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Issam al-Attar
NameIssam al-Attar
Other Names{{{other_names}}}
Personal Details
Birth PlaceSyria
Brith Date1927 CE
Death PlaceGermany
Death Date2024 CE
ReligionIslam

Issam al-Attar was an Islamic preacher, literary writer, poet, thinker, educator, member of the Syrian parliament[citation needed], and former leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. He was the brother of Dr. Najah al-Attar, former Vice President for Cultural and Media Affairs of Syria, and his wife was the preacher and writer Banan al-Tantawi, daughter of Sheikh Ali al-Tantawi and granddaughter of the late Huda Abdin, a human rights activist.

Biography

He was born in 1927 in Damascus, belonging to a family that was religiously Shafi'i and known in Damascus as people of knowledge and hadith; who held the chair of hadith and preaching at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus for decades. He was the brother of Najah al-Attar, former Minister of Culture to the President of Syria, and husband of Banan al-Tantawi, daughter of Sheikh Ali al-Tantawi. In 1981, unknown individuals assassinated Banan in Aachen, Germany with five bullets, which was a turning point in Attar's life. During World War I, Attar's father was exiled to Istanbul, and afterwards he returned to his country with field experience, and Issam grew up like his father and was also interested in poetry. His sister Najah al-Attar was the Second Vice President of Syria under President Bashar al-Assad in 2006 and prior to that was the Minister of Cultural and Media Affairs.

Works

  1. Our Islamic Country and the Struggle for Influence (بلادنا الاسلامیة وصراع النفوذ).
  2. Spiritual Crisis (أزمة روحیة).
  3. Islam's View on Alliance with the West (رأی الإسلام فی التحالف مع الغرب).
  4. Faith and Its Impact on Individual and Community Education (الإیمان وأثره فی تربیة الفرد والمجتمع).
  5. Words (كلمات).
  6. Revolution of Truth (ثورة الحق)
  7. From the Remnants of Days (من بقایا الأیام).
  8. Departure, a poetry book (رحیل).

Activities

Al-Attar's first steps to enter the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood organization were by joining the "Shabab Muhammad" group, which was among the Muslim Brotherhood associations. Members of the Shabab Muhammad group, who taught the foundations of Islamist Islam, went to villages to deliver sermons for Friday prayer, and perhaps from here Attar liked the idea of this group and joined it.

Attar is one of the founders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and undertook his first organizational responsibility in 1955 in the last century when a conference was held in Damascus in the presence of main Syrian sheikhs.

From the pulpit of the mosque of Damascus University, in the presence of thousands of students and professors, he expressed his beliefs and continued to criticize and attack the current regime and the Assad government until the last days of his life.

Issam al-Attar attacked the government of President Adib Shishakli in 1951, and before his relatives advised him to go to Egypt, an arrest warrant was issued for him. When Attar returned to Syria after the Hajj pilgrimage, he was prevented from entering Syria, and Attar traveled between Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, and Belgium until he landed in the city of Aachen, Germany. When the illness of Mustafa al-Siba'i became severe, Attar was chosen as the successor and leader of the group in Syria in 1964, and remained the leader of this group in Syria until 1973.

Political activity

al-Attar began his path in Islamic work and activity with the association "Our Master Muhammad Youth" and his first connection was with the Muslim Brotherhood, as it was one of the associations that later founded this group along with "Dar al-Arqam" in Aleppo and "al-Ansar" in Deir ez-Zor and the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama, all of which are movements that established the Muslim Brotherhood in 1945 by Mustafa al-Siba'i.

al-Attar was known for his openness towards all movements and groups that might agree or disagree with the Muslim Brotherhood, and his goal was to bring together the people of Syria and unite their ranks for the sake of the country.

It was also known about him that he did not fear those in power, so he expressed his thoughts as he wished, and this affected him in two ways:

  • First, he became famous and influenced many people and gained his position in society.
  • The other was that he paid the price for his words. He issued an arrest warrant for him in 1951 and he was forced to seek refuge in Egypt.

His departure to Egypt was on the advice of his close associates, including Ali al-Tantawi, and there al-Ikhwan met with Hassan al-Hudaybi and Abd al-Qadir Audah and collaborated with them in the group's leadership committee. al-Attar also met with Sayyid Qutb, Al-Bashir al-Ibrahimi, Mahmoud Shakir, and Abd al-Wahhab Azzam.

He was forced to return to Damascus in 1952 upon learning of his father's illness and was able to see him a few days before his death. In 1954, al-Attar was elected as the executive office of the Muslim Brotherhood and led demonstrations that protested the execution of preachers that year.

The following year, he was elected as Secretary-General of the Islamic Conference Organization, which included senior Syrian sheikhs. The office of this group was in Damascus, before electing a representative and spokesperson on its behalf, at one time he took responsibility for controlling the whole and the executive office.


March 8 Coup

On 8 March 1963, the Ba'athists of Syria staged a military coup and the National Council led by Major General Luay al-Atassi was appointed. Then the head of state and his prime minister were arrested, and al-Attar was invited with 12 others to participate in the formation of the government.

al-Attar refused to participate in the government, saying: I cannot accept participating in a life that says it is democratic but came through a military coup, and these elections will not last long until it is overthrown again. al-Attar called for the formation of a coalition government in which everyone participates. The coup power had no choice but to surrender and free President Nazim al-Qudsi and return him to the presidency.

A year later, he decided to go for Hajj and his trip was one-way, and fear of the continuation of his influence in political life prevented his entry into the country and he went to Lebanon. There he went to Brussels, where he was paralyzed in 1968, then went to Germany as a political refugee.


Exile

al-Siba'i died in 1964 and al-Attar was prevented from entering Syria and participating in his friend's funeral, so al-Attar decided to leave Lebanon for Germany and afterwards was elected as the supervisor of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria from Exile. He remained in his position until 1973 (CE).

He tried to resign several times and step down from his position, but his mind changed and he said: I practically withdrew from working in the group in the late seventies, but when Resolution 49 was issued and an execution order was issued for him.


Assassination attempts

al-Attar was subjected to multiple assassination attempts, the first of which was in 1963 when he was present at al-Tantawi's house, but this attempt failed. He was constantly on the move in Germany because the German government told him that armed men were pursuing him and wanted to kill him.

al-Attar remained this way for a year and a half and commuted in Germany until his wife Banan (daughter of al-Tantawi) was assassinated on 17 March 1981, which had a great impact on him.


Death

Issam al-Attar, former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and a serious opponent of the government of Bashar al-Assad, died at dawn on Friday, 4 May 2019 (CE), after a long illness, at the age of 97 in the city of Aachen, Germany.


See also

References

Template:Islamic scholars

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