Who is Abu Muhammad Al Jolani, Syria's new leader?

[Laser]

Abu Muhammad Al-Jolani’s actual name is Ahmad Hussein al-Sharaʿ.

The family is from the Syrian city of Fīq (فيق) in the Golan Heights which was historically part of the Quneitra Governorate. They owned about 85% of the land in the city. The city also is the hometown of the famous Syrian director Hatem Ali (Rahimahullah) who produced the famous television series "Umar" which details the life of Umar ibn Al Khattab (ra).

This is a picture of al-Jolani’s father, Hussain al-Sharaʿ, an academic at an economic symposium in Damascus in 1992. He was a political dissident in his youth because he was a Nasserist and not a Ba'athist which forced him to leave Syria for a time. He spent a number of stints in Syrian prisons for his dissent.

Hussain al-Sharaʿ wrote a book on his vision for the future of Syria “A Reading on the Resurrection of Syria” (قراءة في القيامة السورية). In that book, one sees a very pluralistic vision for Syrian society. So, al-Jolani’s statements on tolerance are evoking his father’s vision.

Jolani's distant uncle is Farouk al-Sharaa, who was the Syrian foreign minister (1984-2006), Syrian vice president (2006-2014) and a member of Ba'ath party central command (2000-2013).

His paternal grandfather, Ali Mohammed al-Sharaa, was a large landowner and tradesman in the city of Fiq. His great-grandfather, Mohammed Khalid al-Sharaa (1899–1932), played a significant role in the Great Syrian Revolt against the French occupation of Syria. He was sentenced to death in absentia for his involvement in the revolt, though the sentence was never carried out.

 

[Laser]

Jolani's family lived in the affluent Mezzah neighborhood and Al-Shara later opened an estate brokerage. The family also earned income from a supermarket run mainly by Jolani’s brothers. This economically self-sufficient urban home environment was where Jolani, the youngest of the boys, grew up. The only disturbance in this otherwise quiet childhood was the epithet nazeh (“displaced”), which followed the family everywhere - a constant reminder of their Golan origins.
Jolani began his path of Jihadism in his late teens when he was influenced Syrian cleric Abu Al Qaqa and a mosque frequented by Hamas' syrian leadership including current leader of Hamas Khaled Mashal. Jolani had close connections to many of Hamas' leadership through this mosque. He soon began growing out his beard and wearing a thobe. This was furthered by the the second intifada in 2000. Jolani also supported the 9/11 attacks 2001 as a teenager.

Drawn to resist the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, he landed in Baghdad after a long bus ride from Damascus just a few weeks before US forces did. In 2003, with the support of jihadi logistical networks in Syria, Jolani moved to Iraq, where he joined Saraya al-Mujahideen, Saraya al-Mujahideen swore allegiance to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after he established al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2004, which subsequently became the Islamic State (IS). Jolani was captured relatively early on, in late 2004, and remained in detention until the early months of 2010, preventing him from assuming a leadership position. He was imprisoned at Camp Bucca, an infamous US military detention centre near Umm Qasr, Iraq, where he met senior leaders of ISIS, including Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.

Mugshot of Jolani in 2006

 

[Laser]

After the beginning of the revolution in Syria in 2011, Jolani thinking of how he could use this to further the Islamist cause. However the leader of the Islamic state of Iraq (ISI) were hesitant to support his new venture. providing him with 50,000 dollars, 6 fighters, and 60 rifles so he could set up the Syrian branch of ISI, Jabhat Al Nusra (JN) or the Al Nusra Front. Jolani has described Baghdadi as incompetent and uncharismatic in latter interviews

Unlike in Iraq Jolani worked with the secular rebels in the Free Syrian Army much to the chagrin of Al Baghdadi who ordered Jolani to kill the secular rebels. After Baghdadi attempted to completely gain control of JN in 2013 Jolani renewed his allegiance to Al Qaeda's general branch. Following ISIS's assassination of Abu Khalid Al Suri, the leader of a moderate Islamist group Ahrar Al Sham, and breaking away from Al Qaeda Jolani declared war on his former boss. HTS killed the 4th caliph of ISIS in 2023 and the two remain bitter enemies to this day.

Jolani also began showing signs of his focus on state building in his early years of JN. In his first interview with Al Jazeera Jolani emphasized the need to build state institutions along with implementing Hudud punishments. This recent talk about insitutions isnt PR or a shift to liberalism but simply an extension of his usual rhetoric.

 

[Laser]

Jolani officially cut ties with Al Qaeda in 2017 and formed HTS by uniting JN with other Islamist groups in Idlib. By 2020 the Syrian civil war reached a stalemate and Jolani governed only half of Idlib province following regime offensives in late 2019. For the next four years Jolani destroyed all groups opposing him including Hurras Al Din (AQ's new Syrian affliate) and ISIS symapthizers. He purged hardliners from his ranks and gain complete control over Idlib. Many of his Jihadist enemies were put in prisons which have been described as draconian.

After solidifying his power in Idlib Jolani began building his sate, through a civilian wing called the Syrian Salvation government (SSG). The SSG provided Electricity, Services, Free Public Education, financed the building of mosques and churches, and so much more. SSG run areas resisted the 2023 earthquakes far better than those run by Assad. By 2024 most analysts recognized that the SSG was far more competent and better run than the regime. Using night-time light emissions, it becomes clear that Assad's regime stood over a stagnant economy, while the opposition oversaw an expanding one. The victor was the one that created economic progress.

Just look at the lights: Assad’s territory was growing poorer as opposition’s economy advanced | The Strategist

Explanation is in illumination. To understand why the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell so suddenly in Syria in the past week, just note how night-time lights faded in cities it controlled. Lighting is an indicator ...

www.aspistrategist.org.au

 

[Laser]

In summation Jolani has always been a pragmatist and a state builder. His ideology is the same Technocratic Islamism that was once advocated by the Muslim Brotherhood's more economic liberal wing. Jolani has built a state in Syria which was superior to Assad's in all ways, it implemented Sharia and hudood punishments along with massively improving the economy of regions it controlled. His ties to the palestinian resistance and occupied golan heights makes him a far better choice vis-a-vis the Israeli threat compared to Assad. He has never been an extremist like Baghdadi.

 

[PilferingKombucha]

Amazing thread,walaal.