Mufti Abdel Latif Deriane votes in the Sunni Supreme Council elections on Oct. 1, 2023. (Credit: Hussam Shbaro)
Things are shifting in Sunni circles. On Saturday, Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian is expected in Damascus for talks with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, seven months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship.“A simple congratulatory visit, nothing more,” a source close to Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni authority, told L’Orient-Le Jour. The context, here Lebanon and Syria: A relationship to reinvent But given that it comes just days after the mufti raised his tone, calling “any marginalization of Sunnis” in Lebanon unacceptable, it’s hard to ignore the political dimension of the trip. This is especially true since the fall of the Assad regime and the erosion of Iranian influence in the Middle East have created a rare window for the Sunni community to stage a political comeback.“The mufti issued his warning about the...
Things are shifting in Sunni circles. On Saturday, Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian is expected in Damascus for talks with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, seven months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship.“A simple congratulatory visit, nothing more,” a source close to Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni authority, told L’Orient-Le Jour. The context, here Lebanon and Syria: A relationship to reinvent But given that it comes just days after the mufti raised his tone, calling “any marginalization of Sunnis” in Lebanon unacceptable, it’s hard to ignore the political dimension of the trip. This is especially true since the fall of the Assad regime and the erosion of Iranian influence in the Middle East have created a rare window for the Sunni community to stage a political comeback.“The mufti issued his warning...