he returned to God as an angel. The worship of Izedis is centered on that Angel who they call “Melek Taus” or “Peacock Angel”. Their most sacred place, which is a burial place, is located in Lalish, Iraq.

According to some sources, Izedis rever and are influenced by Prophet Mohammad, The Quran, and the Bible. Nonetheless, the influence of Zoroastrianism "زرادشتية"is more apparent than the influence of any other religion.

According to an article written by George Katn and published on Syriamirror.net, Izedis make up to 2% of the Iraqi population. That article also shed some light on the immense persecution Izedis have received through out history.
In Syria, most Izedis live in Al-Jazira to the northeast of Syria, while a small number of them live in Aleppo city, in the northwest of Syria.

Izedis are probably one of the most persecuted minorities in the Middle East through out history. It is not only that they have “strange” belief, but also because of the ethnic background of most Izedis, which is the Kurdish ethnicity. That makes them an ethnic minority and a religious one as well.

Izedism is still a very secretive community, and there are many missing links about their history and faith. Their reverence of the Bible and the Quran could be a cover-up story, or it could be not precise, to say the least. Reconciliation with the majority, at the expense of ones rituals and history, is not a surprising thing for a minority to do.

All minorities, at certain periods of their history, have somewhat adapted to the language and religion of the majority to decrease the level of persecution they had been receiving. Being openly different would risk their survival.

Syrian Jews

2005-07-12T15:16:00.000-04:00

The history of Jews in Syria is not very different than the history of the big Jewish community. There was alot of direct and indirect persecution to the small Syria Jewish community.

I have visited many Syrian websites trying to know more about the Jewish history. Most of them pointed out that Jews might have migrated from Spain during the Spanish inquisition and persecution to Jews. However, that contradicts the point of view of Syrian Jews, because many of them believe that their religion and history is traced back to 2500 years ago in SYria.

It is also important to mention that many Jewish scientists and businessmen were close to some Caliphates during the Omayyad dynasty rule of Syria in the 8th and 9th centuries. The most profound relationship with Jews and Muslim rulers was established in the tolerant Omayyad rule of Andalusia in Spain.

At the beginning of the 20th century some Jews, as well as many other Syrians, have migrated. Most of them migrated to New York.

After the Syrian independent from the French mandate, Jews started having hard time, because there were many restrictions on them leaving the country or joining military or political affairs.

During the early and mid 90's Most of the Jews of Syria were given permission to leave the country; however, the permission strictly forbids them to go to Israel.
No matter how much going to Isral was prohibitied, some 1262 Jews managed to migrate to Israel in an undercover operation according to the Jerusalem Post (October, 1994). On the other hand, most of the other Jews migrated to New York City, USA. And most of them live in Brooklyn, and they are said to be managing many businesses especially in the Jewlery district in NYC.

Why did the government give permissions to Jews is abit confusing. Online sources mention that the US put pressure on Syria to give more freedom for Jews, especially after the Madrid Peace conference in 1991. It's even rumored that Syria received some cash for every Jewish person it allows to migrate.

I have met two Syrian Jews and they talked about the whole story of their immigration and the Syrian government. Both of their views were so contradicting.
The first one said that a person from the Syrian intelligence had visited every Jewish house in Damascus and tried to convince them NOT to migrate.

The other person didn't stop bashing the government, because he believes that he was forced to leave the country where he used to have a great wealthy life managing his father's factories and business.

According to an estimated census by Rabbi Huder Shahada Kabariti, the spiritual leader of the Syria Jews, There are 150 Jews living in Damascus, 30 in Aleppo and 20 in Kamashili. There are also two synagogues still open in Damascus, while the big Synagogue of Aleppo got deserted in 1994 according to the Associated Press, (January, 2000)

Religions Introduction

2005-07-12T01:48:00.000-04:00

Syria is mostly a muslim country; however, if you look closely, you'll find many other religions and minorities and even many different sects of the majority. Almost every sect or religion has survived persecution and oppresion for years.

Not many surveys or censuses about the demographics and population of Syria exist. The few that are availble might not be 100% accurate, including the information that is provided by the CIA world factbook which happens to be the sole source for many websites and encyclopedias.

-Sunni muslims make 74% of the population while the Hanafi and Shafii schools of Sunni faith are dominante.
-Alawite muslims are said to make 10% of the population.
-Christians, 10% (including various Catholic and Orthodox sects and a minority of Protestants)
-Isamilites, Druz, small community of Yazidis, and handful of Jews make up the rest 6% of the population.

Religiously, Syria is fairly moderate, whether with its Islamic or Christian sects, compared to its neighbors. And surprisingly, there's no official religion of the state, making Syria one of very few secular countries in the middle east. Whether the state is indeed secular or not, it is a topic that I will discuss later.

In the next entries, I will discuss certain sects and religions seperately, and I will talk briefly about their history.

The Beginning

2005-07-07T13:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome to "The Hidden Gates of Damascus." I want this blog to be a gate from the point of view of a native and of an international traveler. I want it to be a place where I can share my own thoughts and feelings about Syria with Syrians and non-Syrians. I would also like it to be a place where all poeple can share their views about Syria, even if I don't agree with them.

Syria has a rich history with many people from different backgrounds, religions, sects, and cultures. For this reason, we have a very unique society that has emerged from the ruins of many past empires. Even these empires were made up of many different races and cultures.

Throughout our history, we have lost or forgotten many things, and at the same time, we have adapted new ideas. In the present, we still continue to leave many things behind that should not be forgotten.

In this space, I'm going to share information about Ancient Syria, the recent history of Syria, and most importantly, the cultural structure of the society and the recent events that are shaping the mentality of the Syrian youth.

Some of the topics I will be covering include, but are not limited to: the mainstream religions, the lesser known religions, Syrian Atheists, Arabism, Nationalism, musical culture, controversy within the media, problems among youth, freedom of expression, and relationships with the surrounding countries.

I would love this blog to become an interactive forum for Syrians and non-Syrians whatever they may believe. And I hope that we could all share information with each other to create a clearer image of the real Syria.