Syria Today | Q&A: Mahmoud Abu al-Hudda al-Husseini

Q&A: Mahmoud Abu al-Hudda al-Husseini
Director of Religious Endowments Department in Aleppo

By Obaida Hamad
Photos Emma LeBlanc

Tell our readers a little bit about your background.

I was born into a scientific family and graduated from the University of Aleppo's faculty of medicine in 1985. I also studied Islam at the Higher Institute of Da'wa in Beirut and became officially engaged with religious affairs in 1990 when I became a mosque leader. I did that from the 1990s until this year, when I was nominated to my current post. I've written books about Sufism and Islamic ideology which have been translated into Japanese, English and Malaysian. Since the 1990s I have travelled the world and taken part in conferences and lectures in the US, UK, France, Spain and Singapore. I taught a course on Islamic intellectuals at an online university in the US.

What are the main challenges you face as head of religious endowments in Aleppo?

The first thing that we must do is organise ourselves. The chaos of our database is a major challenge. I was used to organised files, but there was nothing like that when I first arrived so I started a programme of computerising the endowment's files. Our interests are widespread. We administer 3,500 mosques in Aleppo governorate. Each mosque has three or four employees. We oversee them and the properties, so we are talking about a large volume of information and real estate, in addition to houses and properties inherited by the endowment. For this reason you need an efficient management system. We have a two-year plan to computerise our files. We also need well-trained staff, particularly IT experts. We've developed a good website with information about the main activities of the trust.

There has been criticism that some imams in Aleppo are not rigorous in their religious learning and that they do not fully understand the teachings of the Koran. Is that true?

That is the second challenge. In the past, the nomination and selection of religious leaders depended on personal contacts. I've put in place a system that has standards over who should be an imam and who can teach the Koran. We established committees to look after these criteria and standards. This is something new to the Aleppo endowment's mindset. Now it is impossible for an imam to preach without a thorough knowledge of the teachings of Islam.

Do you face other challenges?

The third challenge is that some properties owned by the endowment are being used by individuals for their own interests. These people take income from the property and don't give it to the endowment. We are now making sure that everything is on the right track. The fourth challenge, for me personally, is that those who I have dismissed will talk against me. I fired unqualified Koranic teachers, as well as those who were stealing from the endowment. As a result, 30 percent of the people here in Aleppo are lobbying against me. But that leaves 70 percent who support me. Those 30 percent say I'm a bad man, but I'm not looking after my own interests – the directors before me were. I don't care about that 30 percent; I only want to do the right thing.

So you have made enemies in Aleppo?

Now I'm fighting with 30 percent. That's not a small number in this city.

What are your thoughts about Islamic extremism?

During my time touring the world I realised that we suffer from the problem of radicalism. Now I'm the head of an organisation that has the job of cleaning up an environment that fosters radicalism. When we present Islam, we need to present it as moderate. In the past I used dialogue to increase people's awareness. Now I'm in a decision-making position so my task is much more difficult. Good contacts with Christians, Muslims and all schools of thought will help me meet this challenge.

Aleppo has a reputation as being a religiously conservative city. Is there extremism under the surface here?

According to my fieldwork and my contacts, I would say that Aleppo is a good example of Islamic moderation, not only in Syria but in the wider Middle East. Maybe what distinguishes Aleppo is that it is a city of deep social relations. Here there is real interaction. In Aleppo, if you are my friend, you will be a very good friend. By the same token, however, if you are hostile with someone, there will be very deep hostility. If you don't know this about Aleppo you will view it as radical conservatism. I feel that the depth of people's convictions is a good thing. We want to cement this. The Christians in Aleppo adhere and commit to their Christianity very strongly and the Muslims do the same. But they still have good relations with each other. If you go to Afghanistan, there are those who only have a superficial understanding of Islam. The problem is not between those who adhere to Islam and those who do not, but between those who understand their religion and adhere to it in a good way and those who do not. For example, you cannot judge people based on what they wear. It is stupid to think that a woman wearing a short skirt is open-minded or that a woman dressed in a niqab is closed-minded.

Is the Western understanding of Islam oversimplified? Does it fail to see the debates inside Islam and among Islamic religious scholars?

In different parts of Europe there are different habits and traditions. We cannot make generalisations. The same is true here. The mistake of the West is to make broad generalisations that are not accurate. Country people here in Syria are simple, with clean ideas, far from the ideas of radicalism or the Taliban. The Sufi are a majority in the countryside and that school of thought is stronger than the Wahhabi school in Syria. When people come to the cities from the countryside they don't bring Wahhabism. The Wahhabi ideas come from satellite channels and from those who have lived in the Gulf. This is why we don't accept Islamic certificates from those who have studied in the Gulf.

Does extremism draw strength from US and Western policies towards the Middle East?

If people have good backgrounds, these issues will not affect them. This is why we focus on education. Most people talk about radicalism being caused by external forces, but that is a mistake. If you look at Jesus, he faced many external pressures but never became an extremist. The Prophet Muhammad was the same – he never became a radical. The problems of radicalism are inside us. If we can find a way to guide education, we will not face radicalism.

Is there conflict between your medical training and Islam?

Real Islam calls for more scientific research. When I was working in my clinic, I was following the teachings of Islam. Islam urges us to discover more about the world and to work hard for greater knowledge. If you look through the history of Islam, religious scholars were also chemists, physicians, astronomers and mathematicians.

Your predecessor was very traditional. Do you consider yourself to be a moderniser?

I am in harmony with the Minister of Religious Endowments Mohammad Abdel-Sattar al-Sayed and with President Bashar al-Assad. The minister finished his studies in administration management, in addition to his religious studies. The president is both a doctor and a politician. So the minister chose me. Some religious figures were against my nomination to this position. But we are in a period of opening up to the world.