MAKKAH — A number of prominent Syrian opposition figures and scholars have called on the Muslim Ummah to support their struggle against the brutal regime of Bashar Al-Assad. More than 30 delegates representing the Syrian opposition performed Haj this year as guests of the Muslim World League (MWL). For them, Haj was not merely an obligatory ritual but rather an opportunity to muster strength for their heroic fight. They met with other Muslim leaders performing Haj to rally support for their cause. Anas Al-Suwaidi, a key opposition activist, was among those who performed Haj as an MWL guest. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, he said the Syrian guests have tried their best to explain the real situation in the country to Muslim leaders from various parts of the world and sought their support to their fight against the Assad regime. He added: “We have had a close interaction with leaders of Islamic communities around the globe. “We are happy to brief them on the real situation and the latest developments in Syria, where the regime has imposed a media blackout.” Al-Suwaidi, who is also imam of a mosque in Homs, one of the opposition strongholds, said a meeting of Syrian scholars hosted by the MWL with Saudi scholars and preachers were held to review the situation. He added: “The meeting discussed the ways and means to extend support and help to Syrian civilians living in extremely dangerous and miserable conditions. “The Syrian scholars who attended the meeting included Sheikh Mamdouh Juneih, a great scholar of Homs; and Sheikh Sari Al-Rifai, imam of the famous Sheikh Abdul Karim Al-Rifai mosque in Damascus.” During Ramadan two worshippers were killed and more than a dozen injured when Assad's thugs stormed the mosque and attacked the faithful. Al-Suwaidi said the opposition would further intensify its fight against the brutal regime after Haj. He said: “We have mustered more strength and determination to fight until we oust the killer regime and Haj served as a powerhouse for us.” He added nearly half of about 35,000 killed in the war were from Homs. Sheikh Abdul Rahman Muhammad, preacher and teacher of the Shariah Institute based in Damascus, recounted to Saudi Gazette the harrowing experience of Syrian civilians living under the Assad regime. He sobbed uncontrollably and could not finish his words when he narrated incidents of women and children being slaughtered and burned in their homes by the Assad forces. He added: “They killed hundreds of my relatives, friends and people in the neighborhood. I have lost at least 15 members of my family.” Sheikh Abdul Rahman said the Assad regime forces are showing no mercy, even to women and children. He added: “They slit the throats of civilians, including women and children, in broad daylight, and set fire to their homes. “We are living an extremely horrific and terrible situation. Nobody knows whether they will be alive the next moment or not.” He said more than 80 percent of the Syrian people are against the regime. “The army, dominated by the Alawite minority, is on a killing spree, and some of them openly declare that killing Sunnis is an obligatory duty for them.” The official Syrian flag was mostly absent from this year's Haj. The pilgrims prayed for the victory of the opposition while they were performing Haj rituals in Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina. They also prayed for the souls of the Syrian martyrs. In Arafat, an old Syrian pilgrim was seen in tears while engaged in supplication. The pilgrim, who refused to disclose his identity, said he was performing Haj on behalf of his 18-year-old son who was killed in the ongoing war. He added: “I performed Haj earlier. Now, I came to perform Haj for my son who was the victim of the ferocious battle in our country. The vast plains of Arafat were soaked with the tears of Syrian pilgrims, who were very few in number due the deadly civil war raging in the country that has claimed so far the lives of nearly 35,000 people, mostly women and children. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied accusations from Damascus that Riyadh barred Syrians from performing Haj. At the same time, the Kingdom had issued some 10,000 Haj visas to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, had issued directives to host 1,200 Syrian refugees. Under the direction of the King, the government had given preferential treatment for Syrian refugees wishing to perform Haj. A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane carrying 450 Syrian refugees reached Jeddah from Beirut on Oct. 24, the first day of Haj.
