Syrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has dismissed an online controversy over videos showing him instructing a young woman to cover her hair before taking a picture with her last week.
The incident drew criticism from liberal and conservative commentators amid intense speculation about the region’s future after the rebels took power.
Liberals saw the request by the head of the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as a sign that he may want to implement an Islamic system in Syria after leading the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, while hard-liners criticized him. agreeing to be photographed with a woman in the first place.
“I didn’t force him. But it’s my personal freedom. I want to be photographed the way I deserve,” Sharaa said this in an interview with Jeremy Bowen of the BBC.
This woman, Lea Kheirallah, also said that this request did not bother her.
He said he asked “in a gentle and fatherly way”, and said he thought “the leader has the right to be expressed in the way he sees fit”.
However, the incident highlighted some of the difficulties any future Syrian leader may face in persuading and unifying a religiously diverse country.
Sunni Muslims make up the majority of the population, with the remainder divided between Christians, Alawites, Druze and Ismailis.
There are also different opinions in different political and armed groups that opposed Assad, some want a democratic government and others want to rule according to Islamic law.
HTS, which was part of al-Qaeda, first imposed strict rules of conduct and dress code when it took control of the rebel stronghold of Idlib in 2017. However, it repealed those laws in recent years due to public criticism.
The Quran, the holy book of Islam, tells Muslims – men and women – to dress modestly.
A man’s modesty is interpreted as covering the area from the navel to the knee – while for women it is generally considered to cover everything except the face, hands and feet when in front of unrelated or single men.
Lea Kheirallah asked to take a picture with Sharaa – previously known by her name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – during a visit to the Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus on 10 December.
Before she agreed, Sharaa showed her to cover her hair and she agreedlifting the hat from his jumper and standing next to him looking at the picture.
Many video clips and photos of the incident were shared on social media, sparking outrage among ordinary users and media commentators.
Liberals or conservatives see it as a worrying vision of a possible future for Syria under HTS, fearing increasingly conservative policies such as the requirement that all women wear the hijab, or headscarf.
France’s Arabic channel 24 discussed the incident, the article asking if Syria is “moving towards an Islamic regime”.
Others were sharp in their condemnation. One Syrian journalist said: “We replaced a dictator with one dictator.”
On social media, some commentators have warned that “extremists” are rising to power, while others have criticized the “forcedness of a liberal woman” to look conservative.
Muslim posters on Telegram criticized Sharaa for agreeing to be photographed and photographed next to a young woman in the first place.
Some called Ms Kheirallah a “mutabarijah” – a derogatory term for women who are considered to be inappropriately dressed or defamed.
Such strong figures ranged from academics to influential commentators whose opinions are often shared and read by Syria-focused communities online, and may have reached HTS supporters and potential officials.
Most of them appear to be based in Syria, especially in the former rebel-held area of Idlib that was controlled by HTS, while some have served in the ranks of HTS.
They say it is not religiously permissible for men and women who are not related to them to work closely together and accuse Sharaa of seeking “vain public attention” and showing “indulgence” in matters that go against the strict teachings of the religion.
A post on one Telegram channel called Min Idlib (From Idlib) said the HTS leader is “too busy taking selfies with young ladies” to meet demands for the release of prisoners from HTS prisons in Idlib.
Many conservative figures who have spoken out against the image have criticized Sharaa in the past on political and religious grounds, and include clerics who have left HTS.
