Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Syrian Druze rebel leaders have denied media reports that Islamist rebels are forcing Syrian Druze villages in Idlib to publicly embrace Islam. Earlier this week, The Times of Israel reported that “Al-Qaeda fighters in Syria forced residents of 14 Druze villages located in an isolated area to convert to Islam,” with this report later being picked up by international media.
In exclusive comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, a spokesman for the rebel Sweida Revolutionary Military Council, Amer Shafiq, denied the reports that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was forcing members of the Syrian Druze community to proclaim their Islamic identity. He said: “No Druze has been forced to proclaim any faith that contradicts his religious convictions.”
The Druze sect is an offshoot of Ismailism, itself a branch of Shia Islam. Although Druze do proclaim the shahada—the central tenet of Islam that there is no God but God and Muhammad is his messenger—it is usually only after many years when they feel they have reached an esoteric understanding of its meaning. Therefore many Muslims question their status, as the sect incorporates some beliefs not traditionally found in Islam.