A New Caliphate Is Born

In 634 AD, Muslim forces conquered Damascus and gained control of Syria, which was then part of the Christian Byzantine Empire. It has happened again. Jihadists are once more in control of the nation, and a new Caliphate has been born.

Last week Syria’s ruler Ahmad al-Sharaa signed a “temporary” constitution that puts the country under Islamist rule for five years during a “transitional” phase. If you actually believe that the boys in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) al-Sharaa’s party really intend to ever relinquish power, you are dangerously delusional and probably should have someone else manage your personal affairs.

HTS just formally seized power, and they will never voluntarily give it up.

A new constitution will be drafted. It hardly seems worth the time. The law of the land is now Sharia. The ruler will be a Muslim. The constitution is the Koran, or rather the Koran as interpreted by a bunch of guys who still live in the 6^th century.

In the new Syria there are no protections for anyone who deviates from the approved faith. The massacre of Alawites, Christians, and others continues. It will end when there is no one left to kill.

Before the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, an estimated 1.3 million Christians lived in Syria. Since then, the number has dropped to about 300,000.

“In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families — including women, children and individuals hors de combat — were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,” stated UN spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan recently.

“According to many testimonies collected by our office, perpetrators raided houses, asking residents whether they were Alawite or Sunni before proceeding to either kill or spare them accordingly. Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families,” he continued.

“All those found responsible for violations must be held to account, regardless of their affiliation, in line with international law norms and standards. Victims and their families have the right to truth, justice and reparations,” Kheetan added.

The people doing the killing are not all Syrians. The usual collection of madmen from a host of nations has flocked to Syria to help with the beheadings and executions. Not only are these foreign fighters helping with the ongoing genocide, they are now training what will be the army of this new caliphate. These include Belarussians, Chechens, Uyghurs and Tajiks.

One group of foreign fighters recently posted an Arabic message celebrating its participation in the training saying:

"Graduation courses and preparing soldiers are ongoing. We are a nation of action. Our enemies are many and preserving what has been gained through the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands is an individual duty. Monkeys [i.e., Alawites] on the coast [i.e., Latakia and Tartus], Zionists and their agents in the south, and atheists [i.e., Kurds] more malicious than any in the east."

On March 1, 2025, the Syria-based Egyptian jihadi Salafi cleric, Yahya Abu al-Fath al-Farghali, who used to be a religious official in HTS, published a letter calling on HTS to implement Islamic law and to move Sunni jihadists and their families into Alawite areas. This is what the Serbs used to refer to as ethnic cleansing.

Al-Farshali blamed the ongoing killings on religious minorities and the oppression of Sunni Muslims by Assad. He added, "This is likely to happen again and again, with external and internal enemies striving to inflame the situation and undermine any attempt to de-escalate. Further, the eruption of a kind of guerrilla war in the coastal [areas] by rebel elements is extremely dangerous."

The only solution per al-Farshali is "the enforcement of shari'a [Islamic law] and the elevation of the word of Allah." He also warned that a secular governing system would be "the most dangerous alternative" because it would damage religion and life.

The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) in Northeast Syria responded immediately to the new constitution and did not mince any words in their condemnation of its obvious implications.

“The SDC strongly reject any attempt to recreate dictatorship under the guise of a ‘transitional phase.’ Any constitutional declaration must be the result of genuine national consensus, not a project imposed by one party,” the council said, calling “for a complete reformulation of the declaration. It must ensure a fair distribution of power, guarantee freedom of political activity, and recognize the rights of all Syrian components. Furthermore, it should adopt a decentralized democratic system of governance with clear mechanisms for achieving transitional justice.”

An umbrella group of Kurdish opposition parties, the Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC), also raised its objections to the new constitution.

“We were surprised by the constitutional declaration issued in Damascus on March 13, 2025, which was disappointing and far from the aspirations of building a democratic state that reflects the true diversity of Syrian society,” ENKS said in a statement, adding, “this declaration was prepared by a committee that does not represent the various political, ethnic, and religious components, depriving it of inclusivity and national consensus, and leading to the entrenchment of exclusionary and monopolistic governance.”

Brave and clear words. They will have no impact. HTS has no intention of sharing power or allowing religious freedom. Its entire pretense of “moderation” is just that, a sham. It is intended to encourage those in the West to vacillate and dither. In that it is very effective. Even as thousands are being slaughtered, many even in the United States hesitate to condemn what is happening because al-Sharaa now wears a suit when appearing on television and lying about his intentions.

A new caliphate has been born. It will grow stronger and more assured. For the moment, it will focus on slaughtering those in Syria who defy it. And, then, inevitably, it will turn its gaze elsewhere, and we will realize that we too are on the list of those who must be cleansed.