Page 228 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

The Winter of

ISLAM

and the Spring to Come SYRIA

The history of terrible

oppression hidden
from the world

S yria, with its 75 percent Muslim, 11

percent Nusayri, and 9 percent
Christian population, has a long
Islamic past and a deep-rooted cultural her-
itage. Many Islamic scholars have come
from this land.
Syria was conquered during the time
of Khalif Omar, and came to be ruled in turn
by Umayyads, Abbasids, Seljuks and
Ayyubids. The lands of Syria became part of
the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and they lived
in peace and security until the first part of
the nineteenth century. In 1831 Syria fell
into the hands of Muhammad Ali Pasha,
who rebelled against the Ottomans and set
up his own government. Syria then re-
turned to Ottoman rule until it was occu-
pied by French forces in 1920. The French