Abstract
Religion has been a determining factor in the recent Syrian war since its beginnings, as a prominent identity marker as well as a motivational aspect on the path of jihad. This paper seeks to contribute to a more thorough understanding of the conflict dynamics in Syria by adequately describing the role of religion in the war. Its comprehensive approach takes into account various ontological manifestations of religion: as an identity, a discourse, in its doctrinal aspect as a set of teachings, and in its significance for the individual believer. In doing so, the paper will focus on Sunni Islam as the focal point of the most crucial intersections of religion and conflict in Syria. Finally, religion will be described as a resource for reconciliation in Syria.
Highlights
In spring 2011, the first armed struggles between the Syrian regime and oppositional forces occurred
In order to describe the role of religion in the Syrian war adequately, the paper proposes an additive elaboration on the various conflict-relevant dimensions of religion that are in play
The previous dimensions focused on religion as a dependent variable that causally relates to political, social, cultural, or historical dynamics
Summary
In spring 2011, the first armed struggles between the Syrian regime and oppositional forces occurred On, both Syrians and observers raised concerns that the conflict would eventually interfere with the country’s complex religious diversity, if it were not resolved (ICG 2011; Popp 2012). Linda Woodhead relates the debates about an adequate definition of religion to the existence of various concepts of religion that refer to differing phenomena Those concepts rely on different theoretical, historical, empirical, methodological or normative frameworks, which affect the ontological quality of the religious phenomena. In order to describe the role of religion in the Syrian war adequately, the paper proposes an additive elaboration on the various conflict-relevant dimensions of religion that are in play. Sunni Islam is the focal point of the crucial conflict-relevant dynamics in the recent war in. See, e.g., Sedaca (2013)
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