Overview

When the convulsions of the Arab Spring first became manifest in Syria in March 2011, the Ba'athist regime was quick to blame the pro- tests on the 'Syrian Muslim Brotherhood' and its 'al-Qaeda affiliates.' But who are these Islamists so determined to rule a post-Assad Syria? Little has been published on militant Islam in Syria since Hafez Assad's regime destroyed the Islamist movement in its stronghold of Hama in February 1982. This book bridges that gap by providing readers with the first comprehensive account of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's history to date. In this ground-breaking account of Syria's most prominent, yet highly secretive, Islamist organisation, the author draws on previously untapped sources: the memoirs of former Syrian jihadists; British and American archives; and also a series of wide-ranging interviews with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's historical leaders as well as those who battled against them - many speaking on the record for the first time. Ashes of Hama uncovers the major aspects of the Islamist struggle: from the Brotherhood's radicalisation and its 'jihad' against the Ba'athist regime and subsequent exile, to a spectacular comeback at the forefront of the Syrian revolution in 2011 - a remarkable turnaround for an Islamist movement which all analysts had pronounced dead amid the ruins of Hama in 1982.

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9781849042857

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Reviews

'No book could be more timely than Lefevre's on the Muslim Brotherhood. Anyone wishing to understand Syria must understand the long and bitter history of the Muslim Brotherhood's struggle with the Assad regime. Islamic groups are poised to take power in Syria - and the Brotherhood is foremost among them. Westerners and Syrians alike who fail to appreciate the importance and centrality of the Brotherhood to Syria's modern history are foolish.' - Joshua M. Landis, Director, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma, and author Syria Comment

'No book could be more timely than Lefevre's on the Muslim Brotherhood. Anyone wishing to understand Syria must understand the long and bitter history of the Muslim Brotherhood's struggle with the Assad regime. Islamic groups are poised to take power in Syria - and the Brotherhood is foremost among them. Westerners and Syrians alike who fail to appreciate the importance and centrality of the Brotherhood to Syria's modern history are foolish.' - Joshua M. Landis, Director, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma, and author Syria Comment 'A fascinating study that unravels the complexity of dynamics between radical and more moderate currents within the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and its most radical offshoots that were primarily responsible for prematurely provoking the Ba'th regime into the tragic bloodbath of Hama in 1982. Lefevre explains how today's Syrian Revolution provided the Brotherhood with a golden opportunity to make a historical comeback to the forefront of Syrian politics, after decennia of relentless repression by the Syrian Ba'th regime.' - Nikolaos van Dam, author of The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society Under Asad and the Ba'th Party, and former Ambassador of the Netherlands to Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Germany and Indonesia 'When the Assad regime has fallen and the bloodletting finally ends, the Muslim Brotherhood - the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen - will likely command centre stage in the new Syria. Yet the movement is little understood and much misrepresented. This highly readable and impressively researched account could not be more welcome - or more timely.' - Alan George, Senior Associate Member, St Antony's College, Oxford University, and author of Syria: Neither Bread Nor Freedom

Author Information

Raphael Lefevre is a Gates Scholar and PhD student at King's College, Cambridge University, where he also earned an MPhil in International Relations. He has published extensively on the Syrian Islamic movement and is the co-author of State and Islam in Baathist Syria: Confrontation or Co-optation?

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