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Jaysh al-Islam
Jaysh al-Islam (Arabic: جيش الإسلام, romanized: Jayš al-ʾIslām, meaning Army of Islam), formerly known as Liwa al-Islam (Arabic: لواء الإسلام, Brigade of Islam), was a coalition of Islamist rebel units involved in the Syrian Civil War.
The group was part of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council until December 2013, but in November 2013 started the Syrian Islamic Front and the next month broke with the SMC and the Free Syrian Army.
Its primary base of operations was the Damascus area, particularly the city of Douma and the rest of the region of Eastern Ghouta, where Jaysh al-Islam was the largest rebel faction, as was Liwa al-Islam before. Following the fall of Ghouta to Assad's forces, Jaysh al-Islam retreated to areas controlled by the Turkish Backed Free Syrian Army, where it reportedly joined the FSA, after years of separation from FSA command.
The group along with Ahrar al-Sham was among the main rebel groups supported by Saudi Arabia. The group has promoted an Islamic state under Sharia law. In 2015, its then leader claimed in an interview to be seeking for the Syrian government to be replaced by a "technocratic body that represents the diversity of the Syrian people". After the fall of the Assad regime, the group has been incorporated into the newly installed Syrian Army under the transitional government, but its military leader Issam Bouidani (al-Buwaydhani) was arrested at Dubai International Airport in 2025.
Liwa al-Islam was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011, where he had been serving time for his Salafist The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Assef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. Liwa al-Islam was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with the al-Nusra Front.
On 29 September 2013, 50 rebel factions operating mostly around Damascus announced their merger into a new group called Jaysh al-Islam. Liwa al-Islam was the dominant faction in this merger, and its leader Zahran Alloush was announced as the leader of Jaysh al-Islam. Thirty-eight of the original groups listed as joining the merger were already members of, or affiliated with, Liwa al Islam. In September or earlier, Jaysh spokesman Islam Alloush had criticized the Syrian National Coalition, stating that the SNC should be led by those who are fighting in Syria rather than leaders in exile, but felt not (yet) inclined to outright break with the SNC.
By November 2013, 60 groups had merged into Jaysh al-Islam, and more than 175 rebel groups around Syria expressed a desire to join it.
The new group's creation was said to have been negotiated and spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, who believed that al-Nusra Front was gaining too much strength. After the merger, The Guardian reported that Saudi Arabia was preparing to give the group millions of dollars to "arm and train" its fighters, and use instructors from Pakistan to help train the group.
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Jaysh al-Islam
Jaysh al-Islam (Arabic: جيش الإسلام, romanized: Jayš al-ʾIslām, meaning Army of Islam), formerly known as Liwa al-Islam (Arabic: لواء الإسلام, Brigade of Islam), was a coalition of Islamist rebel units involved in the Syrian Civil War.
The group was part of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council until December 2013, but in November 2013 started the Syrian Islamic Front and the next month broke with the SMC and the Free Syrian Army.
Its primary base of operations was the Damascus area, particularly the city of Douma and the rest of the region of Eastern Ghouta, where Jaysh al-Islam was the largest rebel faction, as was Liwa al-Islam before. Following the fall of Ghouta to Assad's forces, Jaysh al-Islam retreated to areas controlled by the Turkish Backed Free Syrian Army, where it reportedly joined the FSA, after years of separation from FSA command.
The group along with Ahrar al-Sham was among the main rebel groups supported by Saudi Arabia. The group has promoted an Islamic state under Sharia law. In 2015, its then leader claimed in an interview to be seeking for the Syrian government to be replaced by a "technocratic body that represents the diversity of the Syrian people". After the fall of the Assad regime, the group has been incorporated into the newly installed Syrian Army under the transitional government, but its military leader Issam Bouidani (al-Buwaydhani) was arrested at Dubai International Airport in 2025.
Liwa al-Islam was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011, where he had been serving time for his Salafist The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Assef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. Liwa al-Islam was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with the al-Nusra Front.
On 29 September 2013, 50 rebel factions operating mostly around Damascus announced their merger into a new group called Jaysh al-Islam. Liwa al-Islam was the dominant faction in this merger, and its leader Zahran Alloush was announced as the leader of Jaysh al-Islam. Thirty-eight of the original groups listed as joining the merger were already members of, or affiliated with, Liwa al Islam. In September or earlier, Jaysh spokesman Islam Alloush had criticized the Syrian National Coalition, stating that the SNC should be led by those who are fighting in Syria rather than leaders in exile, but felt not (yet) inclined to outright break with the SNC.
By November 2013, 60 groups had merged into Jaysh al-Islam, and more than 175 rebel groups around Syria expressed a desire to join it.
The new group's creation was said to have been negotiated and spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, who believed that al-Nusra Front was gaining too much strength. After the merger, The Guardian reported that Saudi Arabia was preparing to give the group millions of dollars to "arm and train" its fighters, and use instructors from Pakistan to help train the group.