Sulayman al-Murshid

Sulayman al-Murshid aka Salaman al-Murshid سلمان المرشد born in 1905 in Beit Burghal village a mile away from Qurdaha the birth place of late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in the Province of Lattakia.

Early beginnings

al-Murshid who became a leader of an Alawite sect (al-Murshideyyah) that worshiped him, was lured to this in his youth by some Magi, after his experiencing epilepsy attacks to make him think that he held the virtual sword of Ali ibn Abu talib in his hand, but the sword was hidden from view to others.

He had religious followers from the villages of Beit-Burghal Qurdaha and other Alawite (Nusairi) sect villages in the mountains near the Syrian East-Middeteranean coast.

He amassed huge amount of money by sending his followers to make the uneducated villagers ( especially elderly women) to sign away their properties to him under the guise of special taxes (for him being a god).After over two hundred complaints reached the capital city of Damascus, the government of newly independent Syria sent an investigation team to Beit Burghal village. The invastigation team was even invited by Sulayman to Dinner but attacked on their way to the dinner and several soldiers died.

Excecution

al-Murshid was taken into custody in the nearby city of Lattakia awaiting his trial. He was condemned to death along with two of his assistants Fawzi Abbass and Muhammad Drubi. He was hanged in Damascus in the summer of 1947 few months before the outbreak of fighting in nearby Palestine after the British withdrawal. Syrian government was then busy sending army and volunteers to help the Palestinians. Salman's last words were "May God not forgive France for she was the reason"

eparatist Movement

Mr. Sulayman al-Murshid was himself a proponent and leader of a separatist movement in the Alawite mountains. He was a member in the Syrian Parliament to represent his village country-side. He allegedly had ties with the French Military Intelligence Service branch in Syria. They protected him from the Syrian government that was still under -occupation until French withdrawal and Syrian Independence in April 1946. Villagers were encouraged by Salman's fall from French protection, sent hundreds of legal complaints to Damascus about al-Murshid forced-abduction of their land properties.France divided Syria into several federal states in 1920 and assigned the Province of Lattakia which include the Sea coast of Syria and adjacent mountains, as Alawite State.The Syrian political and military uprisings forced the French Occupation to cancel these mini states in 1939.Sulayman al-Murshid along with thirty prominent Alawite figures, including the father of Prezident Hafez al-Assad, signed a petition to Paris to revoke the 1939 arrangements which also separated the then-Alawite Province of Alexanderetta (Eskandaron) to Hatay province of Turkey.

al-Murshid armed followers encouraged by the presence of the French Military Intelligence Service commandant visits to al-Murshid in his village, and attacked and engaged sieged the police quarters in Qurdaha several times before Independence.

Religious Sect created

al-Murshid created a religious sect in the Alawites that centered around him as a savior-figure and a latter-days God-incarnate.He used several tricks to fool people such as spilling milk and honey from under his sleeves upon request from hungry villagers, and make himself light in the darkness of the night using French-provided! advanced batteries hidden under his belt. He increased the shining by painting his interior skin in phosphorus fluerescent paint to more impress the villagers and prove his Godness.

His gangs roamed villages including non Alawite villages (Christian villages) demanding the people who they stop and intercept to admit allegiance to Sulayman as their God, but they were repulsed from non-Alawite villages.He was a member of the Haydariah clan/sect in the Alawite community/sect which is itself already considered an off-shoot shia sect that are also offshooted by Sunni who represent the majority in Syria. The Alawites literally worshipped Ali ibn Abu Talib the cousin of the Prophet as a God-incarnate (read Daniel Pipes). al-Murshid was supposed to be the shia figure known as The Way (Báb) ushering in the coming of muslim messiah Al-Mahdi.

Aftermath and Late Consequences

The followers of al-Murshid known as Murshidiyya المرشديه continued secretly under the leadership of his second son Mujib who claimed to be the re-incarnation of the deity again in himself.

The Murshideyya were persecuted by the Syrian police for their continuous uprisings and past separatist tendencies, but they were favoured by President Hafez al-Assad who came to power in 1970. He was himself an Alawite.The sect was encouraged to enroll in the army especially in the Mountainous Brigade known as Saraya al Difaa (meaning Defense phalanges) under the commandment of the brother of the President named Rifaat al-Assad.This brigade was created to protect the Ba'ath regime that is now becoming dominated by Alawite minority.

This notorious brigade was instrumental in the massacre of the legendary Sunni city of Hama (Hama Massacre) in 1982 in which about 40,000 sunni citizens were massacred according to Rifaat himself, in the first week of February 1982.

The Murshideyya followers who are still a secret society even to the alawaite community scared Rifaat during his attempt to seize power from his brother in 1983. The followers allegedly sided with the President and suggested assassinating Rifaat, bringing into remembrance the legacy of the Assassins sect (Hashshashin that thrived in the Middle Ages in the same mountainous area during the crusade wars.

References

"al-Rabb al-muzayyaf Salmān al-Murshid" ( الرب المزيف سلمان المرشد meaning The False God Salman Al-Murshid)by ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz Karam, Damascus: Maṭbaʻat Dimashq, 1947, OCLC:27945973--Princeton University.