Why is Syria reshaping faith and classroom?

 

The transition of power in the contemporary Middle East is rarely a simple exchange of administrative keys; rather, it is a profound reconstruction of the national psyche. For the nascent "New Syrian Administration," the conquest of the state serves as a mere precursor to an ideological terraforming of society. By examining the governance shift under the transitional leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa and drawing parallels to Pakistan’s foundational frameworks, a sophisticated strategic logic emerges. Education and minority relations are transformed from social policies into instruments of state-building: used to secure political legitimacy and establish a "God-centered" monopoly over national identity.

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The Divine Mandate: Shifting from Sectarianism to Theocracy

The collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024 terminated over five decades of a hereditary sectarian totalitarian apparatus. While the Ba'athist regime was characterized by its brutality, it maintained a facade of secular Arab nationalism to justify its grip. In contrast, the rise of the caretaker government under Ahmed al-Sharaa—formerly the emir of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—demands a new source of authority.

For the al-Sharaa administration, the five-year transitional period (2025–2030) is a race to replace secular identity with a theological foundation. The primary directive of the state has fundamentally shifted: the government no longer exists to defend a specific family or border, but to fulfill the mission of "Defending Allah." Within this framework, education is no longer a public service; it is a primary state tool intended to align the populace with a specific ideological orientation. Is it possible for a state to maintain modern sovereignty while subordinating its legal framework to divine jurisprudence? According to the March 2025 Constitutional Declaration, the answer is a centralized presidency where Islamic law is the "principal source of legislation" (Article 3).

Rewriting the Future: The Logic of Curriculum Reform

The 2025 interim curriculum implemented by the Syrian caretaker government serves as the ideological blueprint for this new state. By revising textbooks, the administration is actively engineering a vacuum of secular and scientific thought.

Comparative Curriculum Analysis (2024 vs. 2025)

Element	Ba'athist Era Curriculum	Islamist Interim (2025)	Strategic Geopolitical Logic
Core National Directive	Defending the Nation / Pan-Arabism	"Defending Allah"	Replaces secular patriotism with a divine mandate; dissent becomes a theological offense.
Origins of the Universe	Scientific (Big Bang, Evolution)	Systematic Removal	Eliminates narratives that challenge the state’s monopoly on the "Truth."
Pre-Islamic History	Inclusive (Arameans, Canaanites)	Marginalized/Removed	Erasure of indigenous history to delegitimize non-Islamic claims to the land.
Female Roles	Celebrated (e.g., Queen Zenobia)	"Fictional Character"	Downplays secular female agency to align with the "biological nature" doctrine.
Minority Status	Secular "Citizenship"	"Jews and Christians"	Uses Quranic categorizations to establish a hierarchical social order.

The erasure of the Aramean and Canaanite past is a tactical move of significant weight. By branding these indigenous groups as irrelevant or "pagan," the state severs the link between the Syrian people and a non-Islamic heritage. This systematic scrubbing ensures that no historical or scientific alternative to the "God-centered" narrative persists.

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The Paradox of Inclusivity and International Image

Contradicting this internal ideological hardening, the al-Sharaa government approved a landmark policy in December 2025: the restoration of Jewish property and synagogues. This included licensing the Jewish Heritage in Syria Foundation, led by Henry Hamra, to restore the Jobar synagogue in Damascus: a site dating back to 720 BCE.

From an analytical perspective, this outreach is not a move toward genuine pluralism, but a calculated maneuver to shed the administration's pariah status. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) 2025 Annual Threat Assessment notes that the transition has created conditions for "extended instability," making international legitimacy a survival requirement. The motivations are three-fold:

1. Reconstruction Investment: Courting the diaspora to attract capital that international donors might otherwise withhold.

2. Image Management: Providing a visual counter-narrative to accusations of extremism for a Western audience.

3. Sanctions Relief: Leveraging minority protections as a bargaining chip; notably, the U.S. removed HTS from foreign terrorist designations in July 2025 as a conditional response.

Religious Identity as a State Foundation: Syria vs. Pakistan

The strategic use of faith in Syria mirrors the foundational logic of Pakistan's "Two-Nation Theory," which posits that religious identity is the only viable basis for nationality. However, this creates a persistent tension between central state-building and local extremism.

In December 2020, a mob destroyed a 100-year-old Hindu shrine in Teri, Pakistan. The Supreme Court's subsequent order for the perpetrators to pay for reconstruction highlights the "international embarrassment" that radical elements cause for a state seeking global legitimacy. Syria faces a similar internal conflict: while Damascus promotes the restoration of synagogues to gain diplomatic favor, its curriculum and the March 2025 massacres of Alawite civilians—where the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported over 1,000 deaths—reveal the inherent volatility of a state built on sectarian purity.

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Social Control and the "Biological Nature" of Women

The most rigid application of the Islamist blueprint is the redefinition of women’s roles. The rejection of secular "feminist organizations" is framed as a necessity because they contradict the state’s "ideological orientation."

The administration’s logic, as articulated by spokesperson Obaida Arnaout, claims that the "biological and psychological nature" of women makes them unfit for high-level positions, such as the Ministry of Defense. This rhetoric was physically manifested in January 2025 when President al-Sharaa pointedly refused to shake the hand of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The appointment of Aisha al-Dibs as Head of Women’s Affairs further exemplifies this "Islamic Feminism," where a female-led office is utilized to dismantle female autonomy by framing restrictions as a return to the "natural order."

"The avoidance of secular autonomy is the prerequisite for a society governed by divine jurisprudence."

Conclusion: The 2030 Horizon

The policy shifts observed in Syria demonstrate that for Islamist administrations, the classroom is as much a battlefield as the front line. The "2025 Interim Constitution of Syria" has set a clear end-date for this transformation: 2030. Within this five-year window, the state is building a social structure designed to be immune to secular dissent. These policies: from the performative restoration of a synagogue to the removal of science textbooks: are all bricks in an ideological blueprint intended to ensure the "God-centered" state survives against both internal rivals and external pressures.