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Moaz al-Khatib
Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib Al-Hasani (Arabic: أحمد معاذ الخطيب الحسني, born 1960) is a former president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. He is also a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
Born in 1960, Khatib comes from a well-known and notable Sunni Muslim Damascene family. His father, Sheikh Mohammed Abu al-Faraj al-Khatib, was a prominent Islamic scholar and preacher at the Umayyad Mosque.
At university, Khatib studied applied geophysics. He spent six years working for the Al-Furat Petroleum Company, Syria's main oil producer. He is also a member of the Syrian Geological Society and the Syrian Society for Psychological Science; he was president of the Islamic Society of Urbanization. His status as the former imam made him a key figure in Syria's Sunni religious establishment.
Khatib established the Islamic Civilization Society. He taught Sharia (Islamic Law) at the Dutch Institute Sheikh Badr al-Din al-Husni in Damascus, and Daawa (Call to Islam) studies at the Tahzib Institute for Sharia Sciences, as well as traveling extensively to teach internationally.
Khatib has been described as a moderate Islamist. Foreign Policy questioned this, pointing to articles on his website that contained numerous instances of antisemitic writing; including in Khatib's own articles, which also contained a degree of animosity towards the West.
The Syrian journalist and writer Rana Kabbani, a long time friend of Khatib, said, "Over the years, we have had a very intense political conversation about what needed to be done in Syria, long discussions about what was wrong with the society and what could be done about it." Kabbani continued to say, "He comes from an area in the old city of Damascus, a part of the city that was noted for its advocacy against French colonialists, producing freedom fighters. It was a traditional Damascene Muslim scene, a devout Sunni area with a long history of resistance. He cared very deeply about the victims of the 1982 massacre [in the Syrian city of Hama]. He was always seeking for ways to house or educate those [survivors] that the state wanted killed or banished."
He is a supporter of Qatar-based Egyptian Sunni Muslim cleric and preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi. He even placed al-Qaradawi on equal footing with the Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation marked beginning of the Arab Spring. He referred to al-Qaradawi as "our great Imam". Khatib has also referred to Shia Muslims as "rejectionists" and stated that the Shi'ites "establish lies and follow them", on occasions when he spoke to an Arab public. Analysts thus suspect him of adhering to some sectarian anti-Shia (and thus anti-Alawi) resentment. In an interview with Al Jazeera he said it would be better if Alawites would convert to Shia Islam, so they could follow a clear and structured faith. In stark contrast to his speeches and statements in Arabic, on other occasions Khatib has stressed that all creeds will need to be respected within Syria.
He was imprisoned several times for his criticism of the Syrian government during the ongoing armed uprising against President Bashar al-Assad before he fled the country and settled in Cairo. Khatib himself is not allied to any political party. Khatib is an active proponent of political plurality, including equality for women.
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Moaz al-Khatib
Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib Al-Hasani (Arabic: أحمد معاذ الخطيب الحسني, born 1960) is a former president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. He is also a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
Born in 1960, Khatib comes from a well-known and notable Sunni Muslim Damascene family. His father, Sheikh Mohammed Abu al-Faraj al-Khatib, was a prominent Islamic scholar and preacher at the Umayyad Mosque.
At university, Khatib studied applied geophysics. He spent six years working for the Al-Furat Petroleum Company, Syria's main oil producer. He is also a member of the Syrian Geological Society and the Syrian Society for Psychological Science; he was president of the Islamic Society of Urbanization. His status as the former imam made him a key figure in Syria's Sunni religious establishment.
Khatib established the Islamic Civilization Society. He taught Sharia (Islamic Law) at the Dutch Institute Sheikh Badr al-Din al-Husni in Damascus, and Daawa (Call to Islam) studies at the Tahzib Institute for Sharia Sciences, as well as traveling extensively to teach internationally.
Khatib has been described as a moderate Islamist. Foreign Policy questioned this, pointing to articles on his website that contained numerous instances of antisemitic writing; including in Khatib's own articles, which also contained a degree of animosity towards the West.
The Syrian journalist and writer Rana Kabbani, a long time friend of Khatib, said, "Over the years, we have had a very intense political conversation about what needed to be done in Syria, long discussions about what was wrong with the society and what could be done about it." Kabbani continued to say, "He comes from an area in the old city of Damascus, a part of the city that was noted for its advocacy against French colonialists, producing freedom fighters. It was a traditional Damascene Muslim scene, a devout Sunni area with a long history of resistance. He cared very deeply about the victims of the 1982 massacre [in the Syrian city of Hama]. He was always seeking for ways to house or educate those [survivors] that the state wanted killed or banished."
He is a supporter of Qatar-based Egyptian Sunni Muslim cleric and preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi. He even placed al-Qaradawi on equal footing with the Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation marked beginning of the Arab Spring. He referred to al-Qaradawi as "our great Imam". Khatib has also referred to Shia Muslims as "rejectionists" and stated that the Shi'ites "establish lies and follow them", on occasions when he spoke to an Arab public. Analysts thus suspect him of adhering to some sectarian anti-Shia (and thus anti-Alawi) resentment. In an interview with Al Jazeera he said it would be better if Alawites would convert to Shia Islam, so they could follow a clear and structured faith. In stark contrast to his speeches and statements in Arabic, on other occasions Khatib has stressed that all creeds will need to be respected within Syria.
He was imprisoned several times for his criticism of the Syrian government during the ongoing armed uprising against President Bashar al-Assad before he fled the country and settled in Cairo. Khatib himself is not allied to any political party. Khatib is an active proponent of political plurality, including equality for women.
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