Religion and State in Syria
The Sunni Ulama from Coup to Revolution

This book affords a new perspective on Syria as it stands at the crossroads of political, social and religious fragmentation.

Thomas Pierret (Author)

9781107026414, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 March 2013

294 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.5 kg

'… Thomas Pierret has done the world a service with Religion and State in Syria: The Sunni Ulama from Coup to Revolution. The book portrays a holistic analysis of condensed historical events from 1920 to 2012 … The book will be of interest to both academics and a more general readership.' Ahmed Sajjad, Middle East Policy

While Syria has been dominated since the 1960s by a determinedly secular regime, the 2011 uprising has raised many questions about the role of Islam in the country's politics. This book demonstrates that with the eradication of the Muslim Brothers after the failed insurrection of 1982, Sunni men of religion became the only voice of the Islamic trend in the country. Through educational programs, charitable foundations and their deft handling of tribal and merchant networks, they took advantage of popular disaffection with secular ideologies to increase their influence over society. In recent years, with the Islamic resurgence, the Alawi-dominated Ba'thist regime was compelled to bring the clergy into the political fold. This relationship was exposed in 2011 by the division of the Sunni clergy between regime supporters, bystanders and opponents. This book affords a new perspective on Syrian society as it stands at the crossroads of political and social fragmentation.

1. The era of the 'founding sheikhs' (1920–79)
2. Landscapes after the battle (1979–2007)
3. (Re)defining orthodoxy against reformist trends
4. The turban and the chequebook: political economy of the Syrian religious elite
5. Ulama and Islamists in the political field
6. Reforms and revolution
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Political structure & processes [JPH], Politics & government [JP], Religion & politics [HRAM2]